A casino is a facility that accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are often placed near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships and other vacation attractions. Some casinos are known for hosting live entertainment events, such as concerts and sporting events.
History
The term originally meant a small villa, summerhouse or pavilion built for pleasure, usually on the grounds of a larger Italian villa or palazzo. There are examples of such casinos at Villa Giulia and Villa Farnese. During the 19th century, the term casino came to include other more public buildings where pleasurable activities, including gambling and sports, took place. An example of this type of building is the Newport Casino. In modern Italian, this term designates a bordello (also called "casa chiusa", literally "closed house"), while the gambling house is spelled casinò with an accent.
Gambling in casinos
In most jurisdictions, gambling is limited to persons over the age of majority (21 years of age in most of the United States and 18 to 21 in most other countries where casinos are permitted). Customers may gamble by playing slot machines or other games of chance (e.g., craps, roulette, baccarat) and some skill (e.g., blackjack, poker) (for more see casino games). Game rules usually have mathematically-determined odds that ensure the house retains an advantage over the players. This advantage is called the edge. Payout is the percentage given to players. In games such as poker, the house takes a commission (a "rake") on bets players make against each other. Playing with house money refers to the situation where a winning player is placing bets with money that has been won from the casino.
[edit] Negative Effects
Professor Earl Grinols of Baylor University suggests that casinos increase the number of pathological gamblers in a community. Through cost/benefit analysis, Grinols concludes that in order to have positive net economic effect, casinos would need to employ roughly 13% of a community of 100,000 people.
[edit] Security
Casinos focus greatly on security. Large amounts of currency move through a casino, tempting people to cheat the system. Security today consists of cameras located throughout the property operated by highly trained individuals who attempt to locate cheating and stealing by both players and employees.
Modern casino security is usually divided between a physical security force, which patrols the casino floor and responds to calls for assistance and reports of criminal and/or suspicious activities, and a specialized surveillance department, that operates the casino's closed circuit television (CCTV) system in an effort to detect any misconduct by both guests and employees alike. Both of these specialized casino security departments work very closely with each other to ensure the safety of both guests and the casino's assets.
SeychellesI have added the Seychelles casino link, because Dmoz is not listing any of those. (http://seychellescasino.com)
SeychellesI have added the Seychelles casino link, because Dmoz is not listing any of those. (http://seychellescasino.com)
Wikipedia is not a web directory - that is DMOZ. And only because links are missing in DMOZ is no reason to add them here, if one from Seychelles, then why not one from Aruba, Kiribati, Monaco, Las Vegas...? andy 12:15, 1 September 2006 (UTC) Well, what is the point in only keeping one external link? There could be links for Aruba, Kiribati, Monaco, Las Vegas... separately imho. Daniel Again - Wikipedia is NOT a web directory. See Wikipedia:External links for why we want to have only top-quality weblinks which really extend the article. andy 20:54, 2 September 2006 (UTC) That one link leads to listings for virtually every casino around the world, either via itself directly or via the other sites linked from it. Nothing else is needed. 2005 21:25, 2 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Locals Casino
Should this be defined on this page as a type of casino? This is a casino speciffically built to attract residents from the area rather then tourists. They usually have better comps, and better pay tables then other casinos. ARe there other types of casinos that should be defined?
