A casino is a gambling establishment that offers games of chance or skill and accepts bets from players. Some casinos specialize in particular games, while others have a broad assortment of casino games. Casinos earn money by charging a commission to the players in the form of a percentage of their total wagers, or a fixed amount per game. This is known as the house edge. Casinos also make money by offering complimentary items or comps to gamblers. Casinos have a variety of architecture, including skyscrapers, towers, pyramids, and replicas of famous landmarks.
The earliest casinos were large public halls for music and dancing, but they later began to include gaming rooms. The name “casino” derives from the Italian word for little cottage, and the term soon came to refer to a place where people played cards or other games of chance. Today, casinos can be found in massive resorts as well as small card rooms. Many states have legalized casino gambling, and many have licensed land-based operations as well as floating casinos on barges or riverboats. Other states have licenses for casino-type game machines at racetracks or in bars, restaurants, and truck stops.
In the United States, about 51 million people—a quarter of the population over age twenty-one—visited a casino in 2002. A large portion of these visitors were “high rollers” who spent tens of thousands of dollars or more. These high rollers often gamble in private rooms away from the main casino floor and receive special treatment, including free luxury suites. They are a major source of revenue for casinos, as they are the most likely to win big and spend lavishly.
