A casino (American English) or gambling house (British English) is a facility where people can gamble. They are usually built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships and other tourist attractions.

A casino is a place where people can gamble and play games of chance. It also provides many luxuries to attract patrons, such as free drinks, luxury suites, clubs, pools, concerts and golf courses.

The exact origin of gambling is unknown, but it has been around for thousands of years. It has been found in many cultures.

Gambling casinos use sophisticated surveillance systems to keep their patrons safe from crime and cheating. These cameras watch each table, changing windows and doors; they also record the video feeds.

Slot machines and video poker are the economic mainstay of American casinos. They pay out winnings at random according to the computer chips inside the machine.

Some other popular casino games are roulette, baccarat, blackjack, poker, and sic bo. Some Asian casinos offer traditional Far Eastern games, such as fan-tan and pai-gow.

There are over 1,000 commercial casinos and hundreds of tribal casinos in the United States. The largest is Las Vegas, with more than 50 table games and 900 slot machines.

Although gambling is legal in most United States, many state laws limit how much casinos can charge for playing their games. Some states ban betting on sports or restrict gambling to specific areas. Other states have strict rules limiting what types of gaming may be conducted on Native American reservations.