[edit] Listing cities in the article
This is an encylopedic article on the word casino. Why is it important to list cities that have clusters of casinos? What does this add to the article. Sure, mentioning the Place du Casino (Monte-Carlo Casino) is reasonable since it is so well know. But, are cities encylopedic within this article because they have a bunch of casinos? Does including cities help explain the word casino? I don't think so. Vegaswikian 02:36, 2 October 2005 (UTC)
If you're talking about deleting Biloxi, that city was considered the leading gambling center in the Southern U.S. The article on Biloxi even says so if you had bothered to read it. Mike H (Talking is hot) 02:45, 2 October 2005 (UTC) If you had checked, you would have seen I also removed Laughlin. I was also thinking about Reno along with most of the others. But the question about why any of these cities needs to be listed is still on the table. How do they help understand the word casino? Vegaswikian 05:50, 2 October 2005 (UTC) I think it's helpful in understanding where the famous casinos in the world are. If you want an understanding on the word, go to Wiktionary. That's what it's there for. Mike H (Talking is hot) 07:50, 2 October 2005 (UTC) But that is exactly my point. List some famous casinos and not cities with casinos. Vegaswikian 08:13, 2 October 2005 (UTC) I don't have a problem with every casino in the world being listed, although, at some point we should break it off as a "list of casinos" article and provide a link. This would solve the problem of the list being "in the way". StuRat 20:26, 6 October 2005 (UTC) Which is already included in the 'see also' as List of casinos. Vegaswikian 00:12, 7 October 2005 (UTC) Good point, that eliminates the need for an internal list. StuRat 01:55, 7 October 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Arguments for and against casinos
I have problems with this entire section. Much of what is included is option and not proven fact. The material is not directly about a casino, it is more about gambling and social issues. I'm thinking that if the material stays, it should be given an article, if it truly is NPOV and important, or merged into another article. But it does not belong here. Vegaswikian 20:28, 7 October 2005 (UTC)
I will take any suggestions of where it should go (other than the trash, LOL). I was thinking it is more of an economics related section, with the casino investment vs. education and infrastructure discussion similar to the classic guns vs. butter economics question. The issue of an oversupply of gambling facilities in the Detroit/Windsor area is also an economics issue. I do believe it is directly about casinos, although some of the issues would also relate to gambling in other forms. Other issues are casino-specific, though. Lotteries and horse tracks don't typically have associated hotels like casinos do, for example. StuRat 21:05, 7 October 2005 (UTC) Economic and social impacts of gambling maybe? There appears to be additional material in various gambling articles. Not sure what categries it would be in, but I can see quite a few links to it as a NPOV article. Vegaswikian 21:10, 7 October 2005 (UTC) And the vast majority of casinos in Vegas don't have a hotel either. Keep the discussion to the gaming area and you can address all of the associated forms. Vegaswikian 21:22, 7 October 2005 (UTC) I can't see anybody typing all that in, can you come up with something shorter ? Also, when I drive thru Vegas I sure see a lot of hotels attached to casinos. The same is true when I stay there. Are you sure that most of them don't have hotels ? StuRat 21:45, 7 October 2005 (UTC) When I see a link that should be in other articles I use copy and paste. It will be findable when doing a search. It would be no where near close to the longest article name in wiki. But I believe that it would be a very accurate name for the article. It would be easy when you create the aricle to copy and paste in that links as appropiate. --- I would guess that in Vegas, there are likely almost as many casinos with a supermarket attached as with a hotel attached. Probably casinos with a bar attached is the most common, but I don't have that break down. Vegaswikian 22:32, 7 October 2005 (UTC) Ok, I say we leave it where it is for a few days to elicit more commentary, then move it if we get a consensus. The section is written explicitly for casinos, so perhaps a casino section could be added to the new article. Please include links to other sites you have found which contain text you think should also be moved to the new article and I will take a look. StuRat 22:54, 7 October 2005 (UTC) Racino for one. Gambling advertising for another. Searching for economics and gaming gives quite a few hits. Any of the Las Vegas area articles have material that could be included from history or economics. Vegaswikian 23:17, 7 October 2005 (UTC) Thanks, I'll look at those. Please list any others you come across. StuRat 23:23, 7 October 2005 (UTC) I would change the name, at the very least, to "Economic and social impacts of gambling". I