A casino is a place where people can gamble and play games of chance. Some casinos also have entertainment venues. Casinos are operated by governments, private companies, or Native American tribes. They may be located on land or in ships at sea. In the United States, casinos are regulated by state law. Some states have banned gambling or restricted it to certain locations. Some have legalized it entirely.
Most casino games have a predictable long-term advantage for the house, or “house edge,” while offering players the possibility of a short-term gain. These gains can be very large. Some casino games have a skill element, and players who possess sufficient skills can eliminate the house edge. These players are known as advantage players.
The word casino is derived from Italian, and the first casino was founded in Venice in 1774. The largest casino in Europe is Casino Lisboa, which opened in 2004.
In modern casinos, a physical security force patrols the casino floor and responds to calls for assistance or reports of suspicious or definite criminal activity. Specialized surveillance departments monitor the activities of casino patrons through closed circuit television systems, often referred to as eye in the sky. Statistical analysis of the game data is performed by mathematicians and computer programmers, who are called gaming mathematicians or gaming analysts. These data help the casinos to calculate their expected profits and establish what kind of cash reserve they need. They also assist in determining the best payout percentages for different casino games.
