A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. It can be a standalone building or part of a larger complex including hotels, restaurants and shopping centers. The casino industry is a major source of employment in some nations. It is also an important tourist attraction. Many casinos are located in cities with high population density and are accessible by public transportation. Other casinos are built in remote locations and offer a more private gambling experience. Some casinos feature live entertainment such as concerts and stand-up comedy.

In the United States, casinos are licensed and regulated by state governments. They are primarily operated by Indian tribes, horse racetracks and commercial gaming operators. In addition to games of chance, they often include slot machines and other electronic devices such as keno. Many casinos also have table games like blackjack, craps, roulette and poker. Some are owned and operated by major hotel chains. Others are independent. In some cases, a casino may be run by an association of casino owners or by a management company.

A casino can be a profitable venture for its owner if it is designed and run correctly. Many casinos are designed to make the maximum amount of money from each patron and minimize the number of players who lose. This is accomplished by offering various incentives to big bettors and limiting the maximum amount that can be won on any single game or on any particular machine.

Some casinos employ advanced surveillance systems to detect cheating or theft by patrons and employees. These systems use cameras to monitor the casino floor and can zoom in on a specific patron or table. In addition, some casinos have catwalks that allow security personnel to look down through one-way glass directly over the casino tables and slot machines.

Many casinos are known for their extravagant incentive offers to big bettors. These can include free spectacular entertainment, luxury suites, reduced-fare transportation and other amenities. In addition, some casinos have special rooms that are reserved for high-stakes gamblers, where the minimum bets can be in the tens of thousands of dollars.

Although some casino games involve skill, most are purely random and give the house an advantage over the player. This advantage is mathematically determined and is called the house edge. In games such as blackjack or baccarat the house makes a profit by taking a percentage of each pot or charging an hourly fee. In other games, such as keno or video poker, the casino makes a profit by adjusting the machine payouts. The house advantage is not always evident to the players, who are unaware of the mathematical expectation of each game. The house advantage is the net total of the expected return on all bets placed in the casino. In some cases, the house edge is even greater than 100 percent, which is a significant amount of money in any gambling establishment.