see no reason to accept the gambling industry's euphemism for gambling, as it can easily be confused with games which don't involve wagering. StuRat 22:59, 7 October 2005 (UTC) Perhaps it should be called "Economic and social impacts of legal organized gambling" to distinguish it from a penny-ante game of cards between friends and from bookies. StuRat 23:27, 7 October 2005 (UTC) Just create the article with a reasonable name. It can be moved if there is a problem. If you think it needs to include legal, then do it. However your text already discusses how this interacts with illegal gambling so maybe it would be best to stay with what was suggested. Vegaswikian 23:31, 7 October 2005 (UTC) It interacts with illegal gambling, but that doesn't mean the section is about illegal gambling, any more than it is about prositution, illegal drugs, or theft. I still want to wait a few days and hopefully get some other voices here before doing the move. StuRat 00:38, 8 October 2005 (UTC) Eight days and no further discussion. Time to move that text? Vegaswikian 05:52, 17 October 2005 (UTC)
I will take any suggestions of where it should go (other than the trash, LOL). I was thinking it is more of an economics related section, with the casino investment vs. education and infrastructure discussion similar to the classic guns vs. butter economics question. The issue of an oversupply of gambling facilities in the Detroit/Windsor area is also an economics issue. I do believe it is directly about casinos, although some of the issues would also relate to gambling in other forms. Other issues are casino-specific, though. Lotteries and horse tracks don't typically have associated hotels like casinos do, for example. StuRat 21:05, 7 October 2005 (UTC) Economic and social impacts of gambling maybe? There appears to be additional material in various gambling articles. Not sure what categries it would be in, but I can see quite a few links to it as a NPOV article. Vegaswikian 21:10, 7 October 2005 (UTC) And the vast majority of casinos in Vegas don't have a hotel either. Keep the discussion to the gaming area and you can address all of the associated forms. Vegaswikian 21:22, 7 October 2005 (UTC) I can't see anybody typing all that in, can you come up with something shorter ? Also, when I drive thru Vegas I sure see a lot of hotels attached to casinos. The same is true when I stay there. Are you sure that most of them don't have hotels ? StuRat 21:45, 7 October 2005 (UTC) When I see a link that should be in other articles I use copy and paste. It will be findable when doing a search. It would be no where near close to the longest article name in wiki. But I believe that it would be a very accurate name for the article. It would be easy when you create the aricle to copy and paste in that links as appropiate. --- I would guess that in Vegas, there are likely almost as many casinos with a supermarket attached as with a hotel attached. Probably casinos with a bar attached is the most common, but I don't have that break down. Vegaswikian 22:32, 7 October 2005 (UTC) Ok, I say we leave it where it is for a few days to elicit more commentary, then move it if we get a consensus. The section is written explicitly for casinos, so perhaps a casino section could be added to the new article. Please include links to other sites you have found which contain text you think should also be moved to the new article and I will take a look. StuRat 22:54, 7 October 2005 (UTC) Racino for one. Gambling advertising for another. Searching for economics and gaming gives quite a few hits. Any of the Las Vegas area articles have material that could be included from history or economics. Vegaswikian 23:17, 7 October 2005 (UTC) Thanks, I'll look at those. Please list any others you come across. StuRat 23:23, 7 October 2005 (UTC) I would change the name, at the very least, to "Economic and social impacts of gambling". I see no reason to accept the gambling industry's euphemism for gambling, as it can easily be confused with games which don't involve wagering. StuRat 22:59, 7 October 2005 (UTC) Perhaps it should be called "Economic and social impacts of legal organized gambling" to distinguish it from a penny-ante game of cards between friends and from bookies. StuRat 23:27, 7 October 2005 (UTC) Just create the article with a reasonable name. It can be moved if there is a problem. If you think it needs to include legal, then do it. However your text already discusses how this interacts with illegal gambling so maybe it would be best to stay with what was suggested. Vegaswikian 23:31, 7 October 2005 (UTC) It interacts with illegal gambling, but that doesn't mean the section is about illegal gambling, any more than it is about prositution, illegal drugs, or theft. I still want to wait a few days and hopefully get some other voices here before doing the move. StuRat 00:38, 8 October 2005 (UTC) Eight days and no further discussion. Time to move that text? Vegaswikian 05:52, 17 October 2005 (UTC)
Casinos around the world
No mention of Monte Carlo (and the song), recent changes in UK laws on casinos etc.
