Let's say you enter a satellite tournament for the World Series of Poker and manage to win one of the $10,000 entries. You then, of course, get knocked out in the main tournament, long before you reach the money. What are the tax implications of winning your entry fee? On the one hand, you didn't win any actual cash. On the other, the seat has a definite $10K value. I'd hate to be on the hook for $10K worth of ordinary income that I never actually saw. That would make playing in the WSOP a very expensive lark, even via satellite entry.

About 10 years ago I stayed at Harrah’s and there was an invitational backgammon tournament going on. I was curious to know if any casinos today ever sponsor anything to do with backgammon? Are there any public venues in Las Vegas for backgammon?

In the past I've read about slot machines for the seeing impaired. Has any slot manufacturer come up with a video poker machine for the visually impaired?

The Venetian has announced their new poker room will be open this spring. Do you have a date for when the grand opening will be?

Why are cell phones not allowed in sports books? My phone rang and when I answered, I was told to hang up or leave the area.

What towns in Nevada have casino gambling other than Las Vegas?

Are any of the Las Vegas sports books taking any action on the winter Olympics?

The online poker site where I play claims to take VISA and MasterCard as deposit options. However, every time I've tried to use a credit card to make a deposit, the charge has been denied. One of my card companies' fraud department even called me once to make sure my card hadn't been stolen; they then informed me that they never honor charges for online gambling. I know there are other payment options, but I'm not real keen on giving a third-party payment company my bank info just to play poker. Are there any credit-card companies that honor an online gambling transaction?

Is there a rule in poker that if you show your hand to one player, you must then show to all at the table? Thanks for your help — it will settle a bet.

I recently visited The Gamblers Book Club for the first time. It looks like it's been around since forever. How did it get there? Who started it?