A wide variety of games can be found at casinos, and some casinos seem to specialize in inventing new games to draw more players. In some places, the games that are allowed are regulated by state laws. This section will cover the most common casino games. Compliance regulations in the gaming industry are among the most stringent of all businesses. For security personnel in the casino business, selecting, deploying and maintaining a surveillance system that satisfies all the regulatory requirements is a complex process, and success depends greatly on the knowledge, experience and agility of the integrator. Regulations differ in the market depending on geographic location and the specific type of gaming establishment being operated. In many cases, technology that is offered by security providers may not line up perfectly with the requirements of the laws.
An Individualized Approach
Because there is such diversity in regulations, each casino deployment demands an individualized approach. Tribal gaming is unique in that standards are often established by individual tribal entities, and they may vary from one property to the next. Each tribe has unique challenges they are faced with; the surveillance system that meets their aspirations may include functions and features that go beyond NIGA standards to keep them within their tribe’s compliance. It is the responsibility of the integrator to become familiar with these in order to meet the needs of that tribe’s installations.
One tribal entity may require 30 days retention of recorded video while another requires only 7 days. When systems are replaced, some stipulate a requirement for parallel recording where both systems operate simultaneously until the new system has been proven. It is up to the integrator to meet the technical challenges of keeping the casino fully operational and open for business during the migration of one system to the next.
Creating, Changing and Interpreting Gaming Regulations
For all areas of gaming, regulations are created and changed on the government’s schedule, which does not necessarily align with the development timing of surveillance technology. This can create some interesting situations. Sometimes product capabilities jump ahead of regulations that are written, based on older technology, and it is up to the integrator to help educate those involved when the actual need may be better
Blackjack
Blackjack is one of the easiest table games. The object is to get a hand of cards whose values are as close to 21 as possible without going over (busting). Only the values of the cards are considered, not the suit -- picture cards are worth ten, and an Ace can be worth 11 or one, whichever is more advantageous to the player. The house advantage can be minimized by using a strategy or even counting cards, but if a casino suspects card counting, they can throw you out. The house edge without counting is about two percent. For more details, see How Blackjack Works.
Slot Machines Keno is essentially a lottery held in a casino. Players purchase a card and choose a series of numbers. The casino draws numbered balls at a scheduled time. If a player's numbers match those drawn, the player wins. Virtually every casino expert recommends staying away from keno -- the odds are stacked against the players even more heavily than in other games.
Baccarat
Baccarat is a card game often played in a separate room of the casino. It is characterized by minimum and maximum betting limits that are usually higher than other table games. Depending on how the players bet, the house edge can be as low as 0.6 percent, but averages around 1.25 percent. In fact, certain winnings are "taxed" by the casino at five percent to ensure they make money on the game.
As for the game itself, two hands are dealt, one representing the Banker, one representing the Player. The value of the hand is reduced to a single digit, and the higher hand wins. Gambling online falls into a legal grey area. While it is technically illegal in most of the United States, the prosecution and conviction of individual players is very difficult because they're gambling from home. It is also illegal for a gambling Web site to operate within the United States, which is why the offices and servers of most online casinos are located in other countries. There are about 70 countries that allow online gambling sites to set up shop, including Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, and some provinces of Canada.
When you register for an online casino, you are required to agree to the site's terms and conditions. Finding out whether or not gambling is legal where you live is your responsibility. You must also abide by any age limits set on gambling in your locality. If online gambling is illegal in your area, and authorities discover that you've won money, your winnings could be forfeit.
Issues of jurisdiction and sovereignty make gambling laws even murkier. The U.S. Wire Wager Act makes it illegal to use an electronic wire method (which courts generally agree includes the Internet) to transmit bets to places where gambling is not allowed. So a casino set up in the Netherlands is breaking U.S. law if a player in the U.S. plays their games. However, the U.S. doesn't really have the legal authority to prosecute someone in another country. Since players are almost never prosecuted either, we're left with an illegal act that generally goes unpunished. Of course, if an off-shore casino decides to cheat a player out of winnings, and online gambling is illegal in that player's locality, the player will have a difficult time suing the casino.
This brings us to the topic of regulation. Some of the countries that allow online casinos to operate have strict guidelines and regulations that make sure the casinos operate legitimately. They make sure the casino pays out when players win, and they ensure that published odds match the actual odds programmed into each game. Australian and Finnish online casinos are known for adhering to national standards. Some countries are not so strict about regulation and may be more interested in taxing the casinos than making sure that they play fair. There are many online casinos to choose from, and it pays to do some research into the regulations they must follow when you select one.
Video Poker
Roulette is a classic casino game was invented by the French (the name means 'little wheel'). A spinning wheel is divided into 38 spaces, each space containing a number from one to 36. The other two spaces have the numbers 0 and 00. The spaces are also divided between the colors red and black (the 0 and 00 spaces are green). A metal ball is dropped onto the wheel as it spins, rolls and bounces around a bit, and eventually settles into one of the spaces. The players bet on which space the ball will end up in. Bets can be placed in single numbers, various combinations of two or more numbers, even or odd numbers, red or black spaces or sets of a dozen numbers at once. While the house edge varies (different bets have different payouts), it is roughly between five and seven percent.
Some, such as a company run by former Sands Corporation president William Weidner, have said publicly they hope to build on Matsu despite a lack of existing infrastructure, according to gaming analysts who followed the referendum.
Other casino giants hope the Matsu initiative increases pro-gambling sentiment in the Taiwan Strait archipelago of Penghu or in Kinmen, a group of Taiwan-controlled islands just off the swanky mainland city of Xiamen. Kinmen and Penghu have better infrastructure than Matsu, including bigger airports, meaning less investment and easier returns for any casino operators. Penghu voters turned down a casino initiative in 2009, due to fears that criminals would be drawn to the new resorts. The archipelago's voters can try for a new referendum as early as September this year.
Luring Chinese Customers