A Casino is a facility where people can find a variety of gambling games under one roof. While gaming predates recorded history (primitive protodice and carved six-sided dice can be found at ancient archaeological sites), the modern casino as an entity developed in the 16th century during a gambling craze that swept Europe. It was popular among Italian aristocrats who held private parties at venues called ridotti.

The casino as we know it today grew in popularity during the 1980s and 1990s, when many American states legalized casinos. While Las Vegas is well known for its large number of casinos, they can also be found in Atlantic City, New Jersey and several Native American reservations.

While musical shows, shopping centers and hotels help draw in the crowds, a casino is nothing without its games. Slot machines, blackjack, poker, baccarat and roulette generate the billions of dollars in profits that keep casinos in business.

While some casinos offer multiple types of games, others specialize in particular games or regions. For example, Pittsburgh’s Rivers Casino is built around a game of poker, but it offers a full range of other casino activities. Many casinos use technology to ensure the fairness of their games. For example, video cameras monitor game play from catwalks in the ceiling, and a computer system oversees the results of each spin of the wheel or roll of the dice. This is a sophisticated piece of software that is constantly comparing the actual results to the expected ones, and it alerts the casino personnel when something is amiss.