A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. The modern casino is a large, air-conditioned complex containing slot machines, blackjack, roulette, craps, and other games of chance. It also has restaurants, bars, and live entertainment. Casinos are often built in resorts and hotels, and some are independent. In the United States, casinos are most commonly located in cities with significant tourist attractions and/or high populations of gamblers. Many states have laws regulating the type of gaming allowed.
Although some of these games have an element of skill, most give the house a mathematical advantage over the players. This advantage, known as the house edge or expected value, can be quantified and analyzed by computer programs. Those who analyze and optimize the mathematical performance of casino games are called gaming mathematicians.
Casinos may also contain table games, such as baccarat (in its popular variant chemin de fer), blackjack, and poker. In the latter, patrons play against each other and the casino makes a profit by taking a percentage of the pot or charging an hourly fee for dealing the cards. Due to the large amounts of money handled within a casino, both employees and patrons may be tempted to cheat or steal, either in collusion or independently. For this reason, most casinos have security measures in place to prevent these activities.