A casino is a place where people can gamble and play games of chance. Although other entertainment forms such as musical shows, lighted fountains and shopping centers lure visitors into casinos, the billions of dollars in profits raked in every year by casinos is mostly due to gambling. Slot machines, blackjack, roulette, craps and keno are just some of the many games that give casinos their edge over the competition.

Casinos often have elaborate surveillance systems, with cameras placed in all corners of the rooms and a large room filled with banks of security monitors that allow casino employees to watch every table, window and doorway at the same time. The high-tech “eye-in-the-sky” surveillance system also records video so that if something is amiss, the casino can quickly review the footage.

In addition to high-tech surveillance, casinos employ a number of other security measures. For example, casino patrons typically use chips instead of real money to make it less likely that someone will try to cheat the house by palming or marking cards or dice. Casino employees also have a close eye on their tables, looking for betting patterns that might suggest cheating or other suspicious behavior.

Casinos have long been a major tourist attraction, with millions of people visiting Las Vegas and other gaming destinations annually. In the United States, the casino industry has become so large that some states have legalized casino gambling in some form. Casinos are also common on American Indian reservations, where state laws do not apply and there is no prohibition against gambling.