A casino is a gambling establishment, usually in a resort or hotel, that offers various forms of gambling, such as table games and slot machines. It also typically includes restaurants and entertainment shows. In the United States, casinos are most commonly located in Nevada and Atlantic City.

Gambling, in the form of betting on sporting events or table games, has been part of human culture for millennia. Evidence of early games of chance can be found in 2300 BC China, while dice first appeared around 500 AD. Cards appeared in the 1400s, followed by baccarat, which is still played today in many casinos. Some casinos specialize in particular types of games.

Because of the large amounts of money handled within casinos, both patrons and staff may be tempted to cheat or steal. To counteract this, casinos have a variety of security measures in place. These can include cameras, manned security guards, and rules that prevent players from hiding cards behind their backs or other objects.

In addition, casinos monitor their house edges and variance, which tells them what kind of profit they can expect to make from each game and how much cash reserves they need. The mathematicians and computer programmers that perform this work for casinos are known as gaming mathematicians or gaming analysts. These figures are not public knowledge, and are only available to casino managers and owners. In some cases, casinos hire these experts on an independent basis to help them develop new games or analyze their existing ones.