A casino is a gambling establishment. It may be in a building, on land or in the sea. Several countries changed their laws in the latter half of the 20th century to permit casinos, and casinos are now found around the world. Some are operated by the government, while others are private. Most offer a range of games, with the main ones being blackjack, roulette, poker and slot machines. Some also have live entertainment and top-notch hotels.
Some casinos specialize in a particular game or a region. For example, some have a large selection of Asian games, including sic bo (which became popular in Europe and America during the 1990s), fan-tan and pai gow. Other games include baccarat, keno and various table and card games. Many of the more modern casinos use technology to supervise the games. For instance, some tables have betting chips with built-in microcircuitry that allows the casinos to monitor the amounts wagered minute by minute and detect any statistical deviation; the spinning wheel of roulette is electronically monitored to see if the pattern that determines its expected outcome is followed.
In addition, casinos have a number of promotional tools to attract and keep customers. They use scents, strobe lights and other sensory stimuli to create an artificial blissful experience. They also entice big bettors with extravagant inducements, such as free spectacular entertainment and transportation, luxury living quarters and reduced-fare hotel room rates. The house edge and variance of each casino game are carefully analyzed by mathematical analysts and computer programmers called gaming mathematicians.