I just returned from staying five nights at Fitzgeralds. One of the employees told my wife that Don Barden died in May. I had never heard this, and found it hard to believe, but when I looked it up, I found that he died of lung cancer on May 19. The Review Journal web site had nothing on it, and the Sun had a four sentence article. I did notice that the chips with Barden's picture on them were no longer in use, and the press release section of Fitzgeralds' web site was also silent. Is there a reason for his death to be ignored like this?

What is going on at Koval and Harmon? I thought a new casino, resort etc. was going to be built. It has been an eyesore for years.

As the deadline of what to do about The Harmon in City Center looms, it seems both sides have been very quiet. What is going on?

With the M Resort sale to Penn National Gaming recently completed for about a third of the property's original construction cost, when was the last time that a major hotel-casino from the modern era in Las Vegas sold for more than what it cost to build?

Picking through Wikipedia, I noticed that both the La Bayou (formerly Coin Castle) and Mermaids (formerly Sassy Sally's) both had hotels upstairs. I wonder if they would ever be able to open up those rooms as a true small boutique type hotel and open the casino 24 hours?

You have two amazing-looking poker books just out-Decide to Play Great Poker by Annie Duke and The Raiser's Edge by Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier. I'm sure they both live up to billing, but why did Annie have a half-dozen book signings in conjunction with the World Series of Poker while ElkY had none?

Question: Is there any truth to the following (forwarded) e-mail I received? Ever wonder what is on your magnetic key card? Answer: a. Customer's name b. Customer's partial home address c. Hotel room number d. Check-in and -out dates e. Customer's credit card number and expiration date. When you turn them in to the front desk your personal information is there for any employee to access by simply scanning the card in the hotel scanner … (and so on, at great length).

I received a flier from the Riviera with all the improvements going on there. They have redone the showroom and are adding more machines and table games. They are also changing the pool area. Sounds like they are putting money in the old girl.

Due to the recent closing of the Sahara which I'm very sad about I was wondering if there has been any mention of reopening the Nascar Cafe, which is a very fun place and a hopping spot to be during a Nascar race?

I have been to Vegas 5 times in the last 2 years and always head to Fremont St. for one good night of fun, but I have noticed that the songs on the canopy never change, always the same ones. Will they ever get a new one?