A casino is a place where people can play a variety of gambling games. It may also have restaurants, stage shows and other entertainment. Some casinos are very luxurious and offer top-notch hotels, spas and other amenities. Others are more modest, but still allow patrons to gamble.
Casinos are governed by strict rules and regulations to ensure fair play. The most important regulation is that no one can win more than the casino can afford to pay out. This is a vital protection against fraud and cheating. In addition, sophisticated surveillance systems provide a high-tech eye-in-the-sky that allows security personnel to watch every table, change window and doorway at once. Cameras can even be adjusted to focus on specific suspicious patrons.
Most casinos also have employees on the floor to monitor things like betting patterns and other behavior that might signal cheating. Many casino games, such as blackjack and roulette, have well-known routines, so that security people can easily spot any deviations from the norm.
In addition to the traditional table and slot machines, most casinos also offer Far Eastern games such as sic bo (which was introduced in American and European casinos in the 1990s), fan-tan and pai-gow. Some casinos specialize in regional games, such as two-up and boule in France, banca francesa in Portugal or kalooki in Britain.
