Jean Scott's Frugal Vegas

Despite 95-degree and very humid weather today, we tromped through the Fayette County Free Fair today.  This was the first free county fair in the country, established in 1903.  And if you read one of the early chapters in the series  here about  Brad’s Gambling Life, you might remember that this fair in his hometown of Connersville, IN, was a high point in Brad’s summers for many of his childhood and youth years. Read more… »

Just to answer some of your questions about our 7-Star visit here at the Shoe in Hammond, IN. 

No, it doesn’t have a hotel.  But they will put up out-of-town players in various hotels in the area, including downtown Chicago.  We are staying at a Marriott Courtyard about 20-25 minutes from the casino.

We will not have time on this trip to stop at too many casinos since our main purpose is to visit friends and relatives.  We did stay two nights at the Council Bluffs Harrah’s in Iowa, mainly to rest up from two long days of travel.  And we will be staying 4 nights here in Hammond.  But then we will be heading to the Indianapolis area where most of Brad’s family and some of our old friends live.  Plus we will be visiting the county fair in Connersville.  If you have been reading the Brad stories, you will recall that this was a very important summer event in his youth.

I am writing this in the Captain’s Lounge at Harrah’s Council Bluffs. I’m using a strange computer so who knows how this will turn out.  Hopefully readable!

Last Wednesday we left Vegas to embark on the longest road trip we’ve taken in probably 10 years. Read more… »

Hello, Jean and Brad,

I just saw a bright red Mercedes convertible parked in the Palms garage and it had the license plate FRUGAL that I have seen for years on your PT Cruiser.  Hope I’m not being nosey, but did someone steal your plate or did you retire the Frugal Plum.  I can’t imagine the Frugal Gamblers paying money for this car. I bet you won it in a casino drawing?  Am I right?

A frugal fan Read more… »

And do we ever receive a lot of casino mail!  After 27 years visiting casinos we seem to be on most all their lists, even those we haven’t darkened their door for many years.  Nothing like tough economic times to send them digging deep into their databases!  Although we now get quite a bit via e-mail, there is rarely a day that we don’t have a hard copy missive from a casino somewhere in the United States.

I have a file of current/pending mail offers, but I also have a box Read more… »

I don’t comment on every statement made about me or answer every personal question I get in the Comments here on this blog, or on public Internet forums, or in personal e-mails.  But most are asked by well-meaning kind people who have no ill intentions.  They honestly want to know so they can use the information to make better decisions for themselves in similar situations or they are just curious but don’t feel bad if I don’t want to discuss the topic.

So today – and off and on in the future – I will tackle some personal subjects that have been brought up by friendly folks - and perhaps a few by some who don’t fit in that category. Read more… »

First, I want to thank everyone who took the time to respond, both here and in private e-mails, to the Brad stories.  The comments were overwhelmingly positive.  He and I are both so grateful for all the friends we have made since we started coming to Las Vegas over 27 years ago, so many of them as a direct result of the frugal writings.  That is the best “pay” of all!

To answer the question about the star who held up Brad’s homecoming Read more… »

It was a wonderful life for Brad in Japan – but it was coming to an end.  In the fall of 1952 his enlistment period was almost over and he received his orders to return to the States. Read more… »

Brad and I both strongly believe in helping others.  However, we sometimes differ on how we would like to do this. Read more… »