Question of the Day - 21 January 2020

I’ve enjoyed reading Jean Scott’s articles for years and wish her and Brad a wonderful retirement. But her departure will no doubt leave a void. Is anyone at LVA stepping up to carry the frugal torch?

The simple truth is, Jean Scott is irreplaceable, at least to us. We're sure a frugal duchess, marquess, baroness, or viscountess out there in Casinoland is making a fair approximation of what she did, but after all, she's the Queen. That said, if anyone wants to apply for the job, we're accepting applications. 

Does the El Cortez charge resort fees and for parking? If not, I might go there in March. 

Yes and no. The El Cortez does charge a resort fee; it's $17.95 per night. No parking fee is collected (during major events downtown, a security guard at the entrance might turn non-guests away). 

I never went to Hooters, because breastaurants are not my demographic. Now it's OYO. Is that also a breastaurant? I probably wouldn't ask if it hadn't already been a Hooters, but someone pointed out the "OYO" logo kinda looks like two boobs with some cleavage in between ...

Good one! OYO Hotels and Homes doesn't do restaurants of its own. It's India's largest lodging company, claiming to be the world’s third-largest chain of hotels, homes, managed living, and workspaces with more than 23,000 hotels and 125,000 vacation homes globally. When it purchased the old Hooters property for $135 million last fall, it retained the Hooters-branded restaurant. And why wouldn't it? It's one of the highest-grossing locations in the Hoot Owl restaurant chain.

What's the story behind that gigantic video sign on the corner of Treasure Island?

Yes, it's a big one: 45 feet high and more than 175 feet long. It's not the largest in Las Vegas; that's the 70-foot-tall message marquee at the corner of Harmon Avenue and the Strip. 

But the giant curved LED sign at the corner of Spring Mountain and the Strip, which advertises the Marvel Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. attraction at Treasure Island, went live on Halloween last year and features, according to its manufacturer Victory Hill Exhibitions, one of the highest-resolution sign displays in the city. 

Does any casino on the Strip serve Lowenbrau beer?

Not to our knowledge. In fact, we suspect that very few, if any, restaurants in the entire U.S. serve it. Perhaps some small bars in big cities still offer it in the bottle as a rare import, but that's about it.

Though Lowenbrau has been brewed, reportedly, for somewhere between 400 and 700 years in Germany, there's a long story behind how the beer became essentially extinct in North America (having to do with Anheuser-Busch in the U.S. and Labatt in Canada), which is beyond the scope of this answer.

We asked Anthony Curtis if he knew of any and he replied, "No. I thought it wasn't being produced anymore. Don't even see it in stores." We asked around further and learned that the last time anyone saw it in Las Vegas was at the long-defunct German restaurant Alpine Village, located on Paradise Road across from what's now the Westgate.

Mahjong has gained more mainstream popularity in past years. Why isn't it played in any casino as a table game?

Mahjong, the traditional Chinese tile game, has been played for more than 2,500 years; Confucius himself is said to have played it (a bird lover, Confucius reportedly gave mahjong its name, which roughly translates as “chattering sparrow”). In fact, a simplified version of mahjong, which employs 20 tiles instead of the usual 144, is played in this country, but mostly, to our knowledge, in mahjong clubs (of which Los Angeles has a number). The traditional game is played in casinos around the world; it's particularly popular in the U.K. A variety of mahjong games is available online as well. Around a year ago, Synergy Blue, a skill-based slot manufacturer, released a mahjong slot machine, with a jackpot of 10,000 times the max bet and a theoretical hold of 2.5%-12.5%.