A casino is a gambling establishment where gamblers can wager real money on a variety of games of chance. Some casinos also offer food and drink, stage shows, hotel rooms and other amenities. Most of these buildings are located in tourist areas. The most famous casino is the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada, which houses more than 2,000 gaming tables and 45,000 slot machines. The majority of casino profits are generated by the table games, such as blackjack, roulette, baccarat, and craps.

To maximize their revenues, casinos use a variety of techniques to encourage gamblers to spend more than they can afford to lose. Free drinks and food keep players on the premises longer and can make them intoxicated, which can reduce their awareness of the house edge and increase their chances of losing. Betting chips have built-in microcircuitry to enable casinos to oversee exactly how much is wagered minute by minute and warn of any anomaly; and roulette wheels are electronically monitored regularly for statistical deviations from expected results.

In addition, casino security is usually divided into a physical force that patrols the facility and a specialized surveillance department. The latter employs closed circuit television cameras throughout the casino and can be adjusted to monitor specific patrons or focus on suspicious activity. In some large American casinos, the entire facility is monitored from a control room where security workers can observe every aspect of gambling operations in progress at all times.