A casino is a facility for gambling. It is most often an indoor facility and may include a large number of tables, as well as slot machines and other electronic gaming devices. Some casinos also offer shows or restaurants.

Most casino games are based on chance, but some involve skill (e.g., blackjack). In the United States, casino is almost always a noun and a verb that refers to the activity of playing table games like craps, roulette, baccarat, and poker against the house, or by other players.

The earliest casinos were small clubhouses in Italy where local citizens would gather to play card and dice games for social entertainment. As casino gambling became more popular, it spread across Europe and eventually came to America. It was illegal in all but Nevada until 1931, when the first casino opened there.

Casinos make money by providing an advantage, or ‘house edge,’ to each game played. This mathematically determined advantage, which varies for each game, helps ensure that the casino will earn a profit over time. The house edge is the casino’s expected value from each bet placed by its patrons.

Something about the environment of gambling seems to encourage cheating and scamming, and casinos spend a considerable amount of time, effort, and money on security. Modern casinos usually have both a physical security force and a specialized surveillance department that operate closely together to protect their guests and the casino’s assets.