Vegas Vacation (1997) - 4 questions

Question: I submitted a mistake about the road sign at the end of the film that shows how many miles to Chicago and that there would not be such a sign in Vegas. My question is what was the point of adding that into film? And also I think it is safe to assume that the Griswolds booked a flight back to Chicago (round trip). If they did it doesn't seem like they would've had time to cancel it since they didn't know until the end that Rusty won the 4 cars. So wouldn't they have lost more money that way as well?

Answer: A sign saying how many miles home is a common film making technique. It's not meant to be realistic. Considering the Griswolds won enough at keno to recover their losses and at least $120,000 worth of cars, I can't see them getting too upset over the airfare which is likely less than a thousand dollars.

Question: Did the old man really die at the end or was this just a ploy to give Clark the money for considering him part of the family? It all seems too fake. Winking, paramedics not doing anything to revive him, barely checking to see if he is alive, etc.

Answer: Typically people don't give a knowing wink to someone when they are at death's door. I think what the paramedic says was the case. He just really wanted to feel like he belonged to a family. He met them, and they included him, so he wanted to "give back". This was the way he could.

Question: How does playing blackjack in casinos work? There is a scene where Clark gets a blackjack but the dealer keeps drawing cards for himself until he gets 21 and calls it a tie. I thought when you get blackjack you automatically win, unless the dealer also gets blackjack then it is a push. However someone told me that if the dealer gets blackjack the dealer automatically wins, even against a player who also has blackjack and it is not a push. Clarification please?

Answer: There are numerous rule variations for blackjack, but most casinos will rule that blackjack beats any other hand, even one of 21, and if both player and dealer have blackjack, then a push is given. There are certain rulesets where a tie is awarded to the dealer, but these are rarely used except occasionally in charity events where dealer takings go to the nominated charity.

Question: How much money did the family win after playing Keno?

Answer: $25,000. Given to the Griswalds by Sid Caesar's character just before he passed away.