A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shops, and other tourist attractions. The gambling industry has grown to be a worldwide phenomenon with revenues exceeding $261 billion annually and supporting millions of jobs globally.

Besides the obvious attraction of jackpots and high stakes betting, casinos also promise a sense of luxury and glamour, offering guests everything from fine dining to luxurious suites. The world’s most famous casinos are found in cities like Venice, Monaco and Singapore, but the United States boasts the largest number of casino establishments, with 2,147 licensed and 619 casino hotels in 920 gambling cities.

Casinos are regulated by government agencies to ensure the integrity of games and protection of players’ funds. Security measures include physical and electronic security systems, as well as rules and regulations for patrons. These rules prevent them from cheating or stealing, either in collusion with fellow gamblers or in isolation.

Casinos are also staffed with gaming mathematicians and statisticians who analyze and verify game results. These professionals use a combination of statistical methods to identify anomalies in game outcomes and to develop countermeasures against them. This work is critical to a casino’s profitability, and casinos regularly outsource these tasks. In some cases, this is done by a third party specializing in casino analytics. In other cases, the analysis is performed by in-house staff. A casino’s profit margin is determined by the house edge, a mathematically calculated advantage over the players.