The smoky rooms, the champagne glasses clinking and the pulsating music all combine to create an upbeat atmosphere in which people are eagerly trying their luck with the games of chance. While there may be a few tuts when things don’t go their way, for the most part people are in good spirits and have an amazing time.

From the glittering Las Vegas strip to the illegal pai gow parlors in New York’s Chinatown, casino are found all over the world and bring in billions of dollars in revenue every year. But what makes them so successful? The answer is simple, casinos tap into 2 aspects that are the most exciting to humans – entertainment and money.

Gambling is done on games of chance, and most of them have built-in advantages to ensure the house (or the casino) wins in the long run. This advantage can be expressed as a mathematical formula and is known as the house edge. In some games, the house gains an additional income from the players via a commission known as the rake.

The success of casinos has led to the development of a variety of rules and regulations to keep them in check, and many technological tools have been invented to enhance security. Among the most prominent is a system of cameras that provide a high-tech eye in the sky that can monitor every table and even the movement of people. While this isn’t foolproof, it has significantly reduced the number of robberies and cheating incidents in casinos.