Casino is a word that brings to mind flashing lights, free cocktails and gambling. But beneath the surface, casinos are engineered to slowly bleed patrons of their hard-earned cash. Beneath the glitz of Las Vegas’ most decadent temples, you can find an architecture of odds and probability that has shaped the gambling industry as we know it.

Gambling in its many forms, from casual games of chance with a bookie to the high-stakes table game of baccarat, has been part of human culture for millennia. Its precise origin is unknown, but it’s been a constant in societies from Ancient Mesopotamia and Greece to Napoleon’s France and Elizabethan England.

While some casinos earn money from food and entertainment, they are primarily funded by the games of chance played within their walls. Every casino game has a mathematical probability against the player winning, which is also known as the house edge. This advantage varies for different games but it ultimately helps ensure that over time, the casino will win more than it loses to players.

Some games of chance have an element of skill, such as baccarat, blackjack, and trente et quarante (French for “three and a half”). While some players may try to exploit these games by counting cards or other strategies, it is generally against the rules of most casinos and is considered cheating. Because of the large amounts of money handled by casinos, security measures are generally quite rigorous. Cameras throughout the casino are one of the more basic measures, but casinos also have security personnel on the floor to watch patrons and employees for signs of cheating or theft.