A casino is a place where people play gambling games. Modern casinos are like indoor theme parks for adults, complete with hotels, restaurants, non-gambling entertainment and other amenities. But the vast majority of their profits come from games of chance like slot machines, blackjack and roulette.
In order to make money from those games, casinos must have a statistical advantage over the players. That edge can be small – less than two percent – but over millions of bets, it adds up. Combined with other revenue streams such as room rates, restaurant fees and the income from video poker and other machine games, that edge makes casinos profitable.
But casinos also spend a lot of time and money on security. Because of the large amounts of cash that change hands, both patrons and staff may be tempted to cheat or steal. In addition, there is always the risk that a player will become addicted to gambling and generate huge losses for the casino.
To counter this, casinos offer comps to high-volume players. These can be free meals, hotel rooms, show tickets or even airline tickets. But the best way to get a comp is to ask a casino employee or information desk person. These folks can rate your play based on how much you bet and how often you play. That’s how a casino determines which players are “good” customers and deserves rewards.