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There is more live entertainment in Las Vegas than in any other city in the world and the Las Vegas showgirls are without equal. You can see them in lavish shows like the Folies Bergere and in ‘Jubilee’ at Ballys which has over seventy dancers on their programme and a magician who can make a car disappear on stage. Tickets range from $49.50 to $70 . 

The best plan is to pick up a show guide like the ‘Tourguide Magazine’ when you arrive. The highly acclaimed m Broadway musicals, Fosse  will be performed  at The Aladdin  May 22- 26  ($35-$70) and Les Miserables September 22-23  while the spectacular  Cirque du Soleil presnts "O" at the Bellagio Theatre  nightly except Sunday and Wednesdays. Tickets are £121 and $99. 

For details of the many shows on offer  check out www.vegasfreedom.com 

And of course there is the gambling. Frank Sinatra may have gone but his melodies linger on in background music that softens the clatter of thousands of slot machines. Songs like 'Luck be a Lady Tonight' pervade the air as tourists from all over the States play it out, one to one, with the one armed bandits.

Most slot machines are 25c or a dollar a shot, although you can find them as low as five cents. There are million-dollar ‘pay outs’ and in the ‘high-end players’ area, machines that accept $10 and some that are able to gobble up $100 notes.

I tried that but came out of there quicker than I went in, and also $10 poorer.I am interested in research but I'm not daft. 

Las Vegas might be a great place for a holiday so long as you know what you can afford to loose. For those who don't a sign  at a filling station  carries an appropriate  message. "Free aspirin and tender sympathy"