A casino, also known as a gambling house, is a place where games of chance are played. It has a variety of attractions that appeal to gamblers including restaurants, free drinks, stage shows and dramatic scenery. Casinos can be found worldwide and are often combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist destinations.

While some people think of casinos as glamorous, there have been less-splendid places that house gambling activities and could still be called a casino. Mobsters once controlled many casinos, but federal crackdowns and the prospect of losing a license at even a hint of mob involvement have forced these criminals out of the business. Real estate investors and hotel chains have taken over, and their deep pockets allow them to add the luxuries that draw players.

In addition to free drinks, restaurants and entertainment, modern casinos offer a wide range of casino games. Some of the most popular include poker, blackjack, roulette and craps. Some casinos specialize in inventing new games to attract players. Others concentrate on developing their security systems. Elaborate surveillance systems provide a high-tech “eye-in-the-sky” that can be adjusted to focus on specific suspicious patrons by security workers in a room filled with banks of security monitors.

In addition to these technological measures, casinos have a variety of other security features. They usually employ bright, sometimes gaudy floor and wall coverings that are thought to make the gambling experience more exciting. There are also no clocks on the walls of most casinos; some believe that seeing a clock would distract players and make them lose track of time, and therefore increase their chances of gambling away their money.