Of far greater annoyance are the card pushers. You'll walk past long rows of them, all thumping their cards -- usually an ad for an escort service -- and shoving them toward you, trying to get your attention. The best thing to do is to give them no response all. Don't look at them, don't glance at a card and under no circumstances take a card. They won't walk after you to try and force a card onto you, so once you've passed them you're free and clear, but I never fail to get a little riled up when I walk by. They're an annoyance and can even be something of an intimidating factor to new visitors. So just pretend they're not even there.

The card pushers usually line the areas of the Strip where the sidewalks narrow or pedestrians slow down to look at attractions -- I notice them most near the Bellagio and across the street from Caesars Palace -- but you may come across them just about anywhere on the Strip. They're not found as much Downtown, but that's always subject to change.

But about that drive to the Grand Canyon... it can certainly be done in one day, but it makes for a very long day -- figure on about 3 hours each way for the West Rim and closer to 5 for the South Rim -- and the drive isn't particularly pleasant. The roads for the last bit aren't of a very high quality and parking and shuttle fees at the Canyon itself start to add up. I almost never recommend a self-driving day trip there; in fact, I generally advise pretty strongly against it. The best way of getting to the Grand Canyon, if a person doesn't mind splurging a bit, is to go on one of the helicopter tours. That shortens the travel time and will go down into the Canyon itself. The next best option is a bus coach tour. These are noticeably less costly than a helicopter tour, but they will take up pretty much a full day -- anywhere from about 10 to 14 hours, depending upon how long is spent at the Canyon. Many bus tours do include a stop at Hoover Dam on the way.

The West Rim is closer to Vegas and it is where the famed Skywalk -- the glass balcony you mentioned -- is located so most tours go here, but many nature purists prefer the less commercialized South Rim.

The Skywalk is as impressive as it sounds, but some visitors are disappointed to learn they aren't allowed to bring cameras onto the platform with them. Photos are are available for purchase, but they're not cheap.

Discounts and special deals on tours to Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon can be found on the FTLV Bargains page.

If, like most visitors, you stay at a hotel-casino, try this instead: Visit the hotel gift shop and buy your friends decks of cards that have been used in the casino. These are high quality, usually in good shape and cost very little. They'll be marked with the logo of the particular casino and have been used to win or lose money at the very tables you may have played. They'll usually have one or two corners trimmed slightly, or a small hole drilled through the deck, to ensure that a cheater can't sneak them back into a game.

Game-used dice are also available, but I tend to think cards are more likely to be used back home. Of course if your friend is a big Yahtzee fan, maybe a handful of dice would thrill them.

Almost every casino offers cards for sale. If you can't find them in the gift shop, ask a pit boss while you're gambling.

I'm also a fan of bringing home $1 chips. A lot of folks collect casino chips and they can also easily be turned into magnets, paperweights and the like.

At table games

Wait until there's a break in the action -- when the dealer has to shuffle cards, for example, or before a brand-new roll at the dice table -- then tell the dealer you're going to run to the restroom and will be back in couple of minutes. Unless you're paranoid you don't have to take your chips with you. The dealer will sometimes place a small marker at your spot to note that it is saved. If you're at the craps table they may hand you a small towel (you can ask for one if they don't). Take this towel and cover your chips with it. This serves the dual purpose of marking your spot as saved and making it more difficult for anyone to snag some of your chips without being noticed.

You don't have to rush back from the bathroom, but it's good manners not to dawdle, either. If you're very, very slow the pit boss may decide to take your chips for safe keeping and open up your spot at the table. You could count on one hand, with fingers left over, the number of times I've seen that happen, though, so unless you take a long site seeing tour on your way back from the restroom it's not anything to worry about.

At slot or video poker machines

This is where it gets tricky. Hardcore slot players are a territorial bunch, and there's a definite etiquette to sitting at a slot machine when there are other players in the area.

To address your question first of all, if you're playing slots or video poker and need to take a quick break, there's no guarantee at all your seat will be saved. There are no "reserved" signs to place on the machine. The best you can do is hand over the machine to a friend or spouse for a few minutes. So if your wife is playing the machine next to you and you need to step away for a minute, she'll be able to save it for you. If the area is very crowded she might need to play a few spins while you're away, but it's almost unheard of that you'd lose your spot. There's usually plenty of room for slot players to spread out and part of that territorial attitude is that most players are pretty respectful of other people's space and won't sit next to someone without asking first (see the section on "unwritten rules" below).

