A casino (or casin in Italian) is a facility where people can gamble on games of chance or skill. The games may involve cash or other items of value, with the house taking a fixed percentage of winnings as a fee, known as the house edge. Gambling has been part of human culture for millennia, with the earliest evidence dating back to 2300 BC in China. Games such as poker, blackjack, and roulette are popular at casinos. Many of these games are based on luck, while others require strategic use of money and/or psychology.

The world’s largest casinos are located in cities such as Las Vegas, Macau, and Singapore. These facilities include a wide variety of gaming tables and machines as well as restaurants, bars, shops, and other entertainment. Some casinos also have swimming pools and other luxury amenities.

A casino game’s rules specify whether it is a game of pure chance or one in which players compete against each other. In games in which the players compete against the house, the advantage is uniformly in favor of the casino and is called the house edge. A casino’s house edge depends on the rules of the game and the number of players, but can be reduced through skillful play or by a practice known as card counting. To reduce the house edge, a casino hires mathematicians and computer programmers who specialize in studying the games’ mathematical behavior. They are sometimes referred to as gaming mathematicians or gaming analysts.