Gambling Isn’t New – It’s Been Around For a Long Time

The modern casino resembles an indoor amusement park for adults, with musical shows, lighted fountains, shopping centers and elaborate themes pulling in the crowds. But while the glitzy trappings help draw in the dollars, casinos would not exist without games of chance. Slot machines, blackjack, roulette, craps, baccarat and other fixed-odds games provide the billions in profits that casinos rake in every year.

Gambling has been around for millennia, with evidence dating back to 2300 BC in China. Dice were first used in Rome in 500 BC and playing cards appeared soon after. Today, casinos offer a wide variety of games to tempt all types of players.

Although casinos rely on technology for much of their security, they also enforce rules of conduct and behavior. For example, patrons must keep their cards visible at all times when playing card games. And casino employees monitor table games and the patrons playing them with a view to catching any suspicious betting patterns that might signal cheating.

In addition to keeping an eye on the game play, casino security personnel are on hand to protect players from gangsters and other unscrupulous operators. The mob once ran many casinos, but real estate investors and hotel chains with deep pockets bought out the mafia and now run their own establishments free from any mob interference.