A casino (or gaming house) is a facility where people can gamble money on various games of chance. The most common games are slot machines, blackjack and roulette. Casinos generate billions of dollars in profits each year.
Although a number of other factors contribute to casinos’ profitability, such as their central location, shopping centers and entertainment venues, the primary source of revenue is gambling. In the United States, the largest casino cities are Las Vegas, Atlantic City and Chicago. Many smaller cities also have casinos, particularly those on American Indian reservations.
Gambling in some form has been a part of human culture for thousands of years. Ancient Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome and Elizabethan England all had gaming houses. Modern casino gambling began in the second half of the 19th century.
Casinos are often located on or near rivers, lakes or beaches. The architecture of the casino building is often elaborate, reflecting its status as a popular tourist destination. During the 1990s, casinos increased their use of technology to monitor and control game play. For example, some casinos used video cameras to monitor table action and a computerized system called chip tracking to record player betting data.
Because gambling is a highly addictive activity, the casino business has a dark side. Compulsive gamblers cost casinos money by shifting spending away from other forms of local entertainment and hurting property values in residential areas around the casino. The presence of large amounts of money inside a casino may also encourage patrons to cheat or steal, either in collusion with other players or independently. For these reasons, most casinos spend a great deal of time, effort and money on security.