Both Michael Jackson and Britney Spears have been hanging around Las Vegas lately and the speculation is rampant that both will be doing some shows here in the future.

A Las Vegas promoter scoffs at the Jackson rumors saying: "Sadly, Michael's incapable of keeping promises, because he hasn't got the will to even show up anywhere, much less get himself into shape for a world-class performance. He might drop by to wave at guests, or do a dance on top of a limo, but a longterm show? That dream will never come true, I'm afraid."

Britney's former manager, who is back on good terms with the singer, says she's not ready for a comback although we wonder if it might be part of a legal maneuver: "a Los Angeles court heard that Brit is still incapable of participating in any legal proceedings, with her attorney telling the court that her doctor hopes to carry out "additional testing in the not-too-distant future".

We suppose that staging a major comeback would probably look bad if ya were also trying to convice a court that you were too sick to show up for the hearings, eh?

Many of us Las Vegas residents like to get away to our Sin City resorts now and then, tucking away the thoughts of kids, jobs, and other responsibilities for a few days. While we drive past the casinos all the time, there's something magical (and perhaps even devious) that happens when we pull our cars into the "hotel guests only" lane of those very same resorts with an overnight bag.

Las Vegas resorts are self-contained dream-worlds, designed to make us forget time, the value of money and the number of grams of carbohydrates in food. It's a chance for even the locals to repeat the mantras the tourists do: "We'll sleep when we get home", "Toxins are fun", and "We've checked our morals at the front desk".

And, being the thoughtful and considerate lot they are, Las Vegas resorts are making it easier than ever for you and me to live the tourist experience, offering loads of specials and discounts for locals. Should we believe Station Casinos when they say the promotions have nothing to do with the economic slump, the sagging room occupancy rates or the fact their earnings are down more than 10% of late?

We might question it for a minute or two but when we actually get to the room, unpack the sexy clothes, the stowed alcohol, sex toys and party favors of choice we soon forget everything except to remember take the room key, just as the resorts intended...

A Factor in Why Casinos are Being Kind To Locals? (more)

We had really hoped that this project would succeed but it appears the grandiose plans for a state-of-the-art downtown arena complex are pretty much dead. The poor economy contributed to it, downtown vs. Strip politics played a part (an arena on the Strip--can you say "traffic"?), and appeasing the dozens and dozens of landowners involved was like "herding cats" sez one of the principals in the project (who is also a LowLife).

The casino portion of the deal may still be on the table but it looks like our hopes for seismic shift in the overall personality of the city of Las Vegas will have to wait.

Toni Braxton: Revealed" has been canceled, the Flamingo Las Vegas announced Thursday, "to allow for Ms. Braxton to focus on her health." The singer has been sidelined since early April when she experienced heart palpitations. Her two-year contract was scheduled to run through mid-August.

Braxton's show drew mixed reviews. On the other hand, says L.A. Time writer Richard Abowitz, "the wraparound advertisement on the Flamingo promoting her show was a sensation and has inaugurated a tradition of familiar but inferior wraps at the Flamingo and other properties.

Braxton's lasting contribution to Vegas may be this marketing technique of covering billions of dollars of architecture with cheap advertising. That long shot for Braxton worked. In fact, the Flamingo was said to get frequent request for rooms with windows at strategically placed body parts of the singer."

Another in the continuing series of introducing you to the girls who work the Playboy Club at the Palms. We do it because we care...

This one is Bunny Nikki and she's a BJ dealer (BJ means blackjack, silly, at least until she goes on break).

We provide her in-depth interview so you will stop looking upon Nikki as just a piece of meat: (more)

The location has always sucked and it looked like it's been going down for the count for quite awhile, but we kinda hoped it could have hung on. With all the nightclubs on the Strip being so, well, corporate, Empire Ballroom (and before that Utopia) was always kind of a rebel and a trailblazer and I guess we just naturally pull for the rebellous underdog.

