A casino is an establishment for certain types of gambling. Modern casinos usually offer a wide variety of games, including slot machines, table games like blackjack and poker, and dice games such as craps and roulette. Some casinos also feature entertainment, such as stand-up comedy shows and concerts. In addition, some casinos are built as part of resorts or hotels, and operate their own restaurants and retail stores.

Gambling revenue provides billions of dollars annually to casinos, investors, companies, Native American tribes and state governments. But despite the allure of large jackpots, winning at casino games is not easy. Every game has a built in advantage for the house and, over time, this advantage adds up.

To protect their profits, casinos spend a lot of money on security. Surveillance cameras are installed throughout the facilities, and employees work to spot cheating or stealing. Pit bosses and table managers watch over each game, looking for suspicious betting patterns or blatantly obvious palming, marking or switching of cards or chips.

Casinos also provide perks for their most loyal customers, called comps. These may include free hotel rooms, meals or tickets to shows. The idea is to encourage gamblers to play more and, at the same time, to fill as many hotel rooms and slot machines as possible. In the 1970s, Las Vegas casinos were famous for giving out cheap airline tickets, buffet discounts and free show tickets to big bettors in hopes of drawing in as much revenue as possible.