A casino is a gambling establishment that accepts cash and/or casino chips in exchange for the promise of winning real money based on the random outcomes of games of chance. It is also known as a gambling house or gaming hall. Casinos usually offer table games like blackjack and roulette, as well as slot machines, video poker and more.
Gambling in all its forms has been part of human culture for millennia. Evidence of dice games dates back to 2300 BC in China, while cards arrived around 500 AD. But it wasn’t until the early 1600s that the first casino table game emerged—baccarat. It quickly gained popularity throughout Europe, with casinos in cities as varied as Deauville and the Riviera, and it remains a staple at many modern-day casinos. Other popular casino table games include trente et quarante in French casinos and blackjack in American casinos.
Despite state antigambling laws, casinos have proliferated across America in the 1980s and 1990s, even on American Indian reservations that are exempt from those statutes. The most famous of these is in Las Vegas, a city that attracts both casual and high-stakes gamblers. But there are other casinos in cities around the world—some more modest than others, but all promising to entertain and reward patrons with a variety of chances to win.