32 things you don't know about Casino's
32 Things You Don't Know About Casinos
From the biggest slot jackpot to those nasty surveillance cameras to why all music is in the key of C
By Jefferson Reid
1. Big Easy does it.
The first U.S. casinos appeared in New Orleans in the 1820s after the city legalized gambling and began charging $5,000 for casino licenses. The city used the fees to fund education and a local ho****al.
2. Paradise lost or found?
The first real casino on the Las Vegas Strip, the Pair-O-Dice Club, opened In 1931. Of course, back then the Strip was simply known as dusty old Highway 91.
3. Gam-tastic
Legendary gangster and Vegas visionary Bugsy Siegel named his Las Vegas casino the Flamingo after the long legs of his showgirl sweetheart, Virginia Hill.
4. And speaking of Bugsy...
The pit boss, who controls the casino's table gambling area, is so-named because once upon a time the person running the show was a real boss--a Mob boss.
5. And speaking of legs...
The longest-running casino floor show in Las Vegas is the Folies Bergere at the Tropicana. It opened there in 1959.
6. Pocket shocker
Not that the casinos don't trust their employees or anything like that, but dealer costumes/uniforms usually don't have pockets in their shirts or slacks.
7. Here's the deal
Casinos introduced automatic shuffling machines at blackjack tables to speed the game. Because: More hands = greater profits. A shuffling machine results in 20 percent more games played per hour.
8. A pretty nice tip
One of the world's largest slot jackpots to date is $34,959,458, won in the year 2000 by a ****tail waitress at the Desert Inn Resort in Las Vegas.
32 Things You Don't Know About Casinos
9. The big, big money
With casinos thriving throughout Asia, Europe, the Caribbean and the South Pacific, precise ********* gaming income is difficult to pin down, but the take totals in the hundreds of billions.
10. Making it big
The new Borgata Resort Casino & Spa in Atlantic City has a price tag of $1 billion. That's a helluva lot of nickel slots.
11. Location, location, location
The more than 200 casinos in Las Vegas attract some 33 million visitors a year. In contrast, the former Portuguese colony of Macau in China has only 11 casinos, but the bustling destination attracts about one-third as many visitors as Nevada's gambling Mecca.
12. The big money
Vegas' annual gaming revenue is $6 billion per year. Atlantic City kicks in another $3 billion as part of the annual U.S. total of $50 billion.
13. Key of C stands for Casino
The musical cues and any incidental theme music in casino slots are usually in the key of C. Research has shown that this key fits in best with the casino's general hubbub.
14. Gimme five
A casino will often leave an empty $25 limit blackjack table open, rather than changing it to a $5 table that would be sure to draw a crowd. It's simply economics. Casinos have figured out that a full table of seven $5 players will earn them half as much as two $25 players. And a single $100 player would earn them much more--and much faster.
15. The glass ceiling
Two-way mirrors in casino ceilings conceal hidden cameras, which zoom in on any customer winning more than $1,000, just to make sure everything is on the up and up.
16. More Casino Candid Camera
You are on 24/7 video surveillance everywhere--from the parking lot, to the casino, to the hotel, to the pool to the lounge. Everywhere, that is, but in your room. And yes, casino restrooms are under video surveillance. They must be really worried about cheating at craps?
32 Things You Don't Know About Casinos
17. Really Big Brother.
Atlantic City's $1 billion Borgata Resort Casino & Spa has more than 1,700 surveillance cameras.
18. You want chips with that?
Did the Earl of Sandwich invent the buffet line? Not exactly. But the inventor of the much-loved food item that now bears his name is said to have invented the whole "roast beef on toast" thing so he could eat with one hand and gamble with the other.
19. Faster, faster
Nor does casino management use its "eye in the sky" surveillance just to spot cheaters. It also performs "game-pace audits" to ensure that dealers are keeping the game moving fast enough to maximize profits.
20. Chips
If you want to take a casino chip home as a souvenir, feel free, but make sure it's of a low denomination because it may be worthless when you return. Casinos reserve the right to change their chip designs at anytime.
21. Atlantic City altruism
Casinos in New Jersey don't allow the Big 6 and Big 8 sucker bets that are scrawled on craps table in most of the rest of the world. (The table bet pays off worse odds than just making a place bet on the same number). Jersey is obviously trying to earn a squeaky-clean rep, but it'll take a long time to banish the memory of Tony Soprano.
22. Time to lose money
True: There are no clocks in Las Vegas Casinos.
23. Breathe easy
Also true: Casinos reportedly pump in extra oxygen to make visitors feel better and gamble longer without getting tired.
24. Bright lights, big city
Get your glow on: The Vegas strip reportedly has more than 15,000 miles of neon tubing.
25. Rats, I'm lost!
Maybe you're amazed, or maybe you're just in a maze. Casino's meandering pedestrian paths are specifically designed to keep you slightly disoriented yet always close to the action.
26. Coinless slots?
One of the latest tech crazes in casinos is ticket-in/ticket out paying of slots and other games. Instead of inserting coins, you buy in with bills or a paid casino card, and cash out with a paper ticket. If you win a big jackpot, you don't have to wait for the attendant. If you lose, you can just slink away.
27. Watching what you spend
Casino's in Missouri use a ticket-in/ticket out system and bill validators (games that suck in your bills like a change machine) to ensure a two-hour loss limit of $500. So, for once, Big Brother is watching out for you.
28. That'$ entertainment!
Although gaming is still king overall, many casinos in Vegas make more than half of their money from the shows.
29. Oh, the Zumanity!
Las Vegas' New York New York casino spent $50 million remodeling its showroom for Cirque du Soleil's erotically themed Zumanity show.
30. A titanic show (and take)
Celine Dion receives $100 million plus half of the profits from her three-year engagement at the 4,000-seat Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Vegas. The second balcony "cheap seats" will set you back about $80, and prices top out at $225. The $95 million theater features a 120-foot-wide stage and the world's largest video screen.
31. Who, who are you?
According U.S. News and World Report, casino players have a median income of $41,000 and a median age of 47 and wager an $25Ð$100 per casino visit; 45 percent of the players are male, 55 percent female.
32. Child's play? Not!
The legal age to gamble in the U.S. is 21. Some casinos may look the other way and let kids under 21 play, but they never let them win. Usually, if an underage player wins any jackpot, and definitely a jackpot over $1,200 (which requires them to record it for the IRS), the minor will be shown the door but not shown the money. Which makes underage gambling just about the worst bet there is.
