The Comeback of the Week Award is hereby bestowed on the rock band Queen. No, they are not bringing Freddie back from the other side, but they are getting a second chance in Vegas with a new tribute show on the big Viva Vision screen at The Fremont Street Experience. “A Tribute to Queen” features 3-D sound blasting the band’s hits while the millions of LED lights put on a visual spectacle that includes photos of local champions (“We Are the…” get it?). It is playing now in rotation with the other existing Viva Vision light and sound extravaganzas. Queen’s former stand in Vegas was the musical “We Will Rock You” that played at Paris Las Vegas for about a year.

The Ka-Ching Award of the Week goes to Tao Las Vegas, which remained as the top grossing non-chain restaurant in the United States for a second year in a row. Their cash registers rang up more than $66 million in sales, up $11 million from last year and nearly twice as much as the second place finisher on the list, New York’s Tavern on the Green. The only other Vegas restaurant to make the Top 10 was SW Steakhouse at Wynn Las Vegas that brought in a comparatively paltry $20 million.

The Incredibly Good Taste Award of the Week goes to Las Vegas Review Journal writer Corey Levitan who had the good taste to include me in his recent articles about tipping practices in Las Vegas. He compared my opinions to those of my good friend and fellow travel writer Mary Herczog (Frommer’s, Dummies), Chairwoman of the Hotel Management Department at UNLV, Florozeen Gray the President of the Protocol Etiquette School of Nevada, and Michael Politz, publisher of Food and Beverage Magazine. You can view the articles here and here and even see a handy chart that compares our opinions. You’ll see there is some disagreement between the people polled, but of course I’m right.

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Question: What casinos have you won the most money in? I know it doesn’t mean I’ll win there too but was just wondering.

Answer: You’re right, Antonio, just because I’ve won money someplace doesn’t mean you will also. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, that’s why they call it gambling.

But I understand the curiosity and I’ll admit that I return to casinos where I’ve won more often in hopes that lightning will strike twice. It usually doesn’t, but who wants to go to a casino where all you ever do is lose?

A quick caveat before we begin: I am primarily a slot and video poker player although I do spend a lot of time at the Three Card Poker table. So if you’re looking for the place with the hottest craps table, you’re asking the wrong guy. I know how to play and have played before, but not with enough regularity to make any calls like that.

So the current champ for me is Planet Hollywood. In the past few months I have won six large jackpots (ranging from $1,800 to $4,000) at that casino and every time but once I have walked out of there with significantly more money in my pocket than I entered with.

After that, I believe it would have to be Green Valley Ranch where, over the years, I have won a similar number of hand-pay jackpots (from $1,200 to $2,400). And again here, even when I’m not winning the big jackpots I usually do pretty well here.

Next in line for me would probably be Bally’s where I have won three or four large jackpots (the largest was around $3,600) and then Luxor although I haven’t won there in ages so my mood on the place has dimmed considerably.

Other places where I’ve won hand-pay jackpots (over $1,200) include Treasure Island, Wynn Las Vegas, Stratosphere, and Harrah’s.

The single largest jackpot I won in Las Vegas was at The Venetian, where I managed a royal flush on a $1 progressive video poker for just over $4,100. However, I’ve never won anything else of significance there so the overall track record is not great.

But to answer your question exactly as you answered it, the casino in which I have won the most money isn’t in Las Vegas. Last year I was at the San Manuel casino near Los Angeles when I threw a $100 bill into a $5 10XPay machine and lined up the reels for a $20,000 win. Yes, I was shocked. I almost passed out as a matter of fact.

Thanks for your question, Antonio.

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