My question is about slot machines. Thirty years ago when I first started vacationing in Las Vegas, slots were little more than an afterthought, exiled to the far corner of the casino where little old ladies with coin buckets and dirty fingers pulled handles and went cross-eyed from watching the reels spin. Today, they occupy well more than half the casino. To what do you attribute the increase in the popularity of machine games?

Sometimes I get the feeling that I'm being watched from the catwalks above me when I'm gambling. What can you tell me about how often the eyes above are actually paying any attention and what areas do they watch the most. It seems to me they would be more interested in the table games where cheating is more possible.

The famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign is such a symbol and easily recognized as an icon of the city. Has it (or its less famous Welcome to Downtown sign) ever been involved in any type of accident or damaged? I know when I visited at the beginning of October they were working on a parking lot to keep picture takers safe, but I just wonder about the possibilty of crime involving the sign.

In your answer for QoD 11/12/08 you used the term 86'd. What does that mean and were did it originate?

Years ago, my girlfriend (now wife) and I had our picture taken by a passerby in Las Vegas in front of a sign that read, "Free Aspirin & Tender Sympathy." Where was that sign and is it still there?

We just returned from a stay at the Palazzo. I remember watching it being built from our room at the Wynn and the lot looked pretty small. Can you tell me what used to occupy that space? And how does the size of Palazzo’s space compare to other hotels on the Strip?

In the Today's News section on 9/19 you referenced the NGC's Black Book. The new entry to the book was for #36. If this book is for slot cheats it seems that there should be way more names than 36. What is this Black Book and how do you get into it? (Not that I want to get in it!) Thanks.

A large group of us (15) are meeting in Vegas and want to have dinner at an old-school Rat Pack-style Italian restaurant with large tables, great spaghetti, and killer martinis. Suggestions?

How did Frank Rosenthal get his nickname "Lefty" in spite of the fact he was right-handed?

We just returned from Las Vegas and noticed the Aladdin has been replaced by Planet Hollywood. It hasn't been that long since we were staying at Polo Towers while the Aladdin was being constructed. Was the Aladdin remodeled, or torn down and a completely new hotel/casino built? Just curious.