A casino is a gambling establishment that offers a variety of games of chance for money and other prizes. A casino may also offer other entertainment, such as live shows and restaurants. It is common to find a casino in cities that are known for their gambling, such as Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Casinos are also found in many other countries around the world.
A large percentage of the casinos that are built today are megacasinos, designed to be as dazzling as possible with the goal being to attract as much traffic as possible and then offer enough other diversions to make up for the losses on the gambling floor. For example, they often feature hotels, restaurants, non-gambling game rooms and even swimming pools and spas.
Because so much money is handled within the casino walls, there is always a temptation for patrons and staff to cheat or steal, either in collusion or independently. To discourage this, casinos use a variety of security measures. For example, they employ a high number of surveillance cameras and have electronic systems that monitor the activity on tables and machines minute by minute, alerting them to any statistical deviations from expected results.
Casinos make money by taking a small percentage of the total amount wagered on each game, or more precisely the difference between the mathematically determined expected value of a bet and the total amount paid out to players. This advantage, which can be as low as two percent, is sometimes referred to as the house edge. Despite this, casinos are able to turn a profit on many of their games and build spectacular facilities that draw millions of visitors each year.