Usage and etymology

The word casino comes from the Italian word casa, which means “house.” A small country casino villa, summerhouse, or social club may be referred to as a casino. During the 19th century, the term “casino” was expanded to include other public buildings where pleasurable activities were held; These structures were usually built on the grounds of a larger Italian villa or palazzo, and they were used to host civic town functions like dancing, singing, and other forms of entertainment. Popular pastimes include gambling, music listening, and sports.

Casinos aren’t all used for gambling. Traditional games of chance, which were already illegal in California at the time the Catalina Casino was built, have never been played at the Catalina Casino on California’s Santa Catalina Island. During the 1848 Revolution, which established Denmark as a constitutional monarchy, the Copenhagen Casino was a Danish theatre that also hosted public meetings.

A casino (Spanish) or Kasino (German) is an officers’ mess in military and non-military usage.

The history of gambling establishments

The origins of gambling are unknown. Gambling is thought to have existed in some form or another in almost every society throughout history. Many stories of entertainment based on games of chance can be found throughout history, from the Ancient Greeks and Romans to Napoleon’s France and Elizabethan England.

The Ridotto, established in Venice, Italy, in 1638 by the Great Council of Venice to provide controlled gambling during the carnival season, was the first known European gambling house, not called a casino but meeting the modern definition. The city government decided to close it down in 1774 because it was impoverishing the local gentry.

Early gambling establishments in America were known as saloons. Four major cities influenced the development and importance of saloons: New Orleans, St. Louis, Chicago, and San Francisco. Travelers could find people to talk to, drink with, and often gamble within the saloons. Gambling was outlawed by state legislation in the United States in the early twentieth century. Gambling was legalized in the state of Nevada in 1931, and the first legalized casinos opened in the United States. In 1976, New Jersey legalized gambling in Atlantic City, which is now the second-largest gambling city in the United States.

In casinos, gambling

The majority of countries have a minimum gambling age of 18 to 21. Craps, roulette, baccarat, blackjack, and video poker are examples of games of chance that include an element of skill in some cases. Most games have mathematically determined odds that give the house an advantage over the players at all times. The concept of expected value, which is uniformly negative (from the player’s perspective), can be used to express this more precisely. The house edge refers to this advantage. The house takes a commission called the rake in games where players compete against each other, such as poker. Gamblers are occasionally given complimentary items or comps by casinos.

The percentage of funds (“winnings”) returned to players is referred to as payout.

In American casinos, a player who bets money won at the casino is said to be playing with the house’s money.

Slot machines (video lottery machines) have become one of the most popular forms of casino gambling. Since 2011, investigative reports have begun to question whether today’s slot machines are addictive.

Casino Design

The process of optimizing the floor plan, décor, and atmospheres to encourage gambling is regarded as a psychological exercise.

Sound, odor, and lighting are all factors that influence gambling behavior. According to anthropologist Natasha Dow Schüll of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the audio directors at Silicon Gaming chose “the universally pleasant tone of C, sampling existing casino soundscapes to create a pleasing but non-conflicting sound.”

Alan Hirsch, the founder of the Chicago-based Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation, studied the effect of different scents on gamblers and discovered that a pleasant but unidentified odor released by Las Vegas slot machines generated about 50% more daily revenue. He claimed that the scent acted as an aphrodisiac, causing people to gamble more aggressively.

 Casino security

At the Thousand Islands Casino, there’s a sign.

Because of the large sums of money handled in a casino, both patrons and employees may be tempted to cheat and steal, either together or separately; most casinos have security measures in place to prevent this. The most basic security measure is the installation of security cameras throughout the casino.

A physical security force and a specialized surveillance department are usually used in modern casino security. The casino’s physical security force patrols the premises and responds to calls for help and reports of possible criminal activity. A specialized surveillance department oversees the casino’s closed-circuit television system, The industry has dubbed it “the eye in the sky.” Both of these specialized casino security departments work closely together to ensure the safety of both guests and casino assets and have had a great deal of success in preventing crime. Surveillance personnel can also look directly down on the activities at the tables and slot machines through the one-way glass from catwalks in the ceiling above the casino floor.

