A Casino is a place where people can gamble on various games of chance. Modern casinos have a variety of luxuries that help attract visitors, such as restaurants, lighted fountains, shopping centers and dramatic scenery. However, even without these amenities, a casino would still be a place where patrons can gamble. The vast majority of the profits a casino makes every year are generated by gambling. Slot machines, blackjack, roulette and craps are the main games that generate these billions of dollars in profits for casinos.

Gambling almost certainly predates recorded history, with primitive protodice (cut knuckle bones) and carved six-sided dice being discovered in ancient archaeological sites [Source: Schwartz]. But the casino as a place to find a variety of gambling opportunities didn’t develop until the 16th century during a gambling craze that led to Italian aristocrats holding private parties in clubs called ridotti. While these venues were technically illegal, the aristocrats rarely bothered with legal authorities and kept their gambling activities secret.

Because large amounts of money are handled within a casino, both patrons and staff may be tempted to cheat or steal, either in collusion or independently. As such, casinos spend a lot of time and effort on security. Security personnel monitor the games with video cameras and computers that can quickly discover any statistical deviation from expected results. There are also a number of other less-obvious security measures. For example, casinos typically use a color scheme that encourages people to lose track of time — red being one of the most popular colors — and do not display clocks on their walls.