Question of the Day - 29 December 2024

Besides tradition, as I believe you have been doing it since before resort fees were a thing, what is the point of publishing separate "room rates" and "resort fee" lists? Who cares that the room rate is $19 if the resort fee is $40? Internal accounting, Experian's vig, and the laughable justifications (we have a business center!) for a resort fee aside, I assume that LVA readers simply care about how much it will cost. Wouldn't a list of hotels sorted by total (room rate + resort fee) with both numbers listed be of more value to the readership? 

It might and probably would, but as you say, the tradition predates resort fees by many years. So we keep them separate in order to maintain apples-to-apples comparisons with all the past room-rate surveys. In addition, we always list the casinos that don't charge resort fees, so those numbers are the total price you'll pay for a hotel room there. Meanwhile, we figure that, since we keep all resort fees up to the minute on their own dedicated page on the website, it's a simple matter of taking the base rate from the survey for the hotel room(s) you're interested in, clicking twice to access the resort-fees page on the site, adding the base and RF, and coming up with a total. 

How's Jean Scott doing since Brad's passing?

She's doing as well as can be expected. She's grieving, of course, but Brad hadn't been his whole vivacious self for many years, so she had plenty of time to prepare. Also, she still has her own health issues to deal with, especially that pesky problem with her vision. But her competitive spirit is undiminished: She received the prize for winning the most games this year at her Newcomers Mahjong Club, in spite of her brain surgery in early July. "I'm no smarter than anybody else," she tells us, "but no one else feels the need to really study the game. I don't know how to do anything half-assed. Sometimes, though, I purposely play a little less 'intensely' when the other players get to complaining about my winning too often."

And you'll be happy to hear that the answer to tomorrow's Question of the Day was provided by Jean, another indication that she's still productive and engaged. Also, having her daughter Angela, son-in-law Steve, two grandkids, and five (!) great-grandchildren nearby is a huge comfort to her. And thank you for asking. 

I bought Whale Hunt in the Desert by Deke Castleman when it first came out years and years ago. It's one of my favorite gambling books. Ever since then, I'd been meaning to buy an autographed copy that you sell. When I did, to my surprise, it was autographed by Steve Cyr. Since when does the subject of a book autograph it and not the author? 

Well, the long and short of it is, since this particular book was written about Steve Cyr.

We asked Deke to express his sentiments on the matter and here's what he told us. "Though I wrote Whale Hunt, Steve has always claimed it as 'his' book. Even after 20 years, he still gets a big kick out of inscribing copies with his name and a short message. And I get a kick out of his excitement. He's always fun to be around, but to me, he's the most fun when he's sitting at the office conference table with a couple of cases of books, scribbling away and holding court."

If you really want Deke's inscription, send the book back or drop it off the next time you're in Vegas and we'll replace it. But give us a little advance notice. Deke isn't always available, so it might take a little while to get his autograph. Unlike Steve, he doesn't sign them in advance.