Casino explores the dark side of gambling, and it features some of the best performances in Martin Scorsese’s career from Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. While it may not be as good as Goodfellas, this film does a great job of showing how fucked up the mobster lifestyle is. It also features a great performance from Sharon Stone as Ginger McKenna, the opportunistic femme fatale that Sam falls for.

Casino opens with a scene that seems to be part documentary but quickly shifts into a stylized thriller. Scorsese uses rapid cuts and fast narration to evoke the hectic nature of Vegas casinos and its many temptations. This is a technique that works well throughout the movie. The narrative never lags or runs out of steam, even though this is one of the longest films that Scorsese has ever made.

Gambling is an ancient activity that has been practiced in various forms for thousands of years. The precise origins of gambling are unclear, but it is generally believed to have evolved from games of chance that were used as a form of entertainment by early humans. Today, most modern casinos use the same methods to lure gamblers in and keep them playing. These include offering free meals and hotel stays for big spenders, changing cash into colorful chips that don’t feel as real as actual money, and using a variety of tricks to make losses less painful.

A casino’s strategy is based on the house edge and variance, which are mathematical calculations performed by experts in the field known as gaming mathematicians. By understanding these figures, a casino can maximize its profits and minimize its losses.