But it looks like the party is over. Empire closed its doors suddenly just before the Memorial Day weekend owing some serious change to a bunch of creditors.

The inside story according to Xania Woodman, that woman-about-town from the Las Vegas Weekly... (more)

The Clark County Commission decided they were fed up with prostitution joints masquerading as massage parlors and passed some rules to restrict when and where the standalone parlors could ply their trade:
--hours of operation must be between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m (most of the naughty stuff happens in the wee hours, as you might expect)
--must be 200 feet from a residential area
--must be 1,000 feet from another massage business

EXCEPT (and this is a big exception)...
Existing operators are exempt from the new rules! So, essentially, the prostitution, er, um massages can still go on as they have been except that the proprietors who have been grandfathered in suddenly have a more valuable business license since new competitors (of that kind) are prohibited from entering the field.

Our buddy, attorney Allen Lichtenstein, general counsel of the Nevada ACLU, represented about 60 local massage parlors and appears to have hit a home run for them. Allen also represents nearly all of the sinful places we love so much including the Green Door, Red Rooster and Libertine Dungeon, to name a few. Way to go Mr. L!

Las Vegas resident Robin Leach of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous fame, posted an account of the post-UFC fight press conference that indicated "total chaos and bedlam" when fighter Tito Ortiz and UFC boss Dana White were in the same room. So much so that four LV Metro police officers were called to keep Tito and Dana apart. Leach's version (read it before he changes it).

A blogger for AOL, who covers MMA fights and was actually at the press conference, begs to differ with Mr. Leach and says the account is totally wrong. Here is his account.

Damn, we so wanted there to be an incident between the two (White and Ortiz not Leach and the AOL guy) that we were hoping it might be true. Could it be Robin was drinking heavily again? We've seen him out on the town several times and he's usually got a red nose, he's talking loudly with a bit of slurring and has the exaggerated movements of someone who has done some heavy partying. However, he is usually accompanied by a bevy of hot women so we look upon his partying with envy.

Robin Leach: Hall of Fame Partier: (more)

A little birdy told us...

When Boyd Gaming decided to implode the Stardust and build the $4 billion Echelon Place, we were told they also put up a refundable deposit on the $150 mil. price for the land Sapphire Gentlemen's Club occupies plus a stretch of strip mall continuing down Industrial Road.

Well, Boyd must be feelin' the down economy as they've gotten their deposit back and, not only that, are in takeover talks with MGMMirage.

Is it true? Well, it came from a very connected source so we tend to think it has some credence. If it is, ya heard it here first...

And if it is, would it really be in our best interest for MGM to own so much of the Strip?

Inspired by their reunion during the 50th Grammy awards in February, all seven original members of The Time will share the same stage again for a summer residency at the Flamingo Las Vegas.

Morris Day, Jerome Benton, Jellybean Johnson, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, Monte Moir and Jesse Johnson will perform 15 shows at the venue from June 24 through Aug. 2, with ticket prices ranging between $65 and $125.

The band's Grammy gig marked their first performance with all original members since 1993. In April, Day joined Time founder Prince onstage at the ninth annual Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., for a collaboration on "Jungle Love."

To spruce up the Know It A.L.L. news we're going to add some Playboy Bunny eye candy as we like to highlight hot local girls whenever we can. You can check these babes out at the Palm's Playboy Club or at your neighborhood AM/PM.

The incredibly in-depth interview of Bunny Charity:
What is your favorite way to waste an afternoon?
At the gym.
What is your most embarrassing moment?
When I tripped down the stairs at a nightclub.
What music do you have in your CD player/iPod right now?
50 Cent.
What is your favorite movie?
Dumb & Dumber.
If you could travel anywhere in the world where would you go?
Greece.

Now that the weather has turned back to sunny and many people will have the day off from work, there will surely be quite a few pool parties with a whole bunch of backyard barbeques being fired up.