There should be mention of legislation on casinos in various states of the world and attitudes etc: the sort of games played, membership etc.
There should be mention of legislation on casinos in various states of the world and attitudes etc: the sort of games played, membership etc.
Netgmbler's guide: legitimate or spam?
We have seen numerous attempts to create a link to http://www.netgamblersguide.com by 66.90.92.106 (contributions) and [[User::Geirn]] (contributions). To me, this link blatantly violates the external link guidelines, as it is extremely commercial. Every time this link is removed, it is immediately replaced. Several different users have attempted removing this link, so presumably it's not just me. The next step would appear to ban 66.90.92.106 and Geirn, but this is a drastic step and I'd like to have the support of the community before attempting to escalate this.
So: does anyone other than Geirn and his/her clones agree with keeping the link? Agree with progressing this matter with the aim of banning? Comments welcome. --Mike Van Emmerik 02:06, 12 December 2005 (UTC)
So: does anyone other than Geirn and his/her clones agree with keeping the link? Agree with progressing this matter with the aim of banning? Comments welcome. --Mike Van Emmerik 02:06, 12 December 2005 (UTC)
Time to lock article?
Rather then reverting changes multiple times a day, should this article be locked for a while to discourage the spammers? Vegaswikian 03:43, 12 December 2005 (UTC)
Looks like moments after I posted the above, our spammer was warned once, warned twice, then banned. Let's see if another user pops up with the same behaviour first. --Mike Van Emmerik 04:10, 12 December 2005 (UTC)
Looks like moments after I posted the above, our spammer was warned once, warned twice, then banned. Let's see if another user pops up with the same behaviour first. --Mike Van Emmerik 04:10, 12 December 2005 (UTC)
Lawyer promo link
Please tell me why it isn't promotional. --Nnp 21:39, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
What on earth are you talking about. It's a relevant link covering content that can't be put in the article itself. It;s obviously not "promotional", whatever you mean by that, jeez. Please don't make random edits to the article. 2005 21:47, 31 May 2006 (UTC) Definition #2. --Nnp 22:31, 31 May 2006 (UTC) Exactly. The link is obviously not self promotion (and you know this unless you amzingly haven't evn look at how the site has gambling laws for every US state) so dishonestly labeling it as such is not editing in good faith. Please refrain from such actions in the future. 2005 22:46, 31 May 2006 (UTC) Nnp, the definition of promotion that you posted doesn't apply at all to the site in question. (It's not an advertisement for legal services; it's an outline of gambling laws.) The closest thing to an "advertisement" on the site is a picture of the webmaster and his contact information, which is information commonly available on many good quality websites.Rray 22:54, 31 May 2006 (UTC) I can easily see why Nnp had a problem here. The entry page has a pretty large bio of the lawyer who created the site, along with a solicitation, and there is very little content on that first page. There's a pretty nice site behind the links at the top of the page, however, and I think that it's comprehensive and informative enough to be included here. Kuru talk 00:16, 1 June 2006 (UTC) Come on. The lawyer bio is not large at all. Saying that the link should be removed because it fits better in the Gambling article makes sense, but being unable to distinguish between a useful resource and an advertisment or self-promotion is something else entirely. Most reputable websites explain who is the author of the site, and that site is no different.Rray 01:30, 1 June 2006 (UTC) Eh? It's fully a third of the linked page. While I agree that the link is a useful resource, it's very easy to see how someone could presume spam without cliking on a few links. Agreed also that it would more properly fit the gambling article. Kuru talk 01:52, 1 June 2006 (UTC) Let's skip the silly stuff please. It's one-third of a page on a 200 page website! It's ludicrous to call that "promotion", and obvious the link was removed without the person caring to look at the website. What we had here is someone unfamiliar with the topic randomly removing a valuable link that is on topic and not promotional in any sense. External link policies are pretty darn clear and a dislike of lawyers is not a reason to remove one. In this case the link is totally relevant to the article, and no content reason was mentioned for removing it. The encyclopedia is here to deliver quality content to users, not as dislike of lawyers platform. The fact the website makes money of course is of no consequence at all -- it's the quality of the content, and the consideration that obviously we can't have articles on the laws about casinos in every state in this article. It's a perfect example of how linking SHOULD be done in the Wikipedia. However, the additional consideration is that there are other resources out there that are more fully-casino focused, rather than just the law part, so adding other links that are even more relevant is a good thing, and can render this link unneeded here since other resources can mention legalities (even if not as in depth) while dealing more in depth with "casino" topics. 