Casino

A casino is a facility where people gamble on games of chance, or skill (like video poker and blackjack) with a house edge. This advantage is mathematically determined by the game’s rules and odds, and is sometimes augmented by casinos offering free items or comps to their players. Casinos also create a euphoric environment using dazzling lights and music. Some of the games played include baccarat, keno, sic bo, roulette, pai gow, fan-tan, and blackjack. The house gains a large portion of its profits through the percentage of funds paid out to players, known as the pay-out. In addition, casinos earn money by charging a rake on games like poker and baccarat, or through commissions on machines like slot machines.

Unlike his movies about the mob, Goodfellas and Mean Streets, Scorsese’s Casino doesn’t romanticize its characters. Rather, it shows how the Vegas machine permitted people like Ace, Ginger, and Nicky to thrive, then spit them out. The movie ends with images of the Tangiers, as the narrator laments that the city has gone from “a mafia playground” to one that looks “like Disneyland.”

Despite the violence and corruption, Casino does manage to convey some humanity, thanks to the performances of De Niro and Stone. Both of them are incredibly compelling, and their interactions are tense and fascinating to watch.