Casino is a place where various games of chance can be played and gambling is the primary activity. The word has also been used to describe more lavish establishments that add extra features such as restaurants, stage shows and luxurious living quarters to house gambling activities.
As a genre, movies that feature casinos can be a lot of fun to watch. The underlying excitement and suspense of waiting for the next card or spin can keep you captivated even if you aren’t winning. In fact, this is one of the main reasons why casinos are so popular with gamblers.
In real-life, casinos have a strict and often complicated system for monitoring the behavior of patrons and to prevent cheating, theft and other crimes. Security starts on the floor, where employees constantly monitor players to catch blatantly obvious attempts at cheating or to spot patterns in betting behavior that might indicate a patron is trying to rig a game. Detailed surveillance systems provide an eye-in-the-sky view of the entire casino at once, with cameras watching every table change, window and doorway.
In terms of sheer scope, the crime drama Casino is perhaps Martin Scorsese’s most ambitious movie. The director was able to weave together an intricate plot that stretched across the Teamsters union, Las Vegas mob, Chicago mafia and even the Kansas City mob in order to create a cinematic epic about the life of Sam “Ace” Rothstein (Robert De Niro). Despite its length, however, Casino never lags or runs out of steam, thanks to masterful editing and taut narration.