The Final Chapter

You're almost there.

It's Week Three and here is the final 2009 Best of Las Vegas ballot. When you finish this, you can sit back, relax and wait until March 29, when the results are published and you'll find out if you're a winner of one of our wonderful prizes.

To bring you up to date, we are printing ballots in three parts; then each of those ballots three times -- all in three weeks. (That's what you get for starting something right after the holidays, it must be those three wise men that inspired this.)

The deadline for the second part of the ballot, which appeared Jan. 18 and last Monday and Wednesday, is 5 p.m. Monday, so there's still a little time to finish the Hotels and Entertainment categories either on paper ballot or online at www.lvrj.com/bestoflv.

If you're ready, take a deep breath and dive into the final ballot, which includes the Shopping, People, Sports Spots and ever-popular Best of the Worst categories.

There are three new choices to make in the Shopping category -- Best Bank, Best Mobile Phone Service and Best Mobile Device. Best Tobacco Store has returned, increasing the total to 35 decisions.

There are 19 possibilities in the People category, including the traditional Best-Dressed Las Vegan, Las Vegan You'd Like to Know More About and the not as ghoulish as it sounds Favorite Dead Las Vegan.

You can finish off Sports Spots in a hurry because there are just six categories, but we were not about to forget our bowling and golfing fanatics.

And we always leave Best of the Worst for last, knowing the devilish among our readers have been conjuring up people, places and things to skewer.

Don't forget our rules: write legibly, send only original entries and don't stuff the ballot box.

The deadline for the final, final ballot -- which also will appear Monday and Wednesday in the paper and online all week at www.lvrj.com/bestoflv -- is 5 p.m. Feb. 2. That will be a time of rejoicing for those of us at Best of Las Vegas Central, because then we will know if this experiment to increase participation in the readers' poll worked.

The rejoicing will spread to everyone after the ballots are counted and the winners drawn for our wonderful prizes. It's hard to imagine anyone could forget them, but just in case, here's a list: two tickets to Best All-Around Performer, two tickets to Best Show, dinner for two at the Best Gourmet Restaurant in a hotel, dinner for two at the Best Gourmet Retaurant not in a hotel, lunch for two at the Best Place for a Power Lunch, a gift certificate from the Best Mall and a full-fledged night on the town, featuring dinner, a show and an overnight stay in a local hotel.