A casino is an establishment for gambling. It is a common feature in resorts, hotels, cruise ships, riverboats, and even some bars, restaurants, and truck stops. It features slot machines and felt tables with games such as blackjack and roulette. The casinos are owned by companies, investors, and Native American tribes. They generate billions in profits each year. The word casino may also refer to an establishment for other forms of entertainment such as musical shows and dining.

Although the modern casino looks like an indoor amusement park for adults, it would not exist without its principal attraction: games of chance. Slot machines, blackjack, craps, baccarat, and other games provide the excitement that draws in gamblers and generates the billions in revenue for the casinos each year.

The success of the casino industry has encouraged entrepreneurs to establish gaming facilities in cities throughout the United States, as well as abroad. In addition to the massive Las Vegas resorts, casinos now can be found in a wide range of destinations, from small card rooms to large gambling establishments on cruise ships and at racetracks, where they are called racinos.

The mobsters who bankrolled the original Las Vegas casinos were not content with simply providing the necessary funds. They wanted to be involved with the operations, and they used their connections in organized crime to take sole or partial ownership of casinos and exert control over their management. Federal crackdowns on mob influence and the risk of losing a casino license at even the slightest hint of Mafia involvement have kept the mafia out of many of the newer casinos, but it still runs a few.