When it opened in 1989, the Mirage was the first casino to use full-time cameras on all table games.

Casinos enforce security through rules of conduct and behavior in addition to cameras and other technological measures. Players in card games, for example, are required to keep the cards in their hands visible at all times.

Business practices Casino

Casinos have developed a variety of marketing techniques to attract and retain loyal customers over the last few decades. Many casinos use a loyalty rewards program to track their patrons’ spending habits and better target them by sending out mailings with free slot play and other promotions. For example, the Casino Helsinki in Helsinki, Finland, donates all of its profits to charity.

Casinos for criminals

Casinos have long been associated with organized crime, with the American Mafia dominating early casinos in Las Vegas and Triad syndicates dominating casinos in Macau.

According to some police reports, within three years of a casino’s opening, the local incidence of reported crime often doubles or triples. Researchers interviewed people who had been arrested in Las Vegas and Des Moines for a 2004 report by the US Department of Justice and discovered that the percentage of problem or pathological gamblers among the arrestees was three to five times higher than in the general population.

Economic studies that show a positive relationship between casinos and crime are said to overlook the visiting population: they count crimes committed by visitors but do not include visitors in the population measure, resulting in an overestimation of the crime rate. Despite the exaggeration, part of the reason this methodology is used is that reliable data on tourist counts are often unavailable.

Occupational safety and health

The casino industry has its own set of occupational health issues. The most common are cancers caused by secondhand tobacco smoke exposure and musculoskeletal injury (MSI) caused by repetitive motion injuries while playing table games for long periods of time.

Since its arrival, online casinos have grown in acceptance, as the proposal to play from the comfort of home is very attractive. For this reason, they have a huge following around the world, and there are more and more gamblers, as well as casinos where it is possible to play.

The online casino offers guaranteed entertainment from the comfort of home

Even if you do not have experience in the game, an online casino offers a very intuitive platform, and the bettor does not take long to get used to it. These online casinos have a wide variety of table games, allowing for extended entertainment.  

Being online, the bettor is playing from the comfort of his own home, with the same games that can be found in face-to-face casinos, roulette, craps, slots, blackjack, and the possibility of placing bets on various sports. Other games offer new technologies and have been adapted to play online, especially for the youngest.  

This type of entertainment does not have time restrictions, since it can be played at any time. The only restriction is age, so you can play online at these casinos until the holidays when the real casinos are not open. 

The welcome bonus is very tempting for new players

The best gambling sites also have bonuses and promotions, which have no other purpose than to capture more online gamblers. These promotional casino bonuses are really an interesting tool for the new gambler.

The most common of these bonuses is the welcome one, which, according to each online casino’s promotions, consists of increasing the first reload made to play online with a percentage. 

One of these online casino platforms’ best options is that you can play from any device with Internet access, either from your computer, from your mobile phone or a tablet. Some casinos even offer applications specially designed to play online from the mobile phone, where you can make the most of the resources.

They have a wide variety of games for all tastes

The games of chance are a near-perfect simulation of the games that can be played in a real casino. One of the most popular is the game of roulette, which has millions of fans worldwide.  

For fans of slot machines, they provide a number of different options to not tire of playing. They also offer the classic card games, in which many games can be played, due to the speed offered by online technology.

Innovative IT security that protects players bets

The laws that govern the online casino can guarantee people’s bets’ safety to generate better confidence. Since their regulation throughout Europe, these casinos work under the strict regulations indicated by law. 

For these reasons, these casinos’ online platforms have the best data protection technology to protect users. This computer security is the most modern that exists today, so bettors feel safe when placing their bets.

Sports betting attract sports fans

In addition to Internet casinos’ game options, sports betting offers the best way to bet on various sporting events that exist at all times.

This offers the opportunity to test your knowledge about a certain sport, basing your bets on the statistics of your opponents ‘ last matches to bet on who will win, without leaving home. 

