A casino is a place for certain types of gambling. It has been a part of human civilization for millennia; evidence of dice games dates from 2300 BC in China, and card games appeared in Rome around 500 AD. The modern casino is like an indoor amusement park for adults, with the vast majority of its entertainment coming from gambling. Slot machines, black jack, roulette, craps and keno are the games that generate the billions in profit that casinos rake in every year.
Aside from the games, a casino also features live entertainment and restaurants. It may be a standalone building or an entire complex. Some casinos are located in exotic locations, such as Venice, Monaco or Singapore. They can also be found in cities, such as Las Vegas and Atlantic City. In the United States, casinos are usually combined with hotels, resorts or other tourist attractions.
Because casinos deal with large sums of money, both patrons and staff may be tempted to cheat or steal, either in collusion or independently. To counter this, many casinos have extensive security measures. For example, casino chips have built-in microcircuitry that allows them to be tracked minute by minute, and roulette wheels are electronically monitored regularly for statistical deviations. Many casinos also enforce rules and conduct for their players to prevent them from committing such crimes. The use of technology in casinos has increased significantly since the 1990s, as evidenced by the proliferation of video cameras throughout them and the integration of gaming systems into personal computers.