How to Find a Casino Near You

Gambling is a popular pastime for Americans and there are plenty of land-based casinos in the United States to visit, whether you want to try your luck at roulette, blackjack or video slots. You can use this map to find the nearest casino near you and you can also click on a specific state to see which casinos are available in that area.

While stage shows, free drinks and lighted fountains help draw visitors, casinos are built on the backs of games of chance, which generate billions in profits every year for the companies, investors and Native American tribes that run them. Despite their seamy image, casinos are a legitimate business that provides jobs and boosts the local economy, although they can also be addictive and hurt families and neighborhoods.

Casinos have expanded rapidly since their inception in Nevada during the 1950s, and they are now located all over the world. Some are huge resorts that offer multiple types of gambling, while others are smaller card rooms or even slot machines in bars and truck stops. There are even racinos, which combine traditional racetracks with casino-style slot machines.

Modern casinos are often heavily reliant on technology to monitor patrons and prevent cheating or criminal activity. For example, chip tracking uses microcircuitry to enable the casinos to oversee the exact amounts being wagered minute by minute and alert them to any anomaly; and roulette wheels are electronically monitored regularly to discover any statistical deviations that might indicate tampering. In addition, the casino’s high-tech “eye-in-the-sky” surveillance systems can be adjusted to focus on specific suspicious gamblers.