When progressive machines -- the ones with the really huge jackpots -- are thought to be in the imminent payout stage, I've heard stories of EXTREMELY serious players suiting up in adult diapers so they can play a given machine for hours and hours without leaving the spot.

So if the player next to you seems to never take a break, just try and put that little nugget of information out of your head. But maybe you don't want to sit in the chair after they get up.

More slot machine unwritten rules

Sometimes slotheads like to play more than one machine, often using not only the machine in front of them, but also the ones to their left and right. One of the funniest things I've ever seen in a Vegas casino was a seemingly sweet little old lady suddenly turn into a foul-mouthed sailor when an unsuspecting visitor made the mistake of trying to start playing at the slot machine next to her. Watching a conventioneer get called a "pushy son of a bitch" by someone who looks like she should be baking cookies for her grandchildren... now that was entertaining.

So if people are already in the area where you wish to play, the best move is to first ask "Are you using this machine?" before sitting down. Either that or run the risk of grandma cursing at you.

Easiest and best in all cases: Rely on a friend or spouse

So, after reading all that advice, it's pretty clear that no matter the game you're playing, the best way to save your spot is to get help from a friend. Alternate your bathroom breaks and you can keep a close eye on each other's chips. And DO pay careful attention, because sly thieves are not at all above swiping a few chips if they think they can get away with it. If you're the one watching, keep both sets of chips in front of you or, even better, keep a hand placed over them. This is most important at a craps table, where chips are lined up in rails and crowds are often packed shoulder-to-shoulder.

What if need to step outside for a smoke break?

Pfft. Nobody goes outside to smoke. Non-smokers like myself may hate it, but Las Vegas is still a stronghold of the cigarette crowd. If you're gambling and have the urge to scratch your nicotine itch, just ask for an ashtray. And if I'm at the table with you, please be cool and not hold your cancer stick directly under my own personal space.

Very basic rules of thumb

Read the article for details, but here's a rough guideline for reference on who to tip and how much:

• Bag handlers, luggage porters and hotel bell staff
  $1 per bag. A bit higher for full bag service at an upscale hotel; use $5 as the minimum in that case.
• Cab drivers, limo drivers
  15 to 20 percent, generally rounded to the next highest $5 mark. For limo service use 20% as your base, unless service is bad.
• Parking valets
  $1 or $2.
• Restaurant wait staff (non-buffet), room service
  15%-20% of the pre-tax total
• Buffet wait staff
  $2-$5 left on the table for drink servers and bus staff.
• Bars and cocktail servers
  Tip by the round or every other round, so that it averages out to about $1 per person per round.
• Pool staff (towel attendants, etc.)
  $1 or $2
• Casino dealers and slot attendants
  A small bet from time to time if the dealer is friendly.
• Hotel housekeeping staff
  $2-$5 per day if service was good

Las Vegas is probably the most tip-centric city you'll ever visit. A general rule of thumb is: Tip everybody you can think of. If it's a situation where the service is ongoing -- such as ordering drinks -- tip the person early and tip them a little more than you think you ought to. More than anywhere else I've ever visited, service in Las Vegas is directly correlated to how much cash you spread around.

Here are a few guidelines of commonly encountered tipping situations:

Tip cab drivers somewhere around 15 to 20 percent. What I do is estimate what a 15-percent tip would be, then round upwards to the nearest $5. If you get unlucky and get one of the rare cab drivers who lie and claim there's a mandatory 15-percent gratuity (there's no such thing), then stiff the guy with a 10-percent tip if you feel like it.

If you have anyone load, unload or store your bags for you -- shuttle drivers or the hotel bag check, for example -- slip them a couple of bucks per bag.

At regular bars or when ordering from cocktail waitresses while gambling, tip them about a buck a drink. Note that once you've established a pattern of tipping, don't feel bad if you miss slipping the waitress a gratuity on one or two of her trips. She knows you'll average things out. Also remember that casino chips are as good as cash when tipping, and often a lot handier than reaching into your wallet for bills.

At super-hip nightclubs, slip the bartender or waitress a 20 with your first order and let them know you'll be ordering more throughout the night. Then tip them a 10 every other order or so.

When gambling, tip a friendly dealer by either placing a bet for them when you hit a hot streak or simply put a few chips on the table -- but not in the betting area -- when leaving the table and let them know it's for them. Don't feel like you have to tip a surly dealer anything. On rare occasion you'll even run into a surly dealer actively trying to get you to tip them. This is called "hustling tokes" and it's pretty much universally hated. Just leave that table.

