Casino is a 1995 Martin Scorsese film that stars Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci in a mafia drama about gambling and crime. The movie follows Sam “Ace” Rothstein, who runs the mob-connected Tangiers casino in Las Vegas. His life is disrupted when mafia enforcer and his former boyhood friend Nicky Santoro returns to town with a new agenda that threatens Ace’s empire and civilized lifestyle with his money-conditional wife, Ginger.
Casinos focus most of their profits on attracting high rollers, gamblers who spend a lot of time and money at their tables or slot machines. These players often receive comps, free hotel rooms and other services depending on their amount of play.
There’s something about a casino that makes people want to cheat, steal or scam their way into winning a jackpot. That’s why casinos spend a lot of time, effort and money on security.
The slick interior of a casino is designed to make patrons feel they are entering a world of style and sophistication. Bright, sometimes gaudy colors are used on floor and wall coverings to create a stimulating, cheering effect. Many casinos do not display clocks on their walls, as they are believed to distract players.
On the floor, dealers have to be highly focused on their games in order to spot blatant cheating like palming, marking or switching cards or dice. Table managers and pit bosses monitor tables with a broader view, looking for suspicious betting patterns that could indicate cheating or stealing. Cameras mounted in the ceiling give staff a high-tech eye-in-the-sky that can be adjusted to focus on specific patrons.