Casino Wikipedia
The first known European gambling house, not called a casino although meeting the modern definition, was the Ridotto, established in Venice, Italy, in 1638 by the Great Council of Venice to provide controlled gambling during the carnival season. From Ancient Mesopotamia, Greeks and Romans to Napoleon’s France and Elizabethan England, much of history is filled with stories of entertainment based on games of chance. In military and non-military usage, a casino (Spanish) or Kasino (German) is an officers’ mess. The Catalina Casino, on Santa Catalina Island, California, has never been used for traditional games of chance, which were already outlawed in California by the time it was built. The term casinó may mean a small country villa, summerhouse, or social club.
While there are casinos in many places, a few places have become well known specifically for gambling. According to Bloomberg, accumulated revenue of the biggest casino operator companies worldwide amounted to almost US$55 billion in 2011. However, in 1931, gambling was legalized throughout the state of Nevada, where the United States’s first legalized casinos were set up. During the 19th century, casino came to encompass other public buildings where pleasurable activities took place. The term casino is of Italian origin, from the root word casa meaning “house.” Originally, the term referred to a small country villa, summerhouse, or social club. These are not the extent of the hazards casino workers may be exposed to, but every location is different.
Payout is the percentage of funds (“winnings”) returned to players. In games such as poker where players play against each other, the house takes a commission called the rake. Most games have mathematically determined odds that ensure the house has at all times an advantage over the players.
The former Portuguese colony of Macau, a special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China since 1999, is a popular destination for visitors who wish to gamble. The archipelago of Malta is a particularly famous place for casinos, standing out mainly with the historic casino located at the princely residence of Dragonara. The third-biggest casino operator company (based on revenue) was Caesars Entertainment, with revenue of US$6.2 billion. The casino industry is a major part of the tourism and leisure industry, with the largest casino operator companies generating tens of billions of dollars in revenue annually. Some of the most famous casinos in the world include the Monte Carlo Casino, The Venetian Macao, and Caesars Palace. Slot machines have become one of the most popular forms of gambling in casinos.
Casinos are subject to specific regulations for worker safety, as casino employees are both at greater risk for cancers resulting from exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke and musculoskeletal injuries from repetitive motions while running table games over many hours. When it opened in 1989, The Mirage was the first casino to use cameras full-time on all table games. A specialized surveillance department operates the casino’s closed-circuit-television system, known in the industry as the eye in the sky. Additionally, 46.2% of the respondents believed that such activities contribute positively to Vietnam’s ability to attract investments. Furthermore, 47.4% of the participants expressed the view that engaging in rewarding recreational activities has a positive impact on job opportunities for residents. The Nevada Gaming Control Board divides Clark County, which is coextensive with the Las Vegas metropolitan area, into seven market regions for reporting purposes.
In casino (IPA /kaˈzino/), the emphasis is on the middle syllable (ca-SI-no). In modern-day Italian, a casino is a brothel (also called casa chiusa, literally “closed house”), a mess (confusing situation), or a noisy environment; a gambling house is spelt casinò, with an accent. Other significant gambling centers include Singapore, Monte Carlo, and various locations in Europe and the United States. Macau is the largest gambling market in the world, having surpassed Las Vegas in terms of revenue.
With gambling laws being less strict than in Italy and Switzerland, it is among the most popular gambling destination besides Monte Carlo. The casino was founded in 1917 as a site to gather information from foreign online casinos not on gamstop diplomats during the First World War. Casinò di Campione is located in the tiny Italian enclave of Campione d’Italia, within Ticino, Switzerland.
In addition to cameras and other technological measures, casinos also enforce security through rules of conduct and behavior; for example, players at card games are required to keep the cards they are holding in their hands visible at all times. Some casinos also have catwalks in the ceiling above the casino floor, which allow surveillance personnel to look directly down, through one way glass, on the activities at the tables and slot machines. Machine-based gaming is only permitted in land-based casinos, restaurants, bars and gaming halls, and only subject to a licence.