If you are looking to upgrade your BBQ grill, American LowLife has rounded up some manly-man ideas to consider. That'll GIT-R-DONE!!!

Happy grillin' on this Memorial Day!

A look at some kick-ass BBQ grills! (more)

They are filming another movie in town this week so if you catch site of "Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson", say hi for us...

From Carol Cling of the Las Vegas R-J:

"The 1975 Disney favorite "Escape to Witch Mountain" had nothing to do with Las Vegas. But the big-screen update, "Race to Witch Mountain," couldn't possibly do without Neon Nirvana. After all, if the movie's Las Vegas locations "hadn't worked, we would have had to change the story significantly," acknowledges producer Andrew Gunn.

As director Andy Fickman (who also directed Johnson's hit "The Game Plan") told Gunn, "There's just something great about two kids who have never been to Earth -- and their first vision is Las Vegas." Although Southern California supplies most of the movie's locations, "there's no way you could ever fake somewhere else for Las Vegas," Gunn says. And audiences won't just be seeing "the Las Vegas everyone as a tourist sees," he explains.

More on Shooting Witch Mountain in Las Vegas (more)

Ths is just what the doctor ordered... From Norm, the R-J gossip dude:

"David Hasselhoff enjoyed his days -- and nights -- in Las Vegas so much he's looking to relaunch his career here. The "Baywatch" hunk, who starred in "The Producers" at Paris Las Vegas for three months last year, is working on a one-man show called "Viva Hoff Vegas." Hasselhoff was in Las Vegas last weekend to promote his hasselhoff.com podcast from his suite at Planet Hollywood Resort.

"It's a fun act," he was quoted as saying in Internet reports. "I had a ball in Vegas with 'The Producers,' and I think Vegas wants to see The Hoff, so I'm putting together a knock-down, drag-out, crazy, make-fun-of-my-life Hoff show that also tells my story. "It'll be a little about 'Baywatch,' about 'Knight Rider,' about the Wall in Germany. I've got footage of all of this; I've saved everything. "Then we might do a sexy after-hours show at the Hofbrauhaus, which already offered me the gig."

More on The Hoff Returning To Vegas (more)

While there was a damn good UFC card at the MGM this weekend, the fun part of the whole thing is the feud between UFC prez Dana White and perhaps its biggest star Tito Ortiz. Saturday's fight was Ortiz' last fight on his UFC contract and it doesn't seem like he will re-sign.

From Dana White: "Tito is a (expletive) idiot. He's one of the dumbest human beings I've ever met. Everything that comes out of his mouth makes no sense. I put up with his (expletive) when he was a good fighter. He's not anymore.

"He's not in anybody's top 10. I have no interest whatsoever in being in the Tito Ortiz business. ... I've never wanted to see anyone get their ass kicked worse than I want to see Tito get his kicked."

From Tito Ortiz: "Dana White is a complete monster, a controlling guy who wants his hands in everything," Ortiz said. "He's a bully. He has always been about the power. He wants everything focused on him. UFC is a great company. They just have a monster running it."

Sounds almost like WWE rather than UFC...

A new study has just come out and Las Vegas is #2 in the nation (right behind Austin) for its residents' technological know-how. The index measures consumers' likelihood of engaging in certain tech-oriented behaviors.

Why? A couple of reasons:
First, digital know-how saturates markets with younger-than-average populations. The median age in Las Vegas is 34.5, compared with 35.3 nationwide, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Tech savvy accompanies higher salaries, too, Meo said. Las Vegas bests national averages there as well, posting a median household income of $53,000 a year. That's No. 5 in the country among cities with 500,000 or more residents, the census bureau said. (More reasons in the complete article)

The Top 10 Tech Savvy Cities: (more)

Dane Cook Interview
Comedian Dan Cook is performing at Caesars Palace through Sunday. Here's an interview with Dane and what he's into these days after a bit of a hiatus.