Of these bets, soccer bets are the most popular and frequent. However, in these casinos, you can bet on any type of sport, both national and international. 

In online casinos, it is possible to bet in different modalities with the requirement of being registered. Initial bets are placed prior to each match’s start, and live casino bets are placed when the match is taking place. On the other hand, combination bets are ideal for those who have enough knowledge to bet on several games at the same time. 

How online casinos are personalizing their services to attract more players in 2020

Online casinos betting are very hard in the year 2020. Without a doubt, this year represents a before and after in many aspects. With a confined population and distancing as the only way to avoid contagions, a point of virtual intensity has never been seen before. Web pages receive millions of visits every day, and users are increasingly demanding. Details matter and the best casinos are aware of this fact.

Personalization attracts more players in 2020

Players have completely changed their online gambling habits. Aware that hundreds of new online casino companies will hit the market in 2020 prepared to give what they ask for, casino players are becoming increasingly demanding. Being at home almost 24 hours a day has its drawbacks and advantages. One of the most direct is the time to be able to play by comparing various services. Personalization is a key factor in attracting more casino players.

What every player needs is direct attention. They do not want to pay more for less, but to earn more with less effort. It is the current trend that translates into a series of measures that are being perceived worldwide. Everything changes and so do online casinos.

Personalized payment methods for each player

The way you enter an online casino can be determined by the way you pay. There are several systems that seem to attract more and more players. Some of the games offer somewhat greater security. Not opting for traditional cards or bank accounts brings a lot of confidence to players. Virtual wallets like Google Wallet and others help maintain the privacy of a necessary form at this time and are also able to gain speed when exchanging real money.

Some games are increasingly competitive

Being able to choose from a wide variety of competitive games is the dream of every player in 2020. The best online casinos offer a wide range of possibilities to give this ability to choose. The reality is that many hope to find in that online casino a place adapted to their tastes, and that is what ends up happening when the offer is expanded. The fact that it can be played from any platform or device ends up being a success for those who are committed to maximum mobility.

Attention to the player is very present

Another factor that determines personalization is customer service. This way of keeping the online casino connected with its users is what keeps everything going. People receive what they need and have their doubts resolved almost instantly. This fact is what makes the difference in the best online casinos. One way of being able to offer personalized services is by knowing each client perfectly.

Therefore, attention to the player is the first step in this customization that manages to attract more and more people. An open the door to some improvements and certain requests from the players. Without this aspect, it would be impossible to maintain the correct management of doubts or incidents. This element ensures a satisfied customer who knows that someone at all times will serve him.

The new horizon of online casinos is making its way with increasing competitiveness. The physical spaces have given rise to virtual sites preparing to face a demand that will reach astronomical figures in the year 2020. Online visits and games are being the true protagonists of this confinement.

The business of gambling is massive, and it has always been like that. No one can say that they’ve seen Las Vegas without thinking that the city is one of the richest in the US.

In recent years, another branch of the casino business has further increased the industry’s value — online casinos.

Together with online casinos, the revenues of the casino business surpass several billion every year. But how do they make them? In essence, their profit consists of winnings, i.e. the money they win from the players who lose in casino games.

Naturally, it’s not as simple as that, so we wanted to delve deeper to explain how this works and how casinos never fear for their profits even though they have great chances of losing big to the players.

It’s All in the Games

At a glance, it seems that casinos have as much of a chance to lose as the players. However, the reality is much different and safer for the casinos. Namely, each casino game is based on pure chance, meaning that the results are entirely random. This is enabled by something called a random number generator (RNG).

An RNG is a piece of code that ensures every outcome in a casino game is entirely random. However, that doesn’t mean that it’s equally random for the player and the casino. The casino benefits from something called the house edge. This edge is there to ensure that the casinos have a slightly higher chance of winning your money than you have of winning theirs.

It does sound a bit unfair, but it’s the only way to ensure casinos remain profitable. Just look at it this way — if casinos weren’t profitable, they wouldn’t exist. In that case there would be no casino games for you to play!

How Do Games Make Money for the Casinos?

