I agree that 'Lost Wages' is a big trap. I was there for a few days at the end of a southwest trip to see national parks and I am glad I got to see it, but am in no hurry to return.

First of all, the restaurants are nothing special. I heard all these storys of great buffets of excellent food at cheap prices. Wrong. Not only did I get food poisoning from one, but the food was no better than Ponderosa at triple the price and you had to walk 20 minutes past 500 slot machines just to see the menu. On the other hand, the steakhouse in the Luxor was great, but at $30+ per place, it should be. It was no better than a comparable (price-wise) places in New York, SF or whereever. Think about it - there is really no such thing as Vegas food, they cannot even produce their own water out there in the desert, they have to ship everything in, including the people to cook it.

It was interesting to see the architecture, but it was one big tacky tourist trap designed to extract money from the droves of tourists led in with delusions of grandeur. Think about it - us visitors work for a living while these casino owners just build more and more casinos every year! Obviously the odds are in their favor, unless of course, you can count cards in blackjack and disguise it so that they do not throw you out. Unless you mindlessly hand away your money, they kick you out if you use any skill against them.