River City Casino doesn't break with casino tradition. Day or night, you have no stinkin' idea what time it is, what the weather outside is like, whether such a place as "outside" exists at all. Still, within this timeless space you can't help but feel less trapped than at other gaming palaces. The ceilings seem a mile above your head, and the inevitable cigarette smoke of your fellow gamblers drifts far above you — if not unavoidable, then at least marginally ignorable. The 2,000-plus slot machines sprawl across the massive main area, so even in a crowd you never feel crowded, and the high-limit and poker rooms are oases of serious play (the latter smoke-free). Add to that excellent restaurants, including the fun, vaguely Germanic Beerhouse and the 1904 Steak House, as well as the obligatory buffet and a cheap, Five Guys-esque burger shack, and you have a casino experience that, though located along the Mississippi River, isn't submarine.