Most people don’t know any of this. They wrongly believe that they have just as much of a chance of winning as the casino itself. However, when you look at it more closely, you realize that every casino game is made to offer slightly better odds to the house compared to the players.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in games like European roulette. As you probably know, this popular table game has 37 numbers, starting with 0 and ending with 36. Now, even though there are 37 numbers when the ball lands on the number you’ve wagered on, you will win 36 times the amount on the number, not 37.

In essence, if you bet $1 and win, the casino will pay you $35 and give you your $1 back. However, over the course of 37 spins, you would bet $37, but if you win once, as the odds suggest, you will get $36 while the casino keeps the remaining $1.

This is precisely how the casino stands to win from the game of roulette. The chances don’t mean much for one person, because you can always win several times during those 37 spins, but the casino is unlikely to lose so many times throughout thousands of spins with a dozen or so players.

The same happens if you make different bets, like betting on a color. The 0 is still there, and you lose either way if the ball lands on it. When you translate that into odds, your chance of winning with every spin is slightly lower than 50%. What’s more, the odds are even lower for American roulette games where there is both a 0 and a 00.

Now, roulette is not the only game that works like this. Every casino game has a similar feature due to which it becomes mathematically impossible for the casino not to obtain a long-term profit from their games.

However, that doesn’t mean a player like you can’t win big. You absolutely can, because it only takes one win with a larger wager for you to win thousands of dollars. But the casino doesn’t care. The casino will always make a profit because if you win big, thousands of other players would still have lost at least once, which is more than enough to result in a profit for the house.

The only exception to this rule of the house edge is poker. Here, players bet against each other, while the casino only makes a profit from the fee they charge for setting up tournaments.

What About the Expenses?

Unlike the profits, which are the same for both online and traditional casinos, the expenses are different. Traditional casinos have expenses for the premises they use, and the staff they employ, which online casinos don’t. So, in essence, with the expenses lower, online casinos tend to win more.

Online casinos don’t have to worry about paying for a lavish building and furniture, drinks at the bar, dozens upon dozens of workers, etc. They only have to worry about the website and a few other things.

Naturally, this is not inexpensive; it’s just not as expensive as brick-and-mortar casinos’ expenses.

An online casino has to pay for the servers on which its website is hosted, then for the licenses, the software deals that provide them with games, and the marketing that attracts players.

The marketing is an interesting aspect of any online casino’s expenses, as it’s probably the only expense that surpasses that of the brick-and-mortar casinos. Traditional casinos don’t need to spend on a wide variety of marketing campaigns; they rely on being physically located where they are. They only need to wait, and players are likely to arrive on their own without the casino investing heavily in advertising.

On the other hand, online casinos still have to pay for a wide variety of advertisements, and they have to offer bonuses, and so much more.

However, at the end of the day, the overall expenses are still lower for online casinos than they are for offline casinos.

How Much Do Online Casinos Earn?

There are a lot of crazy facts about casinos but when all is said and done, one crucial question remains — how much do online casinos earn?

Unfortunately, it’s hard to answer this seemingly simple question. First of all, online casinos are not listed publicly, which is why they don’t have to report on their income or their expenses. And if that weren’t enough, many online casinos also have sportsbooks, which makes calculating their revenues and profits quite hard.

Sportsbooks themselves tend to earn a lot of money as well. For instance, Bet365 had a profit of $896 million for the 2018/2019 fiscal year. They didn’t report how much of this was from casino games.

Even though we can’t calculate how much an average casino makes, we still know that the entire iGaming industry is worth around $40 billion, and that’s just the online casino industry with its casino games. This is clearly a massive number, but we still have to mention that some casinos make more than others.

A few software developers who both own casinos and develop casino games make the most, and these are Playtech, 888, Paddy Power Betfair, and a few others. Others are much smaller, and many of them earn a lot less but calculating that is, unfortunately, even harder.

Whatever the exact profits are for an average casino, it’s safe to say that the industry is incredibly lucrative, and we hope that now you have a clearer picture of how an online casino makes money.