Robin Williams Ready for MGM
A quick chat with Robin Williams before his MGM shows.

Jay Leno Review
Jay Leno is at the Mirage this weekend and here's a look at a show made for older middle America.

Both tourists and locals have less money to spend this Memorial Day weekend. With the price of gas, food, and Viagra on the rise (or is that me on the rise because of Viagra?), the picture for this 3-day holiday isn't quite as rosey as in past years. Dealers, bellmen and strippers should all see a few less dollars flowing their way.

Despite this, the town should still be pretty crowded with many resorts reporting "full or near full" occupancy (although they have had to lower their rates by 8-10% or more--bummer!), and with new shows like Cher and Jersey Boys playing on the Strip, and big name attractions like a UFC title fight, Robin Williams and Sting (probably not naked) happening, it might not be such a bad party holiday.

With the ongoing investigation of tainted NBA referee Tim Donaghy continuing and his recent announcement that relationships among officials, coaches and players "affected the outcome of games," many locals involved in the sports betting business are wondering about the overall integrity of the sport.

One sports betting expert did some digging on the games Donaghy worked and found 15 games refereed by Donaghy last season in which the consensus betting line from Las Vegas and offshore books moved by at least 11/2 points, and the line move was correct each time.

His analysis: "The big-money gamblers won 15 of 15 times on [Donaghy's] games. The odds of that happening randomly are 32,768 to 1."

Was Donaghy just a "rogue official" as NBA commissioner Stern says? Or, is this part of a larger gambling scandal as some in Vegas are wondering?

Despite the suspicion, the game is at a more popular level this year than it has been in a long time.

For their touring tent shows, Cirque du Soleil upsells a "VIP experience" called Tapis Rouge (Red Carpet) where you get all sorts of spiffs for a large ticket price. Up until now, their "resident shows" (i.e. Vegas shows) haven't offered the same package. Maybe they noticed the "VIP Indulgence Package" Wynn offers for Le Reve (Champagne & chocolate-covered strawberries, among other amenities, for $179) and figured they could do one better.

So, starting June 26 for "Love" at the Mirage, you are now allowed to spend $295 per ticket which includes includes a gift bag and preshow reception in the Revolution Lounge, with backstage video and "hosts to provide insights" into the show. The receptions for the tent shows include preferred seating, an array of mouthwatering hors d'oeuvres, fine wines and refreshments followed by desserts during intermission, a Tapis Rouge CD and a souvenir program so we'll assume you'll get all that for your nearly three hundred dollars, too.

There have been rumors for years about unmarked graves left behind at a remote California ranch by the infamous Charles Manson cult. After some earlier forensic work hinted that there may, indeed, be some bodies buried on the property, authorities finally decided to check it out and sent a team of investigators to Barker Ranch--150 miles west of Las Vegas--only to come up empty.

Manson had been arrested at the ranch in 1969 a few months after the grisly LA murders made famous in the book Helter Skelter.

In a related story, it appears Manson might have also squatted for awhile in the ghost town of Belmont, Nevada (225 miles northwest of Las Vegas) and left some graffiti--pictured to the right--in the old Nye County courthouse.

Think twice before you sign up for an online service using a fake name or e-mail address. You could be committing a federal crime.

OK, so you heard of that 49 year old lady in Missouri who created a fake profile to torment a 13-year-old MySpace user which eventually led to the kid committing suicide? Well, they couldn't figure out a way to charge the lady so the Feds got creative:
"Prosecutors alleged that by helping create a MySpace account in the name of someone who didn't exist the lady in question violated the News Corp.-owned site's terms of service and thus illegally accessed protected computers.

Legal experts warned that such an interpretation could criminalize routine behavior on the Internet. After all, people regularly create accounts or post information under aliases for many legitimate reasons, including parody, spam avoidance and a desire to maintain their anonymity or privacy online or that of a child.

