From the glittering hotels on the Las Vegas strip to the illegal pai gow parlors in New York’s Chinatown, casinos are a huge business that attract more than 100 million people every year. They offer a wide variety of gambling games and are known for their flashy architecture, high-stakes tables and endless buffets. In addition to their gaming offerings, casinos are also a major source of employment.

Gambling has been a part of human culture for millennia. The first evidence dates back to 2300 BC with the discovery of wooden blocks used in gambling, followed by dice around 500 AD and playing cards in the 1400s. Casinos grew up with them and became a symbol of wealth, power and prestige.

Most casinos earn money through a mathematically determined advantage for the house in games of chance, and in some cases with an element of skill, such as blackjack. This edge, which is lower than two percent, can add up to millions of dollars in profits for casinos over the years. This extra money allows them to build fountains, pyramids and replicas of famous towers and monuments.

Casinos are constantly on the lookout for fraud and cheating. They have many security measures in place including cameras and monitors to watch the building, special pens that prevent players from marking their chips and a count room where dealers bundle up winnings for transportation in armored cars to be deposited in a bank. They also have special paper shredders and protective document boxes to keep customer information confidential.