Casino is an epic story of organized crime and how huge gambling corporations took over Las Vegas. It also reveals how the city has changed since then and how it continues to reinvent itself. The movie is based on the book Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas by Nicholas Pileggi.
The atmosphere inside a casino is exciting and fun. The lighting is flashy and upbeat, music is pumping, and people are buzzing around trying their hand at a game of cards or slots. There are usually many places to eat and drink and live entertainment options, too.
Something about casinos seems to encourage cheating and stealing, perhaps because the large sums of money are there for the taking. As a result, casinos spend a lot of time and money on security. For example, most casinos have a high-tech “eye-in-the-sky” surveillance system that allows security workers to watch every table, window, and doorway at the same time. They can even adjust the cameras to focus on suspicious patrons.
Casinos are also designed to be labyrinthine, with no straight aisles or clear pathways from one area of the casino to another. This creates the feeling that you are walking into a secret place. In addition, the booze lowers inhibitions and clouds judgment, so many patrons are heavily inebriated when they play at a casino. The result is often a series of bad decisions that can quickly drain a casino’s money.