When, where, and how did Jean and Brad Scott connect with LVA and start to get with the program?
"On Brad and my second trip to Las Vegas in mid-1984," Jean tells us, "I started using coupons and looking for bargains, as I did on all of our travels. We also visited the Gambler's Book Club bookstore, where we saw an issue of the Las Vegas Advisor displayed on the counter by the cash register. I bought it and subscribed in 1985, I believe, so yes, I'm one of the 'charter' members of LVA."
Anthony picks it up from there.
"One day I got a long letter in this tiny chicken-scratch handwriting from someone named Jean Scott about her and her husband's money-saving escapades in Vegas. It was a bit hard to read at first, but I quickly realized how valuable the information was and responded, encouraging Jean to continue to submit her trip reports. This, of course, was long before we started classifying them as 'frugal' tips, but they were right in LVA's wheelhouse and I started using them extensively. The frugal part came later, 10 years or so in fact, when Jean wrote her first book for us and the inimitable Max Rubin tossed off the title and the brand, The Frugal Gambler, inspired by the popular 'Frugal Gourmet' show and cookbook."
"After a few years of traveling from Indianapolis to Vegas, we still hadn't met Anthony. But one day in the early '90s, I got a letter from Deke," Jean adds.
Take it, Deke.
"One of my first assignments when I came onboard at Huntington Press was to review Jean's trip reports, then write to Jean and introduce myself. (I think Anthony wanted me to take over deciphering her griffonage.) I asked her to contact me the next time she and Brad came to town, so we could meet. Soon enough, I went to their room, comped of course, at the Four Queens. That was the start of our 35-year collaboration, during which time Jean and Brad became among my dearest friends (and godparents to my kids)."
"Deke came to meet us at the Four Queens," Jean continues, "where he interviewed us about our experiences with couponing, comps, and playing experiences. Subsequently, we met Anthony for the first time at the old office on Valley View south of Tropicana and became part of the LVA 'family.'
"By then, we were staying for three months at a time over the winter and an issue of the Advisor featured us in a story called something like, '91 Days in Vegas, 90 of Them Free.' That gave me the idea that perhaps one day, I'd write a book."
"And the rest," Anthony adds, "is publishing history."
"Brad and I were so exhilarated by the whole casino environment in those early years. But even then, we never could have imagined how strongly it would influence the rest of our lives," Jean summed it up.
