What Is a Casino?

A casino is a building that houses gambling activities. It may add a variety of luxuries to help attract patrons, such as restaurants, stage shows and dramatic scenery. Some casinos specialize in creating new games to increase revenue, while others focus on providing a wide variety of existing games to keep customers happy. In the United States, most casinos are licensed and regulated by state gaming control boards.

The popularity of casino games has grown rapidly in recent years, and the industry is now a global business with over 51 million people visiting casinos annually. In addition, more than half of the world’s top 50 online gambling sites are casinos.

Most casino games are based on chance, but there are some that require skill as well (such as blackjack and video poker). The house edge is the mathematical advantage that the casino has over players. This advantage can be expressed as a percentage of total bets or the expected value of each game played.

Because of the large amount of money handled within a casino, both patrons and employees may be tempted to cheat or steal, either in collusion or independently. To prevent this, casinos employ a variety of security measures, including cameras and other surveillance equipment. In addition, many casinos decorate with bright and gaudy colors to stimulate the senses and make it easy for patrons to lose track of time. In particular, red is a popular color because it is believed to cause gamblers to lose their appetites and lose money faster.