At one time, casinos were only present in certain specific places, such as Las Vegas, Reno, the islands, Monte Carlo, etc., and on cruise ships. The next big hit in casino locations was Atlantic City. Today, however, there are casinos in many, many places. There are Native American/Indian casinos everywhere, some of which have become the largest in the world. Now even casino towns have multiple competitors.

Cities like Las Vegas, especially along the “Strip,” have upgraded many of the hotels and made several others more family-friendly. It used to be that hotel rooms at casino hotels were relatively reasonably priced, and now, many of them have become quite expensive. So why are casinos so popular?

The odds of winning at a Casino have certainly not improved. Certainly, there are more government controls and authorities, and they are no longer dishonest and/or rigged. However, slot machines, which are the biggest profit center for a casino, set their machines to a certain specific payout ratio, so that over time, each machine, as well as the machines as a whole, returns a win. specific to the casino. . In fact, casinos can predict the percentage of profit that they will make from their machines. This is why all casino rewards programs value slot players much more than table players, because although table players can often play more money, the casino does not have the guaranteed return on slot games. table you have on the machines.

Have you ever noticed that certain machines seem to pay out more often? It is not your imagination, but a fact that many casinos set up different machines with different payout ratios, and set up machines located in certain specific locations to pay out more frequently, in order to maximize the people passing by to stop and be drawn. It is also a fact that certain casino table games are much more profitable for a casino than others. The odds of winning at roulette, wheel of fortune, etc. are much worse than Craps or Blackjack. Casinos realize that each specific game has its own odds, and casinos fully realize which ones pay the best. Even in Craps and Blackjack, the odds and percentages of the casinos improve due to the number of players playing a much less than perfect basic strategy and therefore the percentages of the casinos improve.

Some casinos have different rules for the same games. For example, the rules governing Blackjack in Puerto Rico are much less favorable to the player than elsewhere. In Puerto Rico, for example, the dealer begins the game by taking only one card, instead of the two that are taken in most casinos. By doing this, the dealer’s odds improve under certain circumstances. For example, in the scenario where the dealer shows a card such as 4, 5, or 6, the dealer will “bust” much less often when they need to take two cards in a row than when they only need to add one, because there is less statistical chance of that a dealer deals two consecutive high cards than just one.

If someone goes to a casino for fun and a good time, and sets affordable personal spending limits, the casino experience can often be enjoyable. For those players who are attracted by the “compensations” they receive because they play a lot and who believe that it doesn’t cost them anything to go to a casino, the casino experience can sometimes be financially ruinous for the individual. We all need to remember that casinos are in business to make money!