Casino is a movie about greed, corruption and the human capacity for evil. The main characters are mired in lies, betrayal and murder but at the same time it is hard not to empathize with them. This is because the story is told from an outsider perspective, a third person that observes the deceptions and tragedies without being part of them. This is a very effective strategy for a film about such a dark subject and makes the audience think about their own actions in light of what they have seen.

Gambling is an entertaining pastime that offers the satisfaction of winning cash prizes. While the thrill of gambling is often enough to keep people going, for some it becomes an addiction that consumes them. Individuals with a gambling addiction may spend several hours at the same slot machine, ignoring the other parts of their life in order to stay immersed in a trance-like state. Casinos are designed to create an atmosphere that encourages people to gamble more, and they do this by incorporating attractive colors, interesting shapes, and luxurious furniture pieces. They also use mirrors strategically placed around the room to give the illusion of success and compel players to play.

Although casinos look like a place of luxury and elegance, they are in fact designed to slowly drain their patrons of their hard-earned cash. Many casinos are rigged to make the house an advantage over the gamblers, and for years mathematically inclined minds have tried to turn the tables by using knowledge of probability and game theory to exploit the weaknesses in the rigged system.