A casino, also known as a gambling house or a gaming hall, is an establishment for certain types of gambling. Typically, it features an arrangement of tables and/or slot machines and a variety of other games of chance or skill. Casinos are often combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shops or cruise ships and may be operated by a professional corporation or individual proprietor.
Casinos are businesses that thrive on a capitalist model and make billions of dollars each year for the owners, investors, and corporations that operate them. The profits also flow to state and local governments that regulate them and collect taxes and fees from gamblers.
Gambling, in its many forms, has been a part of human culture for millennia. The first evidence of casino-type gambling dates to 2300 BC in China, followed by dice around 500 AD and then by card games in the 1400s, including baccarat and blackjack. Throughout much of history, however, casinos were illegal.
Modern casino facilities are highly secure. They have a physical security force that patrols the premises, as well as a specialized surveillance department that monitors activity by closed circuit television. The casinos also have strict rules for players about their personal information and the behavior they display while playing. This is all to prevent crime, which they are very successful in preventing.