A casino is a place to gamble and play games of chance. It can also be a nightclub or restaurant. Some casinos specialize in certain types of gambling, such as horse racing or slot machines. Others offer a variety of different gambling activities, including blackjack and poker. Some are located in cities, while others are standalone facilities.

Every aspect of a casino is designed to lure people in and keep them spending their money. It starts with the sounds, lights and physical design of the space, but there are plenty of other tricks that casinos use to make it hard to walk away from the tables.

For instance, casinos don’t put bathrooms conveniently near the entrance. That forces patrons to slalom their way past more opportunities to wager, and it may take them far out of their way to reach the bathroom or exit. Casinos also encourage players to stay by offering free food, drinks and hotel rooms. These inducements are often known as comps.

While it would be easy to dismiss Casino as a revenge thriller, Scorsese’s film has much more going on than that. It’s a drama about how people who work for their income and make reasoned financial decisions on a daily basis can suddenly and willingly throw hundreds or even thousands of dollars away based on the roll of a dice, spin of a wheel, or draw of a card. This theme is reflected in many of the movie’s scenes, most notably the climactic confrontation between Ace and Nicky.