A casino is an establishment for certain types of gambling. Most casinos combine gambling with restaurants, hotels, retail shops and other tourist attractions. Some even have live entertainment and sports events.

Gambling has been around for millennia. Evidence of dice games has been found dating back to 2300 BC, while cards first appeared in the 1400s. Today, card games like blackjack, baccarat and roulette and the ever-popular slot machines are some of the most popular casino games.

Casinos attract gamblers by offering them perks and incentives. This includes complimentary drinks, meals and hotel rooms, as well as discounted or free show tickets. These perks are known as comps, and they are designed to persuade gamblers to spend more money on casino games than they would otherwise. Casinos also use bright and sometimes gaudy floor and wall coverings to create a stimulating and cheering effect. In addition, they usually do not have clocks on their walls, because it is believed that seeing time passing makes people lose interest in the game.

To make sure that the gaming is fair, casinos use mathematicians and computer programmers to determine house edges and variance (the probability of losing or winning). They use this information to monitor the games and keep them fair for their guests.

As the casino industry became more regulated, mob figures began to have less control over the business. Eventually, legitimate businessmen with deep pockets bought out the mobsters and ran their own casinos without mob interference. Today, the vast majority of casinos are owned by major real estate developers and hotel chains, who have much deeper wallets than the mafia did.