This new interpretation also gives a business contract the force of a law: Violations of a Web site's user agreement could now lead to criminal sanction, not just civil lawsuits or ejection from a site."

Criminal penalties for using fake names when creating user accounts?! Uh oh...

How about a show of hands by all of you LowLifes who have a Yahoo, MSN, AOL, Gmail or other e-mail account where you didn't use your real name...
(Um, maybe you shouldn't raise your hands as the Feds might be watching...)

That ol' rating company, J.D. Power and Associates, went around asking travelers to rate airports across the nation and McCarran ended up placing 2nd among large airports for overall customer satisfaction (Philadelphia was #1).

McCarran claimed the highest survey scores of any big airport in check-in and baggage-check processes and airport accessibility, said Jim Gaz, J.D. Power's senior director of travel and entertainment. Check-in and baggage-check questions ask fliers to assess the ease of finding checking spots, and the cleanliness of areas where passengers check in for flights. Accessibility looks at parking, traffic flow through an airport, signs, drop-off ease and attractiveness of airport grounds.

Way to go, McCarran...

In another story: A hassle with McCarran security over carry-on toiletries.

Are you ready for a giant rabbit with a Victorian-era ball gown and bondage mask? What we may have to start calling "Kink du Soleil" is coming to the Luxor in September and they are already selling tickets to preferred customers and Angel fans.

Cirque du Soleil gets funky with their latest offering featuring new wave illusionist Criss Angel promising his "Believe" production will be revolutionary, bringing "the magic of emotion back to the art of illusions."

The show is in previews Sept. 1-11, with tickets discounted 25 percent in all price ranges. Regular performances begin Sept. 14, at regular prices of $59-$150 before tax.

If the temperature hits 105 today as expected, it'll be three record-breaking days in a row for specific days in the month of May. Sunday got to 104 and Monday maxed out at a balmy 108.

It wasn't just Las Vegas that was feeling the heat as normally-cool Reno broke a sweat with 96 degrees and Death Valley hit 120, breaking a 95 year old record of reaching 120 prior to May 25.

Things should chill soon, however, as an Alaskan cold front should cool us down significantly starting Wednesday, with the high only hitting 76 on Thursday.

Sunday marked the first day of the year that temperatures broke the 100-degree mark--last year's 100-degree mark was first hit on June 1--but Las Vegans also found themselves sweating out a record for May 18. The high of 104 degrees edged out the previous high for May 18 of 103 degrees. That record was set in 1973.

Record temperatures, measured at McCarran International Airport, will continue to topple today and Tuesday.

The high for today is expected to reach 107 degrees, which would shatter an all-time high for May 19: a 102-degree mark set in 2006. Tuesday's high has been forecast at 105 degrees, which would break the May 20 mark of 102. The average high for May 18 is 88 degrees.

Record highs are cooling down significantly mid-week, though. Temperatures are expected to significantly drop Wednesday because of a storm front coming from Alaska. The high temperature Wednesday is expected to be 91 degrees and Thursday's high might not even hit 80 degrees.

Our beloved Mayor Oscar Goodman, the self-proclaimed happiest mayor in the country, has always pooh-poohed the idea of running for governor of Nevada. But, with being in his lame-duck term and the mayor not happy with the way things are going in Carson City these days he might be interested in the position.

“I’m not saying ‘no’ anymore,” Goodman said about a potential race for the state’s top elective post. “I’m very unhappy with the direction things are going.”
Besides, his wife Carolyn is warming to the idea. “In the past she has said no,” Goodman said. “She hasn’t said no now.”

While Goodman wins his elections with more than 85% of the vote, it would be interesting to see if a good-time party mayor could first, get elected, and second, make things work in the state capital.

