A casino is a gambling establishment that accepts bets on games of chance or skill. It may also offer table games such as baccarat, chemin de fer, blackjack, and poker. Its staff is trained to deal with cheating and other security issues. Because large amounts of money are handled within a casino, security measures are a high priority. Casinos employ both physical and electronic means to prevent cheating and theft.

Gambling has long been a part of human culture. Evidence of dice games dates back as far as 2300 BC, while the first known card game, baccarat, appeared in the 1400s. Today, casinos are found in all parts of the world and are a significant source of revenue for their host cities.

The United States has the most casinos, with a total of 2,147 gambling locations according to WorldCasinoDirectory. It is followed by Romania, Spain, and the Czech Republic. In addition to gambling, many casinos feature live entertainment. Some of the more famous Vegas residencies are held by singers such as Celine Dion, Cher, and Mariah Carey and actors such as Johnny Depp.

Casinos have to carefully balance the house edge against customer satisfaction in order to operate profitably. To that end, they use mathematicians called gaming mathematicians to determine the optimal rules and payouts for their games. In addition, they monitor the results of their games to discover any statistical deviations from expected results. This information is used to correct any errors in the games or to design new ones.