A Casino is a place where people can play gambling games for real money or just for fun. The most popular casino games include poker, blackjack, roulette and craps. Casinos also offer other entertainment options like shows and sports events. Casinos can be found all over the world and are usually built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shops or cruise ships.

Several security measures are used in casinos. Casinos use surveillance cameras to monitor all activity inside and outside the facility. The cameras can be focused on specific patrons if the staff suspects cheating or stealing. In addition, most casinos have employees on the floor to watch over patrons and make sure all activities are on the up and up. These employees can also spot if someone is trying to palm cards or mark dice.

Another layer of casino security is the more subtle, but just as important, way casinos enforce rules and behavior. For example, a player who wins big at a table game is likely to be comped (given free items like hotel rooms, meals or tickets to shows). The same goes for players who spend hours in front of slot machines. These people may receive limo service, airline tickets or even free rooms at the casino.

While gambling probably predates written history with primitive proto-dice and carved knuckle bones, the casino as a centralized location where people could find a variety of gambling opportunities didn’t take off until the 16th century. Casinos evolved from Italian aristocratic social clubs called ridotti. The rise of casino-themed movies in the late 20th century helped bring the concept to a larger audience.