Casino is a gambling establishment offering a variety of games of chance for visitors to play and win. It may also contain restaurants, bars, and meeting or banquet facilities. Often, casinos have unconventional structural features for such an establishment, including low ceilings and windows, to enhance security by limiting a patron’s view of the gaming floor. Some also have catwalks in the ceiling above to allow surveillance personnel to look down on activities at tables and slot machines via one-way glass.

Gambling has been part of human civilization for millennia. Archeological evidence of dice was found in China as early as 2300 BC, while card games appeared in the 1400s. The modern casino is an evolution of these earlier types of gambling, and has developed into a complex entertainment industry that includes many other activities beyond gambling.

Almost every casino offers gambling opportunities. Generally, casino games provide an inherent long-term advantage to the house (also known as the vigorish), but some do offer skill elements, and players who possess sufficient skills can reduce or eliminate this edge.

Casinos are not only located in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, but can also be found in other large cities worldwide, as well as on American Indian reservations where state laws do not prohibit them. They are most commonly licensed and regulated by state governments, but can also be privately owned. The United States has the largest concentration of casinos, with nearly 40 states now allowing some form of gambling.