Discover How The Biggest Casinos Work In Order To obtain The Ultimate Casino Experience
The predecessor of online casinos remains strong
The impact of the casino and gambling industry continues to grow worldwide and despite the fact that online casinos have a huge turnover themselves, the original offline casinos also still play a huge role.
For example, the annual amount of money coming in through the casinos continues to grow. Figures from The American Gaming Organisation show that there was a record turnover of 41.6 billion dollars in America in total in the year 2018 alone. Las Vegas, and therefore Nevada, remains well ahead of the other states of America.
With over 11.9 billion dollars (an increase of no less than 3% compared to the previous year!), Nevada is responsible for more than a quarter of the national turnover. At the end of the day, a casino is a business just like many other companies. A company’s main goal is to make a profit, and casinos are certainly no exception to this. As you may have heard before, ‘The splendor of Las Vegas isn’t there because of the people who won money’. In 2019, the biggest earner of all casinos, the Wynn, was responsible for a total of over $500 million (profit before taxes).
The next largest casinos raised about 400, 380, and 320 million dollars. Today, we’ll give you a glimpse of what’s involved in running these multi-million-dollar companies. The next time you step into a big casino will never be the same!
Dealers
The dealers play a main role in the casino and are in charge of running the tables. A dealer usually receives training from 4 weeks to sometimes 3 months, depending on what the casino needs in terms of staff. Dealers are almost always experts in multiple games. Of course, being able to shuffle cards and do some mental math is important, but interacting with the players is also focussed on in order to give the best experience for the players. Most dealers run a shift of about 8 hours and of course, there are games that run night and day, 7 days a week. Night shifts are therefore a regular thing, but fortunately, there often is a possibility to swap shifts with other dealers.
The dealers on the various tables are assisted and managed by the table games manager, better known as the pit boss. In large casinos, there is a separate pit boss for each section, or sometimes even for each type of game, who in turn is in contact with the lead floor manager. Together they ensure that the games run as smoothly and fairly as possible. Think of keeping an eye on potential aggressive customers, finding pickpockets, but also spotting the card counters.
Although it is not illegal to count cards, the pit bosses are not happy with it. It only gives a player a small advantage if you know when a table has more high cards left in the deck, but with a small advantage, the profit can already add up quickly. The pit bosses can then, for example, intervene by limiting a player’s maximum bet.
Security
The pit bosses are in direct contact with the security room of the casino. It may be a bit cliché but these are rooms filled with screens full of security footage. Nowadays there is certainly still security footage available but having ‘four walls full’ is not necessary anymore. More often you will see a few monitors showing the overview of the different sub-areas and cameras switching digitally to specific angles to give a complete overview.
Furthermore, computers and technology are playing an increasing role in the security of casinos. Cameras have become smaller, have a high resolution, and can easily be hidden. Most notable cameras are there for the psychological effect. People generally abide more by the rules when they feel they are being watched.
Big Brother Is Watching You
The camera images are also used in combination with facial recognition. For example, many casinos use the NORA system. NORA stands for “Non-Obvious Relationship Awareness”. This system scans your face and links this to the security profile of the casino. This way you can easily keep track of what a player is doing at the casino. It’s possible to collect data from a player from the moment he enters the casino. NORA is specifically looking for similarities between different people at the casino. For example, there was a case where a scammer had the same phone number as one of the casino dealers and they turned out to be living together. Thanks to NORA, the security system detected this potential fraudulent duo, which otherwise wouldn’t be the case.
Another interesting technical gadget is the use of RFID tags and special black light scanners. Most casino chips nowadays also have computer chips. These RFID tags make fraud even more difficult because every chip is registered in the system and is scanned at the time of redeeming. Even when chips are stolen, they can simply be deactivated by the system, making it impossible to redeem them. Often the playing cards are also provided with a barcode with ink that is invisible to the eye. The tables have special scanners to keep an eye on them in order to prevent fake or extra cards from ending up in the game. Hooray for technology!
Entertainment
Last but not least, you have the entire entertainment industry that is certainly linked to the casinos, especially in Las Vegas. From nightclubs to complete shows by illusionists, the casinos make sure you stay just a little bit longer. Honestly, this is what makes casinos so much fun: it’s a playground for adults. Besides all the shows, restaurants, and world-famous nightclubs, there are also special VIP hosts. The job of a VIP host is to provide the whales and high rollers with all the comforts they can have. Exclusive hotel rooms, your own butler, massages, tickets to shows, and special activities outside of the casino. You can’t think of anything that the VIP can’t arrange for you. The only condition; you have to arrive at the tables with a considerable amount of money.
At the end of the day, there’s a lot going on at a big casino. Fortunately, we don’t have to worry about all that when we walk into the casino. However, it does give us extra respect for all the efforts of the staff. Next time you’re at a casino, let them know you’re grateful and make their day a little bit more fun!
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