American Casino Guide

American Casino Guide - 2000 Edition by Steve Bourie. 2000, Casino Vacations. $14.95. 446p (paper) ISBN 1-883768-09-8.

Every year I look forward with pleasure to the new edition of this book. Author Steve Bourie has put together a comprehensive guide to virtually all (maybe absolutely all) American casinos. But this is more than a simple directory, which is why I am bothering to review it in my first column of Y2K.

First the directory: casinos are organized by state. For each state there is a summary of what kinds of gambling are legal in that state, paybacks on slots, what games are legal, the legal gambling age, and much more. There is also a map of the state giving the approximate location of each casino. (There is a separate map for Las Vegas.)

For each casino the information includes:
- The name, address, phone number and web site of the casino
- A reservations phone number and other hotel information
- Restaurant information
- The games offered
- Casino marketing phone numbers
- Fun book information
- Special features (e.g., RV park, bowling alley, movie theater, wedding chapel, etc.) and other information as appropriate.

To this directory of casinos (which in my opinion is worth the price of the book all by itself) Bourie adds a lot more value by including:
- Coupons worth over $900 (by his reckoning)
- Chapters on most phases of gambling by Compton, Curtis, Dancer, Edell, Grochowski, Lund, Paymar, Rubin, Scott, Ski, Snyder, Tamburin, and Wong. The articles and coupons account for more than half of the pages in the book.

The coupons like two-for-one buffets and shows, admission discounts, room discounts and upgrades, slot rebates, souveniers, slot club points, etc. The articles cover the range of gambling activities (except for the omission of poker). Subjects covered include: - Your Best Casino Bets - Henry Tamburin and Steve Bourie
- Comps - Steve Bourie and Max Rubin
- Slot Clubs - Jeff Compton
- Slot Machines and Tournaments - Steve Bourie
- Professional Slot Players - Arnold Snyder
- Video Poker - Steve Bourie, Bob Dancer, Dan Paymar, Tom Ski
- Blackjack - Steve Bourie, Henry Tamburin, Arnold Snyder, Stanford Wong
- Craps - Steve Bourie, Larry Edell, Henry Tamburin
- Roulette - Steve Bourie
- Baccarat - Steve Bourie
- Pai Gow Poker - Henry Tamburin
- Keno - Steve Bourie

A novice gambler could do worse (much worse) than to be armed with only this book before a first (or second, or third) visit to the casinos. For instance, there is a complete basic strategy for blackjack, a brief introduction to card counting, decent playing strategies for positive expectation video poker games, and good advice on the negative expectation games that many of us enjoy even though we know that they are losing propositions.

There are few books on the market that provide as much solid information at such a low price. Go buy this book if you want that advice (or if you happen to need a good casino directory, or enjoy clipping coupons.)