A casino is a gambling establishment offering various forms of gambling, including slots and table games like poker, blackjack, roulette. Some casinos also offer entertainment shows. Most casinos are licensed and regulated by government authorities. To gamble, patrons must be of legal age and follow the rules and regulations set by the casino.
In the United States, there are more than 1,000 casinos. Nevada, where Las Vegas is located, has the largest concentration of them. Other major cities such as Atlantic City, New Jersey, and Chicago also have significant numbers of casinos. Many of them are large resorts with luxury hotels, restaurants, and other facilities.
Most casino games involve chance and some involve skill. Some, such as blackjack and video poker, have house edges that are mathematically determined. Optimal play reduces this house edge, but not to zero. Gamblers who possess the necessary skills can eliminate it completely, and are known as advantage players. In card games, the house makes its profit by taking a percentage of the pot or charging an hourly fee.
Due to the high amounts of cash handled within them, casinos are susceptible to theft by both patrons and staff. To counter this, casinos use a variety of security measures. They employ security cameras and other monitoring systems, for example, in chip tracking, where betting chips are fitted with microcircuitry that enables casinos to monitor the exact amount wagered minute by minute and warn them of any anomalies; and electronic monitoring of roulette wheels to detect any changes in their expected results.