A casino is a gambling establishment that offers games of chance, including poker, blackjack, roulette, craps, and video slots. These games may be conducted by a live dealer, or they can be computerized. Most casinos also feature restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues. Some casinos are located in resorts or tourist attractions, while others stand alone. In either case, they are usually highly profitable for the owners.

Casinos employ extensive surveillance systems to ensure the safety of their patrons and the integrity of the gaming floor. Elaborate cameras, often mounted in the ceiling, provide a high-tech eye-in-the-sky that can be adjusted to focus on suspicious patrons by security workers in a separate room filled with banks of monitors. In addition, each table is monitored by a pit boss or manager. These individuals can spot blatant cheating, such as palming or marking cards or dice, and they are constantly checking the tables for signs of suspicious betting patterns.

In addition, casinos use psychological manipulation to keep people coming back. For example, you will never see a clock in a casino; this is by design to make it hard for patrons to know what time of day it is and to encourage them to play longer. Another way that casinos manipulate their patrons is by making the odds so much in their favor; this keeps people playing and hoping for a big win.