Review of 101 Casino Gambling Tips
- Title:
- 101 Casino Gambling Tips
- Author:
- John Marchel
- Publisher:
- Four Suits Publishing
- Date:
- 1998
- ISBN:
- 0-9665167-0-2
- Pages:
- 160
- Price:
- $14.95
August 13, 2001
101 Casino Gambling Tips is two books in one. First, as
its title suggests, it provides some suggestions intended to improve
a player's gambling experience. Second, it contains casino contact
information, a list of toll-free telephone numbers for most of the
casinos in the United States and a list of Internet casinos and their
URLs.
Most of the tips Marchel lists are good ones, although none of them
were new to me. Unfortunately, more than a few of them contain bad
advice.
For example, the author explains how to make a craps bet for the
dealers, which is a fine thing. However, he lists his reason
for doing so to "get the dealers and you on the same side against
the house." The implication is that this is will help the player
win. Even though many people are likely to believe this helps, I
believe it is the responsible gambling author's duty to try to dispel
such myths.
As another example, Marchel advises players to stay away
from slot machines with more than three reels and to always play
the maximum coins. Today's slot machines hit various pays according
to the results of their random number generators. Just because a
five reel machine has more combinations than a three reel machine
doesn't mean that its top pay is more or less likely to hit. Also, I still
see slot machines that have a jackpot payout that is exactly proportional
to the number of coins in play, in which case the house has the
same edge regardless of the number of coins played. In both cases,
as is the case in many other tips that I won't cite here,
the information the author provides is misleading at best.
Regarding the casino contact information, it seems pretty thorough,
although I'm curious about some discrepancies. Most of the California
reservation casinos are listed, but so is the Commerce, the large
poker house in Commerce, CA. However, none of the other poker rooms
are listed. The Alexis Park and St. Tropez in Las Vegas are listed,
despite
neither having a casino. Additionally, all the reservation
casinos in North Dakota are listed, but so are two (and only two)
bars that deal charity blackjack. Perhaps these are the only
charity blackjack games that have toll-free numbers associated with
them. Among the Internet casinos there are similar discrepancies, for
example, Planet Poker is listed, but Paradise Poker isn't.
The biggest downside with 101 Casino Gambling Tips is not
the information in the book, but the niche in which it is competing.
Steve Bourie's excellent American Casino Guide contains
what I believe to be much better and more thorough gambling advice
and has far more information on casinos. It includes not just the phone
number, state, and city, but the number of hotel rooms and approximate
prices (if applicable), what games are available, casino floor space,
and even more information. Additionally, a new edition of
American Casino Guide comes out every year, which makes it
more up-to-date, and both books have the same cover price.
Therefore, I can't recommend 101 Casino Gambling Tips
because there's a better book out there that's more current at the
same price.
Capsule:
At the same price,
Steve Bourie's American Casino Guide contains more and
better information than 101 Casino Gambling Tips both in
terms of gambling advice and in casino listings. Marchel's tips will
be familiar to every well-read gambler, and too many of them
contain bad or misleading advice.
Note: I received a free review copy of this book from Four Suits
Publishing. I have no other interest, financial or otherwise, in
the success of this book.
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