A casino, also called a gambling house, is an establishment where people can play games of chance for money. These establishments are usually combined with hotels, restaurants and retail shops. In the United States, casinos are regulated by state laws. Many of these laws are designed to protect players from unlicensed operators, prevent underage gambling and limit the amount of money that can be won or lost on a given machine. Casinos often hire security forces to patrol the premises and investigate reports of suspicious or unauthorized activity. Most of these security forces are trained in gambling law and are supervised by a team of managers.
In addition to general security, casino managers have a responsibility to maintain the integrity of the games offered by their property. This requires them to constantly monitor the results of each game in order to spot any statistical deviation from expected performance. This analysis is typically done by highly specialized professionals called gaming mathematicians or analysts. During the 1990s, casinos greatly increased the use of technology for game supervision. For example, betting chips with built-in microcircuitry interact with electronic systems in table games to allow casinos to oversee the exact amounts wagered minute by minute, and to quickly detect any anomaly; roulette wheels are electronically monitored to discover any deviations from their expected results.
Casinos make their money by charging a percentage of each bet placed on a game. To ensure that they can pay their staff and cover operating expenses, most casinos operate within a specific profit margin. This margin is determined by the house edge of each game, which is the percentage that the casino expects to win over a long period of time. Most American casinos operate with a house edge of less than one percent, while European and Asian casinos operate with slightly higher house edges.
To maximize their profits, casinos frequently offer large inducements to gamblers. These include free or reduced-fare transportation and hotel rooms, drinks and cigarettes while gambling, and a variety of other amenities. They also rely on the income from slot machines and video poker, which are programmed to accept a certain percentage of bets and produce a constant flow of small winnings.
Because casinos handle so much cash, both patrons and employees may be tempted to steal or cheat, either in collusion or independently. In the past, this led to numerous scandals involving casino owners and operators, especially in Las Vegas. In recent years, however, these casinos have developed more sophisticated security measures to prevent such violations. These include a physical security force and a specialized surveillance department that operates closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras around the casino.
The precise origins of gambling are unknown, but it is believed that it has been a part of human culture for millennia. Evidence of simple games of chance dates back to 2300 BC in China, and more complex games appeared shortly thereafter, including dice, spinning wheels, and playing cards.