A casino is a public place that offers a variety of games of chance for customers. It often has restaurants, stage shows and dramatic scenery to enhance the experience. It also offers a range of other amenities, including luxury hotels, cutting-edge technology and flexible event spaces. The gambling activity is the primary revenue generator, but casinos also rely on other sources of income, such as hotel rooms and a wide array of food options.

Something about gambling seems to encourage people to cheat, steal and scam their way into a jackpot. This is why casinos spend a great deal of money on security. In addition to a staff on the gaming floor, whose attention is focused only on their game and who can easily spot blatant palming or marking, there are high-tech eye-in-the-sky surveillance systems that watch every table, slot machine and doorway. And if a suspicious patron does slip through the cracks, there is no shortage of managers ready to jump into action and investigate.

Casino is Martin Scorsese’s most violent movie, and it depicts a world that is both fictional and all too real. While the scenes involving De Niro being tortured with a vice and Stone’s character being buried alive in a cornfield are over-the-top, the plot itself is true. There is one certainty when it comes to casino gaming: The math is always against the player. The longer a patron stays on the gambling floor, the more likely the house is to win.