A Casino is a gambling establishment where various games of chance are played. It may also include stage shows and other entertainment. Many casinos add a lot of glamour and panache to the gambling experience, such as dazzling lights, unique ornamentation, and a sense of opulence and luxury. Some casinos even have towers, pyramids, and replicas of famous landmarks. Despite all this, at their core, casinos are all about the gambling.

Most games of chance (and some that require an element of skill) have a built in mathematical advantage for the casino, known as the house edge. The casino earns money by taking a percentage of bets made by players, or in the case of video poker and some slot machines, by taking a fixed percentage of winning bets. The casino may also give out complimentary items or comps to players.

Gambling is a popular pastime, but it can become addictive. Studies indicate that five percent of people who gamble are addicted, and their losses impose serious economic costs on communities by diverting spending from other forms of entertainment, including local restaurants, retail businesses, and entertainment.

In the United States, casino gambling was first introduced in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and then spread to other states that legalized it, such as Iowa and its riverboat casinos. Casinos are also found on American Indian reservations, where they are exempt from state antigambling laws. In the 1980s and 1990s, the popularity of casino gambling expanded to other countries as well.