A casino is a venue for all types of gaming. Casinos are usually built close to or mixed in with hotels, restaurants, cruise lines, retail shops, theme parks, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are known for hosting live shows, live music, or stand-up comedy. While many people will visit a casino purely to play cards, some choose to do other activities inside the casino, such as play slots, video poker, roulette, blackjack, baccarat, or keno. Many of these activities may be more enjoyable than playing at an actual land-based casino, but all of them offer their own unique experience.
In the United States, a few unique forms of gambling have developed, mostly on an international basis. In most states, a person can gamble either inside the casino (playing video poker, for example) or outside the casino (the more familiar term is “gambling”) The exception is Texas, which allows casinos within a 100-mile “ring of fire” from the state line. Almost all U.S. states allow at least some gambling by place of residence, most commonly in licensed casinos. Pit bosses or casino chips are the most popular gambling chips, but there are hundreds of others.
One of the most popular ways that Americans gamble is at their local bars or pubs, sometimes called “tribal casinos.” In these establishments, everyone knows the joker at the counter, the hustler down the street, and even the waitress who never smile in your face. These people are considered “low rollers,” because they use a large amount of their money just to gamble, and they rarely spend it at the casino. There are exceptions, of course, such as the high rollers at live casinos like the Las Vegas strip. For these people, the main article in their lives is playing craps, blackjack, roulette, or other game(s).
Casinos and bars are usually located in industrial areas, because they offer easy access to the street. Another reason that they are so popular is that most of them are owned by large corporations, which have security teams that watch the premises for unruly customers. The casino security guards take these “customers” into the casino and make them “pay their own set of tab” before letting them out again. The security guard may also call a tow truck to tow away a person’s car if they are too drunk to drive home. (This is illegal in some states.)
A few words about the different types of casino gambling: live gaming and video gambling are the most well-known, the latter being mobile gambling, also known as ATM gambling, which is also becoming more popular. Live gaming involves live dealers and electronic devices in each room, sometimes with hundreds of machines, as well as cashiers who deal with gamblers in real time. Mobile gambling uses smaller electronic devices (usually cell phones) to simulate gambling in your vehicle, or even on your office computer. It is becoming more widespread all over the world.
If you’re interested in playing a casino game and don’t know where to go, the good news is that almost every casino offers both live and video gambling. Live gaming is usually more fun than video gambling, especially if you want to play a random casino game, since you can look around, try on clothing, etc. But either way, you should definitely check out a local casino before deciding where to eat. Be sure to tip the security guard, because they are protecting America.