Your most recent QoD about redevelopment of the Strip (11/29/16) brought back 35 years of memories. Every 15 years or so, Las Vegas goes through a "phase." In the sixties, it was for "Hollywood East" people. In the eighties, it was for "family fun." In the nineties to 2005, it was "megaresort development." Now it seems to be a convention-driven Strip. Now I see mega-convention centers and boxlike hotels (Linq, Aria, Cosmo). The fun has gone from the Strip. They seem to just be moving most people from the hotels to the convention centers and back. For some basic fun and gaming, I have been moving to the downtown casinos and the local casinos. Have you seen the same kind of trends?

I seem to recall that Carl Icahn was given a deadline of August or September to cover up his his Strip monstrosity [Fontainebleau] to make it less dreadful. The deadline has come and gone without any sign of anything happening. What gives?

I have visited Las Vegas over 1,300 nights in my life and I recently witnessed over and over something weird. Most casinos leave abandoned slot credits on a machine alone. But the last five trips I have been frequenting The D. The employees cash out the leftover credits and scan them. What happens to those credits? I have witnessed other casinos cash the credits out and leave the paper on the machine glass for others to use. What gives?

I'm from Northwest Indiana and now the Pokagon Tribe in South Bend is starting construction on their casino. Apparently they will have class 2 gaming machines. My question is what are the odds on class 2 compared to class 3? I've played class 2 video poker in Wisconsin and am not impressed with a bingo card on the screen, just really throws the enjoyment out the window thinking i'm playing computer bingo. So are the payout odds much different?

I've just encountered a blackjack variation called "Top 3." It looks like an extension of the "21+3" game, offering a large payout for hitting any of three unlikely hands, like suited trip-aces. A dealer, who claimed that she'd done the math, told me that the "Top 3" is a good bet, pretty much guaranteed to pay off, especially if you're playing with a less-than-full table. I'm skeptical that the casino would ever offer a bet that's favorable for the players. What say you?

What do you know about the new casino opening in Kansas next year? It is supposed to be in the process of being built.

You said [in the November 25 QoD] MGM only sold one of the former Mirage resorts [Treasure Island], but what about the Golden Nugget? I'm pretty sure that was included in the MGM sale and was sold within four or five years of the original transaction.

Concerning the QoD on December 8 [about casinos aimed specifically at a Latino market]. My wife and I make the drive from Fresno to Las Vegas twice a year and we like to go through Death Valley. We often pass by a big sign for El Sueño, in Beatty, Nevada, and wonder about it. It appears to be an abandoned casino project. Was that aimed at Hispanics?

As Nevada is an open-carry state, where are you NOT allowed to carry a non-concealed handgun?

My wife and I just toured the MONA Museum of Neon Art in Glendale, California. Searching the QoD archives, we came up with the early, pre-Las Vegas history of neon, but we're wondering when neon became the dominant signage in Las Vegas. Also, what happened to it? It's not so prevalent anymore.