A casino, also known as a gaming house, is an establishment for certain types of gambling. These include slot machines and table games such as blackjack, craps, roulette, baccarat, and poker. A casino may also offer food and drink, entertainment, and tournaments. In some countries, casinos are licensed and regulated by government authorities. A casino may also be part of a resort or hotel, and some are located in exotic locales such as Venice, Monaco, and Singapore.
In the United States, casinos are regulated by state law. Some are owned by private corporations, while others are operated by Native American tribes. In the past, many states had anti-gambling laws, but these were gradually repealed in the 1980s and 1990s. As of 2010, there are more than 3,000 commercial casinos in the United States, including those on Indian reservations.
In addition to the obvious security measures, casinos employ a variety of technological devices and systems for monitoring players and games. In “chip tracking,” for example, betting chips have built-in microcircuitry that allows casinos to oversee the exact amounts wagered minute-by-minute and to quickly discover any anomaly. The use of video cameras and the availability of player identification are also common in modern casinos. Casinos also hire mathematical mathematicians and computer programmers to perform mathematical analyses of game outcomes, a process called “game theory.” These analysts are also known as gaming mathematicians and gaming experts. They study the probabilities of various game outcomes and help the casino to calculate its house edge and variance.