Now that the huge Harrah's sale is going through, what do you make of it? How do you think Harrah's will change with two mysterious "private equity" groups now owning the biggest gambling company in the world?

Following yesterday's "Worst of 2006" readers' poll results, today we present your positive memories and uplifting experiences of Las Vegas in 2006. We hope these will set the tone for the upcoming year and that 2007 is filled with big wins, gastronomic delights, happy coincidences, and a healthy dose of good luck and laughs all round.

OMG! We received such an incredible response to our New Year's Day poll, often in essay-like proportions, that it's taken us even longer than usual to sort through all your feedback. Issues of space limitation dictated that we had to do a lot of editing and whittle down the answers we used, just to make the answer of vaguely manageable proportions. Even so, we've had to split it into two parts: Today, you can read about some of the horror stories that you'd rather forget about; tune in tomorrow for the antidote with the best of the "best of's."

I have a friend who's obsessed with the Rat Pack and the entire Vegas in the 1950s/'60s nostalgia scene. If you could put together a 1- to 2-day itinerary (places to see, eat, stay) that is centered around the look and feel of the Rat Pack era, we'd love to know your expert opinion. Authentic landmarks would be ideal, but I also know that these days, "authentic" sites are few and far between, so it would be fine to include newer places that just exude the vibe of that scene. Thanks!

Whatever happened to all the folks on "American Casino"? Are they still around or was fifteen minutes of fame their fate?

I've been watching the show "High Stakes Poker" and enjoying it very much. I was wondering, though, what sort of proposition bets are being made by the players, that Doyle Brunson has to keep track of in writing? More generally, what sort of prop bets typically get made in high stakes games?

Sampling the chef's tasting menu can be a fun way to check out a new restaurant you haven't tried before. Which of Las Vegas' restaurants offer tasting menus?

We came to Las Vegas for the marathon and Great Santa Run in December, but I have not been able to find any information on the final number of Santas. Did they break the World Record?

What can you tell us about the citizen police academy in Las Vegas. Do regular people really get to ride around in cop cruisers and fight crime?

Do you know how hosts are compensated? Assuming they're salaried employees, do they get bonuses based on their players' losses? If you play at several casinos owned by the same company during the same trip, are all of your hosts compensated during the trip, or only the host at the casino you're staying at? In other words, if your host at casino A brings you in and you do your playing casino B, a sister property, does your host at casino A get credit for that play?