If you have tickets to a show that does not have assigned seating, but instead has someone to seat you, passing along $10 or so along with a request about where you'd like to be positioned can go a long way to moving you away from the exit and closer to the stage.

Drop a dollar or two to the attendant at the pool whenever you pick up new towels.

At a low- to mid-tier hotel, leave 10 bucks or so for the housekeeping staff when you leave. At a very nice place, bump it to 20 or more.

If you visit a strip club... well, they're going to end up with all your cash, no matter how much or little you start with.

You're going to end up spending quite a bit of money on tips, but it's kind of fun. Spreading cash around can kind of make a person feel like a big shot, and, in the overall picture, it doesn't really add too much to the price of the trip.

The girls at those places are dressed TO KILL. Lots of cleavage. Lots of tanned skin showing. Lots of f-me heels. They're truly meat markets in a way that probably wouldn't be so damned much fun if it weren't in the surreal Las Vegas atmosphere. So vamp it up. Dress like you're a C-list starlet hoping to be photographed. You can't go wrong with a sexy dress and stunning heels.

You asked specifically about girls, but guys also wonder about these sort of things. Dudes have the best chance of getting in and fitting in at the most popular joints if they dress up a bit. Something a notch higher on the style scale than jeans and a casual shirt. Start the wardrobe planning with slacks, dressy-ish shoes and whatever kind of shirts are being featured in GQ these days.

Whatever your choices, if you're more about comfort you'll be well within appropriateness heading out in jeans. However, my preference is to at least dress up the jeans a bit -- save the runners for daytime walking about rather than a night out. If your feet get tired, there are cabs aplenty and the fares won't run much at all.

On a related tip, you may want to take a look at a question from a few months ago. Another reader wanted to know what the dress is like inside casinos.

Kelly, the general rule of thumb for you is also a no. Seats at blackjack tables -- and all games -- are meant only for players. Sit down and you'll be asked to either bet or get up... usually. If things are very slow in the casino -- early in the day, for example -- and there are only one or two players at the table, some dealers don't mind if a non-player sits for a little while. As soon as the table begins filling, though, you'll be asked to move.

Topless clubs in Las Vegas are exclusively for those 21 and older, oddly enough, the fully nude clubs are 18+ (except, for one, The Palomino, which has an age limit of 21). The reason is that topless joints serve alcohol but the nude clubs aren't allowed to. The Palomino is a fully nude club that has been around so long it was grandfathered in under the various laws and is allowed to both have butt-ass nekkid dancers and sell booze. Not surprisingly, a man can go broke at the Palomino way faster than at the blackjack table.

I'll warn you that many of the nude clubs are not particularly classy places (that's strictly a personal opinion, of course). Dancers at the topless bars often make quite a bit more money than their counterparts at the fully bare joints -- because drunk dudes don't keep careful track of how much they spend -- so the very hottest women tend to work there. The nudie bar workers are often the stretch-mark-and-stomach-scar types. There are exceptions to this rule, of course... every so often.

I kind of hate to tell you this, but Vegas really isn't much of an under-21 town. There aren't many clubs the young girls will be able to get into and they won't be allowed to hang around the casino. You might be better off ditching the young girls and running off with your legally aged friends. But if you decide to try one of the nude clubs, here's a list:

• Babe's
• Can-Can Room
• Deja Vu
• Diamond Cabaret
• Little Darlings
• Palomino (21 and over)
• Pussycat Lounge
• Sheri's Cabaret
• Talk of the Town

If you decide to skip out on your underage friends and head to a regular ol' topless club, some of the current favorites in town are:

• Cheetah's
• Club Paradise
• Crazy Horse III
• Deja Vu
• OG (often still called by its former full name, Olympic Garden
• Rick's Cabaret
• Sapphire
• Spearmint Rhino

Check with a hotel concierge or cab driver for any recent openings or closings. These people are always in the know about this sort of thing.

Canter's Deli inside Treasure Island is a step up from fast food, both in quality and price, and is a great option to keep in mind. Their sandwiches are fantastic and HUGE. So big you'll probably need to split one with a friend.

Note: If you are a fan of burgers and spot an In-N-Out, eat there. They have some of the best I've ever eaten.

The second option for "cheap meals" is one with better food quality and more more expensive than a stop at McDonald's -- but with a price still lower than a nice restaurant. For this, the best thing is usually a buffet at a mid- to upper-mid-level casino. Ballys is a good choice, as are Harrahs, Treasure Island, the Flamingo, Luxor, places of that level.