A casino is an establishment for certain types of gambling. It may also be called a gaming house or a gambling hall. It can be found in a wide range of places, including Atlantic City, Las Vegas, and Puerto Rico, and it is a common feature on many cruise ships. Casinos are also found on Indian reservations in the United States and in other countries.

Casinos are classified as financial institutions in the United States, because they accept cash, exchange currency, and issue checks. As such, they are required to file a report with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network when they process a cash transaction exceeding $10,000. This could be for buying chips, making a bet in cash, or depositing money.

Security in casinos starts on the casino floor, where employees keep an eye on games and patrons. Dealers are especially trained to spot cheating, such as palming, marking, or switching cards or dice. Table managers and pit bosses watch over the games with a wider view, looking for betting patterns that indicate cheating or collusion.

In addition to physical surveillance, casinos use sophisticated electronic systems to track players and their behavior. Some of these systems include CCTV and infrared scanning, as well as RFID (radio-frequency identification) technology. Those systems can be used to identify and remove problematic customers from the casino, or to alert employees when a player has an addiction problem. In some cases, a casino’s security staff will also enlist the help of outside specialists in this area. A friend of mine who worked security in a casino in Atlantic City once told me that he had to quit his job after 3 months because he couldn’t take the smell of people soiling themselves at the slot machines anymore.