A casino is a place where people can go to gamble. It usually offers a variety of gambling games and sometimes restaurants, shops, bars, hotels, or other amenities. Most casinos are located in places where people can easily travel to them, such as cities and resorts.

Casinos earn their money by charging patrons a fee to play games of chance or skill, such as blackjack, craps, roulette, video poker, and slots. The house edge, or expected value, on these games can be small – less than two percent in many cases – but it adds up to billions of dollars in profits for casinos each year. Casinos also earn money from the sale of food and drinks, and a fee charged to rent table space.

Gambling almost certainly predates recorded history, with primitive protodice and carved six-sided dice found at archaeological sites. However, the casino as a place where people could find a variety of ways to gamble under one roof did not develop until the 16th century during a gambling craze in Italy, where aristocrats held private parties at gambling houses called ridotti.

The modern casino has become an international industry that provides entertainment and financial opportunities to millions of people. It has added luxuries such as musical shows, lighted fountains, and shopping centers to draw in customers, but the vast majority of its profits still comes from gambling activities. Its size, beauty, and the number of games available are among its most distinctive features, but there have been much less elaborate gambling establishments that would have qualified as casinos in the past.