I've recently read that sliding a $20 tip toward the hotel check-in clerk and asking if there are any "complimentary upgrades" available can help get you a better room. I've never before heard of tipping a check-in person. I'm going to be arriving at Mandalay Bay in just a few days and wonder if this trick really works. Should I try it?

What Las Vegas Strip properties have the best side-street or back-street entrances ... to avoid the constant foot traffic that blocks and/or slows down Las Vegas Blvd. entrance driveways?

My wife and I come to Vegas twice a year and always stay at a major hotel on the Strip. Our last visit was this June. The new problem we encountered is the ease with which a thief can simply push a cashout button and remove a payout slip from a slot machine. An attempt was made on a machine my wife was using and we witnessed a successful grab from another slot player as well. This was virtually an unheard-of practice when coins were being used. My question is, why are the casinos not doing more to warn unsuspecting slot players of this practice? Especially since slots are responsible for such a large portion of their income. This problem is becoming epidemic and can only hurt players and casinos alike.

I've always wanted to be in Las Vegas during a thunderstorm. Is there a good time of year to visit when there's a good likelihood of such a storm?

I have read many articles and seen several artist drawings of the new MGM Mirage CityCenter Project and have even walked past the construction site several times, but I have never seen or heard any mention of what is happening to the Jockey Club that seems to sit right in the middle of it? What is its fate?

In Today's News last week, you posted a short item about the Springs Preserve. Can you tell us a little more about it?

I'll be in Las Vegas over the 4th of July and would like to know what kind of fireworks displays can I expect to see from the casinos? Or ... as someone who loves this country, are there any special 4th of July events happening in Las Vegas?

In your opinion, what were the greatest LVA Top Ten deals of all time?

Not a question, but a comment on QoD 5/31/07. You wrote, "Thousands of people have complained to the Health Department, which not only has no enforcement teeth (its agents are unarmed) ..." What would you have them do, shoot us smokers on sight? Maybe prison would be a good option- - "Whaddaya in for?" "Me? Smoking a cigarette." I always loved Vegas because it was one of the last true refuges for smokers. Guess I'm too un-PC. Maybe, with any luck, all us smokers will die off in a great mass extinction. That would make the rest of you real happy. Let freedom ring.

I just got a new job, and to celebrate, I want to take my husband to Vegas for a three-to-four-day weekend. I want to stay on the Strip -- any suggestions? Haven't been to Vegas since July 1998, so we look forward to it.