A casino is a gambling establishment that offers a variety of games of chance and is licensed to do so by the government. In addition to a wide array of games, casinos typically have high levels of security and enforce rules that prevent cheating and other types of deception. Casinos can be found all over the world, with most of them located in Las Vegas and Atlantic City and on American Indian reservations, where gambling is legal.
Casinos make their money by giving patrons a slight advantage over the house for every game played. This slight edge can be less than two percent, but it is enough to give casinos billions of dollars in profits each year. This money helps fund dazzling hotels, spectacular fountains and replicas of famous buildings.
While the casino is a center of entertainment, it also has a dark side. Gambling addiction is a real problem for many people and casinos provide a number of incentives to lure gamblers into their facilities and keep them gambling. These inducements are often in the form of free food and drinks, hotel rooms, discounted travel packages or even limo service and airline tickets.
Casinos are popular destinations for vacationers, and they can be found in almost every major party city in the world. The average casino gambler in 2005 was a forty-six-year-old woman from a household with above-average income. This demographic is especially prevalent in Las Vegas, where the average household income is higher than the national average.