A casino is a gambling house or building for certain types of gambling. Casinos are sometimes combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shops, and/or cruise ships. They may also host live entertainment. The word casino comes from the Italian word kasino, which means officers’ mess in military and non-military usage.
Like other businesses, casinos try to maximize revenue and minimize costs. They do this by enticing gamblers with a variety of perks, especially free food and drinks. They often use bright, gaudy floor and wall coverings to create an exciting, cheerful atmosphere that enhances the mood and sense of anticipation. Many casinos also offer a variety of traditional Far Eastern games, such as sic bo, fan-tan, and pai-gow. In the twenty-first century, casinos are concentrating their efforts on high-stakes gamblers and offering them comps worth tens of thousands of dollars. They offer them exclusive gambling rooms and luxurious personal attention. In addition to standard games, most modern casinos feature video poker and electronic blackjack. Casinos hire gaming mathematicians to ensure that the house edge of each game is minimal and that they have enough cash reserves to stay in business. They also monitor the performance of individual machines to make sure they are paying out the amounts they should, and employ security personnel to prevent cheating or other improper behavior. They are also increasingly using technology to supervise the games themselves, such as ‘chip tracking’ where betting chips with built-in microcircuitry interact with computer systems at each table to oversee exactly how much money is being wagered minute by minute.