Casino is a large building or room equipped with gambling tables and machines. It also includes a live gaming area. Gambling has been a part of human culture for millennia, with evidence dating back to 2300 BC in China and later in Roman times with dice and then card games. Modern casinos offer a wide range of games, from standard table games like blackjack and roulette to electronic gaming machines, poker and other card games and even sports betting. Many casinos feature entertainment in the form of shows and celebrity performers.

The biggest casinos in the world are wildly extravagant. For example, the elegant spa town of Baden-Baden, Germany, originally welcomed royalty and aristocrats 150 years ago, but now it attracts a more diverse clientele, including many tourists who come to gamble. Its casino is one of the best-designed and most luxurious on this list, combining baroque flourishes with red and gold.

While Las Vegas is usually cited as the largest casino in America, that honor actually goes to Ledyard, Connecticut, home of the Foxwoods Resort Casino, operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Indian tribe. This massive complex is huge by any measure, but it is particularly impressive because its gambling space is surrounded by water.

Because of the high amounts of money handled, casinos are vulnerable to cheating and theft. To counter this, security measures are implemented. For example, some have catwalks in the ceiling that allow surveillance personnel to look down on the games through one-way glass. This allows the staff to spot suspicious behavior, such as players rubbing their hands.