2005 03:23, 1 June 2006 (UTC) Regardless of self-promotion or not, why is that link here? This entry is about casinos, not gambling or gaming law. Wouldn't the link be more suitable there? A link to someplace like ildado or casinocity would be appropriate here. FeldBum 23:20, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
What on earth are you talking about. It's a relevant link covering content that can't be put in the article itself. It;s obviously not "promotional", whatever you mean by that, jeez. Please don't make random edits to the article. 2005 21:47, 31 May 2006 (UTC) Definition #2. --Nnp 22:31, 31 May 2006 (UTC) Exactly. The link is obviously not self promotion (and you know this unless you amzingly haven't evn look at how the site has gambling laws for every US state) so dishonestly labeling it as such is not editing in good faith. Please refrain from such actions in the future. 2005 22:46, 31 May 2006 (UTC) Nnp, the definition of promotion that you posted doesn't apply at all to the site in question. (It's not an advertisement for legal services; it's an outline of gambling laws.) The closest thing to an "advertisement" on the site is a picture of the webmaster and his contact information, which is information commonly available on many good quality websites.Rray 22:54, 31 May 2006 (UTC) I can easily see why Nnp had a problem here. The entry page has a pretty large bio of the lawyer who created the site, along with a solicitation, and there is very little content on that first page. There's a pretty nice site behind the links at the top of the page, however, and I think that it's comprehensive and informative enough to be included here. Kuru talk 00:16, 1 June 2006 (UTC) Come on. The lawyer bio is not large at all. Saying that the link should be removed because it fits better in the Gambling article makes sense, but being unable to distinguish between a useful resource and an advertisment or self-promotion is something else entirely. Most reputable websites explain who is the author of the site, and that site is no different.Rray 01:30, 1 June 2006 (UTC) Eh? It's fully a third of the linked page. While I agree that the link is a useful resource, it's very easy to see how someone could presume spam without cliking on a few links. Agreed also that it would more properly fit the gambling article. Kuru talk 01:52, 1 June 2006 (UTC) Let's skip the silly stuff please. It's one-third of a page on a 200 page website! It's ludicrous to call that "promotion", and obvious the link was removed without the person caring to look at the website. What we had here is someone unfamiliar with the topic randomly removing a valuable link that is on topic and not promotional in any sense. External link policies are pretty darn clear and a dislike of lawyers is not a reason to remove one. In this case the link is totally relevant to the article, and no content reason was mentioned for removing it. The encyclopedia is here to deliver quality content to users, not as dislike of lawyers platform. The fact the website makes money of course is of no consequence at all -- it's the quality of the content, and the consideration that obviously we can't have articles on the laws about casinos in every state in this article. It's a perfect example of how linking SHOULD be done in the Wikipedia. However, the additional consideration is that there are other resources out there that are more fully-casino focused, rather than just the law part, so adding other links that are even more relevant is a good thing, and can render this link unneeded here since other resources can mention legalities (even if not as in depth) while dealing more in depth with "casino" topics. 2005 03:23, 1 June 2006 (UTC) Regardless of self-promotion or not, why is that link here? This entry is about casinos, not gambling or gaming law. Wouldn't the link be more suitable there? A link to someplace like ildado or casinocity would be appropriate here. FeldBum 23:20, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
