I wonder if you would be kind enough to ask one of your blackjack experts the following question please. On the basic strategy card that I have dated 2000, it advises that the player should split 4s against the dealer's up-card of 5 and 6 only. Could you confirm that this is correct, as I'm being advised by several players that under no circumstances should you split 4s against either the 4 or 5.

What happened to the Kill Phil co-author Blair Rodman? With the WSOP in progress, I was looking forward to his insightful writing, especially about the politics and conflicts of personalities and other issues. Is he persona non grata, or has he simply gone on to other things of more import?

I was driving on the 215 and noticed that it was named for Bruce Woodbury. Who is Bruce Woodbury and what did he do to rate a road named for him?

"Al Sachs and Herb Tobman" Part II

In a couple of recent QoDs, you've mentioned two old-time Vegas casino owners named Al Sachs and Herb Tobman. I'd never heard of either of them -- can you give us some more information, please?

I will be in Vegas on the Fourth of July. Can you tell me if anything special will be going on and the schedule for the fireworks?

Whenever you post a readers' opinion poll, there are generally multiple-choice answers with a number of cleverly written responses to choose from. The answers offered are probably designed to make us readers think more about the question, as some are serious, some humorous, some even frivolous. That's probably to entertain us readers while we answer the poll, which it does, but my question is: Just who writes those clever answers? One writer's assignment, or a bunch of guys sitting around your office? A couple of guys having a beer or a combination of your staff? They do make the polls more interesting, but who is/are the author(s)?

Concerning privately owned casinos, as addressed in a recent QoD, what about: Tuscany, Ellis Island, Emerald and Rainbow (in downtown Henderson), and other smaller casinos in the Las Vegas valley?

I enjoyed the history lessons last week. However, I am curious about this statement: "An attempt [by Boyd Gaming] to merge operations with Michael Gaughan in 2004 was a shotgun wedding that went to divorce court within two years." Why was merging considered to be a shotgun wedding? Was it out of financial necessity?

My question is about restaurant trends in Las Vegas. First, every casino needed at least one or two fancy restaurants manned by "celebrity chefs." Then, the casinos all started opening "gourmet" burger joints, run by their celebrity chefs. Now, all of a sudden, every other casino is in a hurry to open a "gastropub" of some sort ... run by a celebrity chef. It seems like all of the casinos copy each other in a desperate rush to jump on the next "hip and trendy" fad. What's next, gourmet breakfasts to-go? Celebrity-chef juice bars? What do your food critics make of all of this?