You’re in a casino, surrounded by twinkly lights and buzzing noises. You’ve eaten a full meal and are ready to roll the dice, hoping to get lucky. But you should be aware that casinos are not as they portray themselves in movies and TV shows. While gambling may offer a brief rush of excitement, it’s important to keep in mind your limits and how to manage your money.

Regardless of what type of game you choose to play, the odds are against you. That’s because a casino is a business and it expects to profit from the gamblers’ losses. Casinos use a system of built-in advantages, called the house edge, to ensure that it wins over the long term.

A casino is a labyrinthine building, with no straight aisles leading to exits and lots of opportunities to gamble. Bathrooms are also located deep inside, away from the entrances. And there’s a reason for this: Casinos serve booze nonstop. Heavy drinking can lower your inhibitions and help you make more mistakes at the tables or slots.

Robert De Niro was the top draw at Casino, but it’s hard to beat his dynamic with Sharon Stone as the blonde hustler Ginger McKenna. Joe Pesci plays the ruthless Ace Rothstein and provides a perfect foil for his more refined co-star. The costumes, by Rita Ryack and John Dunn, were reportedly designed for $1 million. Ryack, who’d previously worked on latent-image miniature/matte painting hybrid shots for stylized productions such as Bram Stoker’s Dracula, used similar techniques to recreate the 1970s Las Vegas casino strip in Scorsese’s Casino.