A casino is a place where people gamble and play games of chance. The word casino is derived from a Latin term for “house of games.” Casinos fascinate even those who don’t gamble; they are often featured in movies and TV shows, and some are famous landmarks in their own right. From the Bellagio in Las Vegas to the Empire at Leicester Square in London, casinos around the world offer a unique experience for visitors.

Casinos are major enterprises with many concerns beyond gambling, including food, drink and entertainment. They are open 24 hours a day and must be managed to ensure that everything runs smoothly. There are also security concerns ranging from making sure that all patrons are of legal age to preventing fraud and cheating. Casinos use many techniques to prevent these things from happening, including cameras that provide a high-tech eye-in-the-sky view of the entire casino floor. These feeds are monitored by workers in a room filled with banks of monitors that can be adjusted to focus on suspicious activity. The casino’s security system also records these video feeds for later review.

Another security concern is the way that casino staff handle money. Casinos usually require that players pay for their gambling with chips rather than cash. This is done to psychologically make the patrons think they are not using real money and to simplify the tracking of their expenditures. The chips are also colored brightly and have a distinctive scent to help them stand out from other gambling money. This combination of factors makes it easy for security to spot unusual patterns of behavior.