Home

Hot Bets

Check out details of the Missouri Scratchers games with the best chances to win.
ChancesName and Number% Winners Remaining
1 in 3.084 MILLION DOLLAR CAS* (686)
66.93%
1 in 3.30LIFETIME RICHES* (613)
28.58%
1 in 3.33$100 MILLION CASH SP* (581)
2.56%
1 in 3.33$250000 MEGA CASH* (646)
39.15%
1 in 3.33100 MILLION DOLLAR B* (673)
66.45%
1 in 3.94CROSSWORD* (627)
9.61%
1 in 3.94CROSSWORD* (651)
9.87%
1 in 3.94CROSSWORD* (669)
14.35%
1 in 3.94CROSSWORD* (691)
27.75%
1 in 3.94CROSSWORD* (708)
100.00%

KC's Loosest Slots

KC's Loosest Slots



























Casino1 cent5 cent25 cent$1
Argosy 88.67% 92.11% 93.72% 94.76%
Harrah's 88.27% 92.74% 92.63% 93.33%
Isle of Capri 88.92% 91.19% 94.28%
94.94%
Ameristar 88.66%
92.93%
93.01% 93.37%

The Star's calculations are based on the latest available data, combining total jackpot payouts to all players averaged over the most recent six-month period, and include slot machines, video poker games and other electronic devices. For more details, click here.

READ MORE...

Submitted by Rick Alm on April 9, 2008 - 5:57pm.
read more | add new comment

Lucky Numbers Poll

Missourians could repeal the state's $500 "loss limit" this fall. But most gamblers set personal limits. What's yours?

Under $20 per visit
10% (24 votes)
Under $50
17% (40 votes)
$50 - $100
24% (56 votes)
$100 - $250
23% (52 votes)
$250 - $500
11% (26 votes)
More than $500
14% (31 votes)
Total votes: 229

READ MORE...

Submitted by Rick Alm on August 17, 2008 - 5:40am.
add new comment

Welcome to Lucky Numbers

Welcome to Lucky Numbers, the gambling blog of The Kansas City Star. This is where the business and the pleasure of gambling meet, and where Kansas City’s players can have their say.

READ MORE...

Submitted by Rick Alm on May 27, 2008 - 4:17pm.
read more | add new comment

Judge tosses out Wyandotte casino tax case

The last legal impediment to casino gambling in Wyandotte County has fallen.

Shawnee District Court Judge Franklin R. Theis this week dismissed a lawsuit brought in March by a citizens’ tax watchdog group that claimed proposals by three of the four remaining Wyandotte County casino applicants violated a ban on public financing to benefit gambling facilities.

READ MORE...

Submitted by Rick Alm on August 27, 2008 - 12:26pm.
read more | add new comment

Ameristar says city pushes smoking ban too far

The Kansas City Health Department is cracking down on casino smokers. But one recent crack may have come down in the wrong place.

This month a city health inspector issued violation tickets to Don Thiede, security chief at Ameristar Kansas City Casino and Hotel, who allegedly permitted smokers to puff away unlawfully in the casino’s public concourse areas.

READ MORE...

Submitted by Rick Alm on August 26, 2008 - 6:56am.
read more | 26 comments

Penn and Harrah's win Kansas casinos

The Associated Press reports Harrah's Entertainment Inc. and Penn National Gaming this morning have been tentatively awarded Kansas Lottery contracts to operate state-owned casinos near Wichita and in Cherokee County in southeast Kansas just outside Joplin, Mo.

READ MORE...

Submitted by Rick Alm on August 22, 2008 - 9:54am.
read more | add new comment

WHO won HOW much ?!!!

The Missouri Lottery awarded more than $3.9 million in prizes of $1,000 or more to hundreds of players last month.

Thousands of smaller prizes also were awarded during the month.

Here's a list of all winners of $1,000 or more in July:

READ MORE...

Submitted by Rick Alm on August 21, 2008 - 2:43pm.
read more | add new comment

Big promotion for Argosy boss

Less than a month after knocking a rival off its market perch, Argosy Casino Hotel & Spa General Manager Thomas P. Burke is moving up the corporate ladder.

Argosy owner Penn National Gaming announced Monday that Burke, 52, will be promoted Oct. 6 to senior vice president and regional director over Penn’s casinos in Mississippi, Louisiana, New Mexico, Missouri, Iowa and Colorado.

READ MORE...

Submitted by Rick Alm on August 20, 2008 - 4:17pm.
read more | add new comment

Kansas tribe sues Harrah's

A Kansas Indian tribe sued Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. Monday alleging the gaming industry giant’s plans for a casino near Wichita violates their no-compete agreement.

The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation filed the action Monday in Shawnee County District Court seeking to force Harrah’s to withdraw from its pending bid with other partners to build and manage a state-owned casino in Sumner County.

READ MORE...

Submitted by Rick Alm on August 19, 2008 - 1:06pm.
read more | add new comment

Free Speedway tickets for Powerball players

Starting today, Kansas Lottery players who purchase a Powerball ticket with the Power Play option will receive a voucher good for one general admission ticket to Kansas Speedway on Sept. 26 for NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Qualifying Day.

READ MORE...

Submitted by Rick Alm on August 18, 2008 - 11:19am.
read more | add new comment

Local WSOP hero turns pro

In June Overland Park resident Grant Hinkle outlasted a field of 3,929 entrants in a sanctioned World Series of Poker event at the Rio in Las Vegas.

He took home a coveted WSOP gold bracelet and a first place cash prize of $831,462.

READ MORE...

Submitted by Rick Alm on August 18, 2008 - 11:12am.
read more | add new comment

KCK casino boosters have their say

The public today had its say on who should operate a state-owned casino in Wyandotte County.

Wrapping up a three-day hearing on the campus of the Kansas City Kansas Community College, the Kansas Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board heard testimony from around four dozen people who signed up to deliver maximum two-minute spiels at a public microphone.

READ MORE...

Submitted by Rick Alm on August 15, 2008 - 12:32pm.
read more | 6 comments

Gaming Q&A with Rick

Guest Bloggers

Read timely commentary by newsmakers, gambling industry insiders and others with a unique vantage point or point of view.

Gambling Forum

Gambling History

Click here for Rick’s entertaining and occasionally updated tale of gambling’s place in human history and evolutionary timeline of gambling, locally and nationally, from illicit pastime to government tax bonanza.

Rick's (very abridged) world history of gambling

I frequently meet with civic groups and others to discuss gambling issues, current events and always lively Q&A sessions.

One fellow in a recent audience became quite interested in my brief recounting of gambling's well-established place in human history. After the session he asked if I would expand on the subject at an upcoming quarterly

READ MORE...

Submitted by Rick Alm on June 21, 2008 - 8:43am.
read more | add new comment