Review of Ask Barney: An Insider's Guide to Las Vegas

Title:

Ask Barney: An Insider's Guide to Las Vegas

Author:

Barney Vinson

Publisher:

Bonus Books

Date:

2002

ISBN:

1-56625-181-8

Pages:

215

Price:

$14.95

Reviewed by Nick Christenson, npc@lvrevealed.com

July 28, 2002

Barney Vinson is the ultimate casino insider. With over 30 years of casino experience and several entertaining books under his belt, few are better qualified to guide a reader through a written tour of Las Vegas past and present. In his latest book, "Ask Barney: An Insider's Guide to Las Vegas" he regales the reader with entertaining yarns by providing and answering hundreds of questions about Sin City and gambling.

The Introduction of the book is a set of questions and answers about the city itself and some background about gambling in general. Then the first eight chapters cover various gambling games with Las Vegas stories and highlights thrown in to mix it up a bit. The last three chapters are back on Las Vegas. I generally prefer the Las Vegas information, but that's just a personal opinion. Even so, there certainly were enough stories and anecdotes mixed in with the gambling advice to keep me entertained throughout.

Between Vinson's years of experience and his gift for story telling, "Ask Barney" makes for entertaining reading. Certainly, some of the information provided in these pages will be familiar to anyone who has done the most rudimentary research about Las Vegas and gambling, and Vinson has told some of these stories before in previous books. Still, the book is entertaining enough to be worthwhile to the casual visitor while providing enough obscure material to remain interesting even for the most well-informed reader.

I can't say that I approve of all of the gambling advice that the author dispenses. Like many other gambling authors, Vinson recommends a "try to double through your session stake, then take the money and run" approach to gambling. This is a fine way to try to play, but there's nothing to intrinsically commendable about this approach over most others. Despite this small quibble, most of the gambling advice ranges from "not bad" to "quite good".

Capsule:

"Ask Barney: An Insider's Guide to Las Vegas" is a collection of questions and answers from a true Las Vegas insider, Barney Vinson. While "Ask Barney" doesn't provide any remarkable new insights into gambling or Las Vegas, it's a light, entertaining read, and I recommend it on that basis.