Casino Security: Operation, Purpose, and Design

Casinos want to ensure maximum casino security and surveillance as they want to protect important assets and valuables and ensure a safe playing environment for all the gamblers out there. Some casinos also deploy groups of security teams whose responsibility is to profile cheating gamblers as many of the gambling centres have reported instances of cheating or defrauding the casino. The security team spends a huge part of their time and efforts observing card counters and hustlers and catching those who are involved in such dubious activities.

Another duty of the casino security is to check the kind of people entering the premises. There are age restrictions imposed by almost every casino, usually, people aged above eighteen years are welcomed to the ambit of the casinos. You may think this task sounds easy but it’s actually not. It is difficult to identify people who have made their way to the blacklist and have been discarded by the casinos. So the top priority for many of these security teams is to make a list of people who have been officially expunged from the casinos and ensure that no one from that list seeks a presence in the casino which can be due to the person being underage, banished or blacklisted.

Casino security of the games

Now, there are security teams that are responsible for checking the overall environment and behavior of the casinos. However, you need security to check the security of individual games. In other words, you have to monitor the activities revolving around a particular game at the casino. So, casinos tend to hire game-specific security agents who display expertise and skills towards a particular game they are responsible for checking. They are also equipped with the task of monitoring for suspicious betting behavior and identifying vulnerabilities within the casino gaming setup.

Casino security in Roulette

For a game like Roulette, the casino security teams have implemented a list of specific guidelines to ensure the safety of the player and the overall hygiene of the game. Things like touching the chips or meandering around one table watched carefully by the dealer, the security team, and the eye in the sky. There may be some confusion as to whose chips belonged to whom. So to avoid such future discrepancies, the players who usually place winning bets are not allowed to collect their cash prizes until the game is over. When the dealer says no provision for making bets, the players have to strictly abide by it and not touch the chips on the table. The electronic equipment of any kind is not allowed in the casinos. The only things that the players are allowed to bring near the roulette table are chips, drinks, cash, and cigarettes.

Casino security in Craps

The game which requires a high degree of security is craps. In this game, the tables are usually jam-packed together in a pit area where the pit boss who oversees the security has easy access and visibility towards activities that unfolds at every casino table. There is one floorman deployed at each table whose duty is to closely watch the punter’s actions specifically when he rolls the dice, makes bets or counts the chips on the table. In many situations, the casinos have banned people who made large wins at the table since in many parts of the country this practice is deemed illegal. New Jersey and Las Vegas are two states in the US that prohibit such practices. You can enjoy gambling as long as you are a lawful citizen.

Casino security in Poker

Among Poker, the most popular game that is played at the casino is Texas Holdem Poker. It means that the casino security monitors the activities going around these tables. Everything is carefully scrutinised, from the cards to the movements of the chips. The casinos have laid down policies and guidelines for players who love playing poker. For new people, going through these rules are a must before they start playing for cash. Since etiquette plays an important role here, it is expected from the player to treat their opponents and staff of the casino with dignity and respect.

Delving more into casino security systems

The casinos come up with effective and proper rules and regulations to decrease cases of cheating. They try to reduce instances of fraud and cheating in instances such as shuffling cards, arranging new decks of cards correctly, dealing rightly, etc. Nowadays, many of them are installing facial recognition software which helps in identifying card counters or commonly known as advantage players. When they step inside the casino, everyone stays on high alert. Casinos have come up with many technological advancements to detect foul gameplay, dubious betting patterns, etc. Some of them keep video archives that help to detect common patterns of cheating that may have occurred in the past.

The camera system

The eye in the camera system consists of a sophisticated and intricate network of cameras that uses machine learning technologies and human security agents to minutely scrutinise each activity that is undergoing at the casino. You will also find a group of professional security guards vigilantly monitoring the casino floors, dealers, and customers and keeping a track of every move. So in today’s world, cheating, robbing, defrauding a casino is not a feasible option and it’s highly recommended to play any game fair and square by maintaining basic civil liberties.

Hopefully, this information will prove to be useful if you plan to visit any casino establishment in near future. Even if you are playing at an online casino, it is always better to know the rules and regulations before shelling out money. There is always fun to play any game adhering to basic rules of gameplay.