A casino is a room or building where gambling games are played. It may also refer to a group of such rooms. The gambling games most commonly played at casinos include roulette, baccarat, blackjack, poker, slot machines and video poker. Some casinos also offer live entertainment and top-notch hotels.

Unlike other commercial businesses, casinos are based on luck rather than consumer demand. Because of this, they often spend a lot of time and money on security. They are often equipped with cameras in every corner, which give them a high-tech eye-in-the-sky view of their patrons and the games. They can zoom in on suspicious people or focus on particular games. Casinos spend a lot of money on security because they want to prevent cheating, theft and other crimes.

Something about casinos (perhaps the large amount of money) seems to encourage their patrons to try to trick, steal or scam their way into a jackpot instead of playing by chance. This is why most of the world’s best casinos are heavily guarded.

The elegant spa town of Baden-Baden, Germany was once a playground for European royalty and aristocracy. Its upscale casinos still ooze old-world sophistication, with red-and-gold poker rooms and rows of blackjack tables. Its elaborate surveillance systems even allow security workers to watch the entire floor of players from a separate room filled with banks of monitors. This system lets security personnel spot any unusual behavior and react quickly to deter crime.