Actually, I didn’t start out to write a book. What happened was that in 1992 I had a friend in the travel business who wanted me to help him sell packages to Reno, Lake Tahoe, Atlantic City and Las Vegas. I came up with the idea of creating a directory of casinos in those cities and then placing an ad in the directory to sell his travel packages. I produced an eight-page directory and charged $1 for it. I then sent out a press release announcing the directory and some travel writers wrote about it and I sold about 1,500 copies by mail. Unfortunately for my friend, nobody was interested in buying his travel packages; but, fortunately for me, I discovered that people were interested in the casino information.

You need to remember that back in the early ‘90s there was an explosion of casino gaming throughout the country. For example, in 1991 Iowa was the first state to allow riverboat gaming, and the following year Illinois and Mississippi opened their casinos. Also, there were a lot of new Indian casinos popping up all over the Midwest. So, people knew that there were lots of new casinos, but they didn’t really know their exact locations, and my directory helped them find these places. The next year, I expanded the directory to cover more states, but it was still only available by mail. In 1994, it became a 98-page book that was sold in bookstores. Today the 2008 edition is 496 pages and sells for $16.95.

At the time I started the book, I was employed in the gambling industry, but not at a casino. I had worked in the pari-mutuel industry in Florida for 20 years, and I was working as the marketing director of a pari-mutuel facility at that time. I was always intrigued by gambling, and my first love was casino gambling, but there were no casinos in Florida at that time. Now, Florida has casino boats, and casinos at the Indian reservations.

Probably it’s because it provides so much value. It’s really like getting three books in one. The first section explains how to play all casino games, including slots and video poker, plus the best strategies for winning at every game. In most casino games, you can only win if you get lucky, but there are some games, such as blackjack and video poker, where skill is a major factor. I write some of those "how-to-play" stories myself, but there are also several other well-known and knowledgeable gaming experts who contribute to that section.

Then, there’s a directory section with detailed information on more than 700 casinos in 38 states. We have a map of every state showing all casino locations, plus detailed maps of Las Vegas, Reno, Tunica, Biloxi and Atlantic City. Toll-free numbers, room rates, buffet prices, games offered, we list all of that, plus a lot more.

Finally, the back of the book has a casino coupon section that can save purchasers quite a bit of money. For example, there are 201 coupons in the 2008 edition and usually, if you use just one or two of the coupons, you can easily recover the cost of the book. There’s lots of free Matchplay gambling coupons, plus dozens of 2-for-1 offers for buffets, shows, and rooms.

I travel a lot to do research for the book so I’ve been to about 75% of the casinos, but no I haven’t been to all of them. I think that eventually I’ll get to every one, but it will probably take me a very long time.

I do a lot of interviews with people in the gaming industry. I’ve visited the slot machine testing facilities in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. I’ve been to the headquarters of the world’s largest independent testing facility, Gaming Labs International, in Toms River, New Jersey. I’ve interviewed the chief software engineer at International Game Technology’s headquarters in Reno, Nevada. They’re the world’s largest manufacturer of slot machines and they control about 70% of the market. I’ve also done quite a few interviews with slot managers at major casinos. People always like to know how gaming machines work, and I try to keep them up-to-date with that information.

What’s the most unique casino you’ve seen?  

The Peppermill in Reno, Nevada would have to be one of them. If you like neon you’ll love that place. Most casinos have their neon on the outside, but the Peppermill has its neon on the inside. It’s on the walls, the ceiling, the floors; even all of their gaming tables have neon. It’s quite a sight.

I guess I’d have to also include the Caesars riverboat in Elizabeth, Indiana. Most Midwest casino riverboats are small, but that one is the world’s largest and it’s very impressive. If you’ve ever seen the other Caesars casinos in Las Vegas or Atlantic City you’ll know that they are beautiful properties, and the riverboat was built on a similar scale.

In Las Vegas, for example, there are matchplay coupons for $2 up to $20 at various casinos. You bet the matchplay coupon along with your own money (chips), and if you win, you get paid double. The coupons have an expected value of just under 50% of the amount you wager so using a few them is a positive play for players. There are also matchplay coupons for casinos in other areas of the US. To view a complete list of the tear off coupons that are in the back of my book, click here.

I think the best advice is for people to learn more about the games they want to play before they set foot in a casino. Unfortunately, most people believe there’s nothing to learn about casino gambling and that they can only win by getting lucky but that’s not really true.

Yes, there are some games like craps or roulette where you can only win by getting lucky. However, within those games there are some bets that are much worse to make than others because they give the casino a bigger edge. Smart players know to avoid those bets and to stick to the ones with the smallest mathematical edge for the casinos.

There are also games of skill like blackjack and video poker, where if you know how to play your hands properly, you’ll do better than someone who is guessing about the best play to make. So, if people would invest in a few good books about casino gambling it could easily pay off for them in the long run.

Another thing is that most people play slots, and I would say it’s best to avoid them if you want to get a better return. Instead, they should learn how to play video poker. The problem with slots is that you never know what the machine is set to return, and you’re also relying on luck in order to win. With video poker you can actually learn how to read the pay table on a machine to determine what its overall return. This way, you can be assured that you’ll be playing the best-paying game in the casino.

Additionally, video poker is a game of skill so, rather than relying on luck, you can learn the proper strategies for getting the maximum returns on those better-paying machines. We have an extensive section in the book on how to spot the best video poker machines, and we also include some strategy charts for playing them. It may sound a little overwhelming at first, but with a little bit of practice, it’s one of the best ways to get the most for your money when you go to any casino.