Gambling has been a part of human culture for millennia. The earliest evidence comes from 2300 BC China, followed by dice in Rome and then cards around 800 AD. Casinos are businesses, not charitable organizations giving away free money, and they must make a gross profit to survive. Every game they offer has built-in mathematical odds designed to ensure that the house always wins – an advantage that can be described more precisely as the “house edge.”

The key to making that happen is keeping people gambling as long as possible. That’s why casinos waft scented oils through their ventilation systems, to create a manufactured blissful experience that keeps players at their machines. They also design labyrinth-like walkways filled with enticing slots to confuse and delude players. Some even use near-misses, which can be programmed to compel gamblers to keep playing.

While the gangster scenes in Casino lack the pizzazz of Goodfellas, Scorsese’s movie still manages to hold your attention throughout its three-hour running time. It’s helped by a terrific cast, most notably Robert De Niro as mobster Tommy Gunn, Sharon Stone as his crooked partner Ginger McKenna and Joe Pesci as the relentless scumbag Santoro. But it’s the underlying story of how organized crime lost control of Las Vegas that makes Casino compelling, revealing a web of corruption that reached into politicians, Teamsters unions and Midwest mafia factions. It’s a harrowing tale that helps explain why the city has become so obsessed with winning.