By Steve Bourie

Author
American Casino Guide

Back in 1992 I wrote and published the first edition of my annual American Casino Guide to U.S. casino resorts, riverboats and internet casinos.


Steve Bourie

Steve Bourie


Then it was a 48-page pamphlet with basic information on each casino. Through the years, as casino gambling continued to expand, I added stories about gambling, how to play the games and a special coupon section to save readers money at hundreds of casinos.

Today, the 496-page Guide (Casino Vacations Press; $18.95) has sold more than 600,000 copies and it’s the No. 1 bestselling book in the U.S. on casino gambling. It should start appearing on bookstore shelves over the next couple of weeks, or order direct from my Web site and get a discount.

This year’s edition includes more coupons than ever for Kansas City area casinos, including a new one for a 2-for-1 buffet deal at Harrah's North Kansas City Casino and Hotel.

I am an avid gambler and enjoy talking with others interested in gambling. I produce a monthly pod cast where I interview a different personality from the world of casino gaming and I post it on my web site at www.americancasinoguide.com.

A lot of the information in the book is also available on line, and readers are invited to post their own reviews for any casino they visit.

Over the years I have visited about 75 percent of all U.S. casinos and about six years ago I visited every casino in Missouri and Kansas. The following year I hosted a discussion on casino gambling at a Barnes & Noble bookstore in Kansas City attended by about 200 people. That was the largest attendance at any of my events, so I know you Missourians like to talk about casinos!

It’s been a while since I visited the Show Me State, but I try to stay current by reading stories about the gaming industry in your area. Here are a few of my rambling thoughts on casino gambling in Missouri and elsewhere.

For starters I am glad to see Missouri will vote tomorrow and might finally get rid of its $500 loss limit. Iowa was the first state to offer riverboat gambling on April 1, 1991. Back then riverboats had to actually cruise, plus there was a $5 maximum bet rule in effect, with a maximum loss limit of $200.

Within three years Iowa rescinded its betting limits.
Today no state requires its riverboats to cruise and Missouri is the only state that still imposes a loss limit on its gamblers. The only other states with some sort of betting restrictions are Colorado, which has a $5 limit, and South Dakota with a $100 maximum. And voters in Colorado go to the polls tomorrow to settle that issue.

I guess loss limits were put in place to discourage compulsive gambling, but I don’t believe they’ve been effective.

Video poker is one of my favorite games to play (the other is blackjack). When I last visited Missouri the best-paying video poker game I could find was “All American.” It was only offered on Bally machines and it had a very high theoretical return of 100.72%. Of course, since video poker is a game of skill, you could only attain that very high return if you played perfectly and that, unfortunately, is very difficult to do.

In anticipation of my trip I printed out a strategy chart to bring along with me and, even with that in hand, I was still a little baffled by the game. My most memorable recollection was throwing away winning hands (high pairs as I recall) on several occasions and thinking, ‘Why would I want to do that?’

But trusting that the strategy chart was correct, I went with the flow and followed its advice. I don’t remember if I won or not, but it certainly was a memorable experience.

For some strange reason All American was widely available in Missouri, but hardly anywhere else in the country. About two years ago a few quarter games showed up at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, but they were removed from the casino this past summer.

Has the game finally disappeared from Missouri’s casinos too? Can any Lucky Numbers readers bring me up to date on the availability of All American at your favorite casino?

According to the video poker web site I use to find the best games at all U.S. casinos, the only casino in Kansas City offering All American is the Isle of Capri in Kansas City. Are there any slot floor managers out there who can tell me what caused All American video poker to disappear?

Besides using that site for finding the availability of good video poker games, I also receive a monthly copy of Stanford Wong’s Current Blackjack News that keeps me up to date on the best blackjack games in the country.

Missouri’s games aren’t too bad. About eight years ago the Las Vegas Strip offered some of the best blackjack games anywhere. All casino dealers had to stand on soft 17 and they didn’t offer any gimmicky single-deck games that paid 6-to-5, rather than the standard 7.5-to-5.

Unfortunately, almost all of them today hit soft 17 unless you are willing to make minimum bets of $25, $50 or even $100 at the tables where they stand on soft 17. On top of that virtually every one of them has an abundance of those bad 6-to-5 single-deck games where the casino’s advantage is about three times higher than in multiple-deck games.

Fortunately, I only see one table of 6-to-5 blackjack being offered in Missouri. I’m glad to see that it hasn’t spread to all of the casinos like it did in Las Vegas.

Every Missouri casino hits soft 17, which increases the house advantage by .20%, but unlike Atlantic City, there are no eight-deck shoe games offered, only six and two-deck games. The fewer decks you play against, the better for the player.

Additionally, most casinos allow you to re-split aces, which is another good rule for players.
Overall, the six-deck games are fairly good and have a casino advantage of about .56% Even better, are the two-deck games where the advantage drops to .40%. These mathematical advantages assume, however, that you are playing with perfect basic strategy.

Before stepping into any casino to play blackjack, be sure to have the basic strategy memorized. The American Casino Guide, as well as many other books, offer charts showing the basic strategy. Some casino gift shops sell pocket-sized laminated strategy cards that you can take with you to the tables.

Once you’ve got the charts memorized you should be sure to test your skills. There are some web sites that offer practice blackjack games where you can test your skills for free. One of my favorites is www.hitorstand.net, but any search of the Internet can bring up others.

When you pass those tests perfectly and know how to play your cards in any given situation you are then ready to play in America’s casinos.

Good luck!