Casino is an entertainment venue offering a wide range of gambling games, restaurants and bars. It can be found in massive resorts such as the Las Vegas Strip or smaller locations such as bar rooms and truck stops. Successful casinos make billions of dollars each year for the investors, companies, corporations and Native American tribes that own and operate them. The games of chance, including slot machines, blackjack, roulette and poker, provide the basis for most casino revenues.

Something about the combination of the high stakes and the randomness of luck seems to encourage people to cheat or steal in a casino. That’s why casinos spend a lot of time and money on security. In addition to the cameras on the ceiling that can be adjusted to focus on suspicious patrons, there are catwalks above the casino floor where surveillance personnel can look down through one-way glass on the tables and slot machines. The walls are often painted bright colors, like red, to create a jarring effect that helps security personnel spot out-of-the-ordinary behavior.

Casinos are designed to appeal to all of the senses, using colors and sounds that are deemed most appealing to gamblers. Many are decorated with statues and replicas of famous landmarks. There are also fountains, lighted water shows and the clang of coins dropping in slot machines. The lights of a casino are particularly impressive, with more than 15,000 miles of neon tubing used to illuminate the buildings along the Las Vegas Strip.