A casino is a gambling establishment where people can play games of chance. The games are mainly table games like poker, blackjack and roulette, but some casinos also feature video slots and other electronic gaming devices. A casino’s main goal is to encourage guests to gamble and spend money in order to maximize profits. Casinos usually offer incentives for guests to spend more money, such as complimentary food and drinks, show tickets, hotel rooms, limo service and airline tickets.
While most movies about Las Vegas show the glitz and glamour of the place, Casino takes a much more realistic approach, portraying the seedier underbelly of gambling and corruption. While some of the movie’s violence (such as the torture scene with De Niro, the drug overdose of Stone’s character and Joe Pesci’s murder) may be over the top for shock value, most of the film is a gripping depiction of greed, treachery and tragedy.
Something about gambling (and the potential to win huge sums of money) seems to encourage some players to cheat, steal or otherwise try to “beat the system” and win by chance instead of skill. That’s why casinos put a lot of time, effort and money into security. In addition to security guards and surveillance cameras, many casinos have a high-tech eye-in-the-sky system that monitors every table, window and doorway in the building, allowing security workers to view each one at once and spot any statistical deviations.