I just got an e-mail that says I'm one of the select few to be invited to get updates on the new Vdara at City Center. I went on the website and saw it's a condo/casino/hotel. What is that, exactly? There are no prices listed for the condos. If I bought a condo, how does that work, since it’s located inside a hotel/casino?

We'll be visiting Vegas in May, staying at NY-NY and the Mirage. After reading David McKee's blog every day, will they still be open? Sort of a stupid question but what happens if one of the big ones (MGM or Harrah's) goes bankrupt? Would the banks take them over and keep them running?

I have an authenticated, autographed business card for "The Jim Thorpe Supper Club & Casino." Yes, THAT Jim Thorpe. He died on March 28, 1953. The card also says "Pittman, Nevada." Where is/was Pittman? When was this casino/supper club open? What all can you tell us about it?

I recently saw an advertisement for Excalibur's new "All You Can Eat All Day Long" buffet for $25. Disregarding my overwhelming feeling of nausea and disgust at the thought of eating that horrible buffet three meals a day, it could be a fun and cheap way for some irresponsibly unhealthy guys to eat through a Vegas binge. How does it work? Do they stamp your hand or give you a ticket to get back in, later in the day? Do you think it’s a bargain? It sounds like the deal of the year to me, since breakfast lunch and dinner would normally cost you around $45.

What is the reason behind the practice of laying cash on the table instead of handing it to the dealer?

Is my mind playing tricks on me or did this really happen as I remember? I could swear that in the '70s, a downtown casino was offering "behind-the-scenes" tours of security, which included actually going up into the catwalks over the casino floor and watching the security guys with their binoculars looking through one-way mirror panels (no cameras at that time). Both my father and I remember taking this tour, but my mother and wife say we're crazy. Was such a tour ever offered or did I dream this?

I stayed at the MGM Grand in Jan 2009 and heard it's no longer the largest resort in the world? Is that true?

The February 2009 issue of the Las Vegas Advisor points out that the super-fancy and elitist Encore casino has severely restrictive and ungenerous rules for gambling, but the Eastside Cannery will have much looser and gambler-friendly rules to be revealed soon. Explain to me what I'm not understanding, but in the section under "Encore Gambling," LVA states that in 6-deck blackjack games, the dealer stands on soft 17, and the player may double after splitting, resplit aces, and surrender. Aren’t these blackjack rules so liberal and loose as to be comparable to Atlantic City rules? Is there any casino in or around Las Vegas that has such loose blackjack rules as the Encore?

I have a vague recollection that Debbie Reynolds once had a casino and hotel in Las Vegas. How’s my memory? Is it so that there was a Debbie Reynolds Casino & Hotel?

What do a casino host's duties include besides booking rooms and dining reservations for his clients? How much can he "give" a property visitor and is there a ladder he can climb in corporate gaming?