Modern gaming equipment is
state-of-the-art and precision-made. Items are checked regularly to ensure
that nothing has been tempered with to give players or the casino an unfair
advantage. Roulette wheels are frequently serviced and their balance is
checked.
The shoes (boxes) for dealing cards
are chained to the table to stop players switching them for cold decks (deck
arranged in a specific order). Before play, the cards are spread out to show
that full decks are being used, and creased or marked cards are replaced. Any
cards that become marked during play are immediately replaced.
At the end of a day's gaming the old
cards are counted to ensure that none has been removed. They are the
discarded. Before starting each new game the cards are thoroughly shuffled,
first by mixing them face down, and then by riffle shuffle (splitting the pack
into two and then letting the cards drop by using both thumbs). A player is
always invited to cut the cards by inserting a blank card into the pack.
Gaming dice are precision-made
perfect cubes. They are transparent, to make it impossible to load them (add
weights). During play the dealers continually scrutinize the dice to check
they have been not switched for ones with a different arrangement of dots, or
have filed edges or rounded corners, as these may make it easier to throw
winning numbers. New dice are used each day and destroyed at the end of play,
either by being marked with a special stamp or by having a hole drilled
through them.
The action on the gaming floors and
at the tables is recorded on videotape and stored. Back-office security staff
not only watch the players, but also the dealers, to ensure that they are not
cheating by colluding with players. If there is any discrepancy, or if a
player has a query over an aspect of a specific game, management can request
that the relevant tapes be viewed.
Casino personnel are usually subject
to scrupulous checks before being employed. In the UK for instance, dealers
are required to be individually licensed. Before a license is granted,
prospective staff are carefully assessed and their backgrounds thoroughly
checked. The police or gaming board officials may even visit their homes. In
the UK, dealers are not allowed to visit other British casinos in their free
time. If found on the premises of another casino, their license is immediately
revoked.
In most countries, companies that
operate casinos are also subject to stringent licensing procedures, often
requiring months of careful investigation by gaming board officials. The lure
of lucrative gaming licenses frequently leads to elaborate bidding contests
between competitors keen to cash in on what has become accepted as a viable
and profitable part of the global leisure and entertainment industry.
Most governments have realized that
substantial revenues can be had from gaming, and they levy large annual
operating fees - which casinos regard as just one more part of the cost of
doing business in an industry that has grown from mob control to mega-dollar
conglomerates in only a few decades.
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