What is a Casino?

A casino is a gambling establishment where people wager money on games of chance. The games may include card games such as blackjack and poker, dice games such as craps, and wheel games such as roulette. A casino may also offer entertainment such as stage shows, and it may operate restaurants and bars. Casinos are located in many countries around the world.

The oldest casino in the world is located in Venice, Italy. It was opened in 1638 and is called Casino di Venezia. Its grand location on the Grand Canal makes it a popular tourist destination. Today, it offers baccarat, craps, blackjack, and more than 2,300 slot machines.

In the United States, casinos are regulated by state laws. They can be built on land or on water, such as riverboats. They can also be built on Indian reservations and are exempt from state antigambling statutes. In the 1990s, many American states changed their gambling laws to allow casinos.

The word casino comes from the Latin casino, meaning “cloister.” The earliest known reference to a gaming facility is in a 1549 document titled Le Livre des jeux, which described a series of meetings between King Louis XIV and representatives of several towns and cities in France. The word was probably adopted into English at about the same time, and its use increased with the growth of the French colonial empire. Its usage was further stimulated by the popularity of the game in the United States, which became legalized in Atlantic City in 1978.