A casino is a public place where a variety of games of chance are played, especially those where wagering money is involved. It is not to be confused with a gambling house, which carries a more seamy image and houses games like roulette and poker that require skill rather than chance. Casinos are often combined with restaurants, hotels, retail shops, and even stage shows to create a complete entertainment complex.

Casinos use a number of strategies to encourage gamblers to spend more money, and to reward those who do. They offer “comps,” or free goods and services, to players based on their amount of play. These can include anything from food and drinks to hotel rooms, show tickets, or even airline tickets and limo service.

Because of the large amounts of cash handled within a casino, security is a high priority. Security personnel patrol the floor, watching for blatant cheating at table games such as card counting or crooked dice rolling. Table managers and pit bosses have a broader view of the gaming area, checking for betting patterns that might indicate collusion or other problems. Electronic systems monitor individual slot machines, enabling casinos to keep track of the exact amounts wagered minute by minute and spot any statistical deviations quickly.

Mobster money was once the lifeblood of many casino operations, but federal crackdowns and the prospect of losing a license at even a whiff of organized crime have forced mob investors to invest their money elsewhere. Today, the largest casinos are owned by hotel chains and real estate investors with deep pockets who can afford to withstand the occasional smackdown from regulators.