It's obviously relevant to link to the law about casinos in all the US states, and could use similar links for other countries if similar such sites exist. Links to ildado or casinocity would make even more sense, but that doesn't comment on how one about casino laws isn't appropriate also. I'm adding a link to the Dmoz brick and mortar casinos category, which is probably better than casino city, but that could be added too. 2005 23:35, 31 May 2006 (UTC) Casino City and World Casino Directory both are listed in the DMOZ category, so it doesn't seem like an additional link would be needed. (I thought about adding the Casino City link but checked the DMOZ category first.)Rray 01:27, 1 June 2006 (UTC) Let's keep the links on-topic here folks. The gambling law link is more appropriate for the Gambling article, and I see it's already there. It doesn't need to be here as well. If someone wanted more information on gambling, they should start with the gambling article, and if necessary follow the law link from there. I'm removing the link from this article. Remember, external links should be added sparingly - we should direct readers internally long before we point them elsewhere. --AbsolutDan (talk) 01:19, 1 June 2006 (UTC) The link is obviously on topic, let's not pretend otherwise. And, given zero other external links, it was appropriate here. It only makes sense to remove it if other external links are added that cover the territory better, as in 1) lists and descriptions of casinos, 2) regulation and limitation of games offered in various jurisdictions. We clearly can not internally list minutae of casino law in every state, or descriptions of restaurants and specific games for every casino in Timbuktu. That's why external links should be used sparingly. In this case, this extremely broad topic article could easily use four or five good external links. The Dmoz link is a good start, but others could easily be added. This is not a narrow focused topic, and we have over one hundred articles linking off this one way or another, but the topic still is even broader than that. 2005 03:28, 1 June 2006 (UTC) Believe it or not, it's OK for an article to have zero external links. This article has plenty of other links internally, which give readers a wide range of other informative and related topics to peruse here at Wikipedia. I'm not advocating removing the link from Wikipedia entirely; it's still in the article Gambling, thus negating the requirement for it to appear here. --AbsolutDan (talk) 03:34, 1 June 2006 (UTC) And believe it or not it is okay to have external links. That says nothing. The article has many internal links. The topic also merits links external links. The fact that a link is in another article is irrelevant to its value to this article. The priorities are user friendliness, comprehensiveness and quality of information, not agendas against attorneys or foolishness about how much text on one page of a site is devoted to a bio about the site owner. Some editors need to remember the priorities of the encyclopedia and not act on their private agendas. 2005 05:11, 1 June 2006 (UTC) I have to agree with Dan here. This link is accessible via a person clicking on "Gaming Law" or "Gambling", where it is applicable. Perhaps if there was a page about U.S. Cainos it would make sense to place the link there, but not on a page about casinos in general. -- FeldBum 13:12, 7 June 2006 (UTC) What probably matters the most is that links in this article should be for information about the topic, that is 'Casino. Vegaswikian 05:36, 1 June 2006 (UTC) I added a link to the Casino City directory earlier today, and it was since deleted. I am planning to add it back in again after completing my explanation here. I see that there was some support previously for adding a link to the casino city directory, but someone decided that since casino city was listed in odp, it was not necessary. I would like to point out that the link I put in before, and an going to add back, is not the same link as that given in ODP. Rather, it is a direct link to the directory of casinos within the casino city website. This website location is absolutely the best place to go on the web for a directory of casinos. It covers many more casino locations than any other source on the web, and is only rivaled in print by the gaming business directory (which is published using the same database as the casino city website). I do want to be clear that I am involved with Casino City (I am its CEO), but I also want to be clear that is it an objective fact that the Casino City directory is updated and maintained on a daily basis by a large content team, and really is the best resource to use if someone is interested in how many casinos there are in the world and where they are located. Finding this information via ODP is painful substitute. Please, before deleting the link I have added again, take a look at the other external links provided versus the casino city link. I believe you will agree that the Casino City link will directly take you to better organized information than either of the other previously existing external links.--Michael Corfman 20:23, 29 July 2006 (UTC)
