A casino is a place where people gamble by playing games of chance or skill. These games include slot machines, roulette, blackjack, craps, baccarat, and video poker. Most casino games provide a predictable long-term advantage to the house, or “house edge”. However, players who possess sufficient skills can eliminate this disadvantage and are known as advantage players. Some casinos reward their best patrons with free goods and services, such as hotel rooms, show tickets, food and drinks. These incentives are called comps.

In the United States, the term casino generally refers to a large building that houses one or more gambling establishments. Most US casinos are located in Nevada, although there are some in Iowa and Atlantic City. Many people travel to these cities specifically to gamble, and some casinos offer special inducements such as free entertainment or luxurious living quarters.

Some casinos are very elaborate, with vaulted ceilings, catwalks, and a variety of lighting effects. They may also feature a theme such as an ocean liner, mountain range, or desert. Increasingly, however, casinos are moving away from the traditional gambling halls and are instead using high-tech surveillance systems to monitor their patrons.

Something about gambling (perhaps the presence of large amounts of money) seems to encourage cheating and other devious activities, so casinos spend a lot of time and money on security. Elaborate surveillance systems allow security personnel to watch every table, window, and doorway through cameras mounted in the ceiling. In addition, some casinos have a separate room filled with banks of security monitors where they can observe high rollers.