A casino is a facility that offers various forms of gambling, including slot machines and table games like poker and blackjack. It may also feature entertainment shows. In order to gamble, customers must be of legal age and comply with the rules and regulations of the casino.

Gambling has been part of human society for millennia, with the first evidence dating back to 2300 BC in China. Games of chance have been played for centuries, with dice appearing around 500 AD and playing cards showing up in the 1400s. The house advantage in these games is determined by mathematically determined odds, which ensure that the casino makes a profit at all times (though there are games such as baccarat where the players compete against each other and the casino earns money through a commission known as the rake). These calculations are performed by mathematicians who specialize in this field and are called gaming analysts or gaming mathematicians.

Casinos use a variety of security measures in addition to cameras, such as “chip tracking” where betting chips have built-in microcircuitry that allows casinos to monitor the amounts wagered minute by minute and warn staff if a deviation from expected results is detected; or wholly automated versions of games such as roulette where patrons place bets by pushing buttons. In some casinos, employees who deal with players or oversee the gaming floor are called croupiers or dealers. Some casinos are famous for their glamorous atmosphere, and many of them have appeared in novels and movies. For example, the Monte Carlo casino in Monaco has been featured in several James Bond novels and films, and the casino at Las Vegas was depicted in the 2001 film Ocean’s Eleven.