The American Casino Guide
by Steve Bourie

Publisher:  Casino Vacations, November 1997
ISBN:  1883768071

The American Casino Guide is the best available source for information on U.S. casinos. This comprehensive guide covers over 600 casinos in 32 different states. The Guide has been published each year since 1992 and has grown as gambling has spread across the United States. You will find more than just addresses and phone numbers of the casinos listed in this guide.

Each state has it's own chapter complete with a map showing the locations of the casinos as well as general information, history and state regulations. Each casino listed has information about their size, games offered, table limits, and number of slot machines. Hotel and restaurant information is provided along with general price ranges for each. Besides listing general information, The Guide also lists website addresses and casino promotions departments where you can find out about special features such as fun books or additional unique promotions. Special attractions and must-see exhibits are listed as well.

The American Casino Guide is more than just a listing of casinos. It contains articles about the games, the machines and general gambling information that is valuable to the novice as well as the seasoned player. Author Steve Bourie has more than 25 years of experience in the gambling industry and is a former marketing executive at a South Florida gambling facility. In addition, he is a feature writer for several gaming magazines. In The Guide, Bourie does his best to educate the reader with his honest and candid approach to the games. One of his articles "Are Slot Machines Honest? " contains an in-depth interview with the head of the testing lab for Nevada's Casino Gaming Commission. Anyone who has every pulled the handle on a slot machine will benefit from this article as well as another interview Bourie conducts with a slot manager in Las Vegas.

Bourie also writes about other games including blackjack, craps, roulette and baccarat along with money management advice. Besides his own articles, The American Casino Guide contains articles form a dozen of the countries top gaming writers. Henry Tamburin, Max Rubin, Dan Paymar, John Grochowski, Stanford Wong and others share their knowledge on a variety of topics from comps to video poker.

Anthony Curtis explains the value of using many of the FREE coupons offered by the casinos. It is practical advice because The American Casino Guide contains over $900 worth of coupons that you can use at gaming destinations all over the country. You can recoup the price of the book by using a couple of the coupons it has to offer.

The American Casino Guide is one of the best resources for anyone planning a trip to a casino this year. You will get money saving ideas as well as practical knowledge about how to get the most out of your casino visits. I highly recommend this book to everyone who wants to be an educated player.

Bill Burton, your Guide for Casino Gambling