One of the more infamous Las Vegas murder trials was the one regarding the death of Horseshoe Casino heir Ted Binion (read the background HERE). Now, according to Norm!, the R-J gossip dude, there will be a movie made about the whole thing:

"Matthew Modine portrays casino heir Ted Binion and Mena Suvari has signed on as Sandy Murphy in an upcoming Lifetime Networks film about Binion's mysterious death in 1998. Tentatively titled "Sex & Lies in Sin City" and scheduled to premiere in September, the movie is based on Las Vegas Sun reporter Jeff German's book "Murder in Sin City."

After Binion was found dead in his home, his girlfriend Murphy and Binion handyman Rick Tabish were charged with murdering the son of casino scion Benny Binion. Murphy and Tabish were both convicted of murder in their first trial, but acquitted in a second trial.

Suvari's breakout role came in "American Pie" in 1999 and was followed that same year by her role as a teenage seductress in "American Beauty." Modine starred in "Married to the Mob," "Full Metal Jacket" and "Any Given Sunday."'

A few days ago we reported on the gambling debts of $400,000 that former NBA basketball star Charles Barkley owes the Wynn. It was, of course, in all the national media, too. Also widely covered was his comment regarding not being contacted by the hotel prior.

"Barkley, now a basketball analyst for Turner Network Television, denied any personal financial problems and said the casino didn't call him before filing the complaint. "All they had to do is call and say, 'Hey, you owe us this money,'" he said."

However, according to our LowLife sources (a friend of ours at the gym who works for Wynn), casino personnel repeatedly called Barkley about the debts (including a former NBA player who works for the resort) and Steve Wynn himself even called and left a message on Barkley's cell saying they didn't want this to go public.

Charles, are you removing Steve Wynn from your "Fave Five" circle of T-Mobile calling friends?

A writer for the L.A. Times takes a look at some of his favorite on- and off-Strip Italian eateries including Fiamma Trattoria & Bar at MGM Grand, Canaletto at the Venetian, Nora's Wine Bar in Summerlin and the Roma Deli on Spring Mountain.

The Complete Listing

We've never had toll roads in Southern Nevada but if a proposal by the Nevada Transportation Board is approved by the 2009 Legislature, we may well have them on our busiest stretch of road: on I-15 starting at I-215 in the South and continuing North on US 95 up to Ann Road.

Express lanes for cars with two or more passengers and for emergency vehicles exist on part of the route already. Under the plan, the lanes would remain free for emergency vehicles and for cars with three or more passengers, but there would be a fee, undetermined as yet, for vehicles with one or two persons.

The plan calls for flyover lanes connecting I-15 and U.S. 95 so motorists using the toll lanes could avoid onramps and offramps at the Spaghetti Bowl. Goodie! More construction!!

For Whom The Road Tolls

TV talk show hostess Ellen DeGeneras and actress Portia de Rossi are going to take advantage of the recent repeal of the California gay marriage ban. (While you may or may not agree with this ruling, legal scholars are calling it "revolutionary"--see explanation below)

DeGeneras announced the plans on her taped talk show Wednesday, the day the repeal was announced. de Rossi is an actress who had a regular role on Ally McBeal and Arrested Development and is also a recovering anorexic whose low weight reached 82 pounds on her 5'7" frame (not that it matters, of course, but since we were in a tabloid state-of-mind we thought we'd throw that in, along with a sexy photo in the "more" section below).

The likelihood of a repeal of Nevada's gay marraige laws are remote as Nevada residents have voted twice to prohibit the unions and it would require an amendment to the state constitution.

"The (state) Supreme Court overturned the state's ban on gay marriage. You thought it was hard to be a single girl before. Guys were either gay or married; now they're gay and married." -- Jay Leno

Another Photo of Portia and a look at why the California ruling is ground-breaking... (more)

Money Magazine, in a recent edition, placed Las Vegas near the top of its list of markets poised for declines in housing prices in the next 12 months. The magazine ranked Las Vegas No. 5 in the country for projected value losses through May 2009, with an expected drop of 18.3 percent. That would send the local median home price of $277,000 down to a circa-2003 rate of around $225,000. Locals shouldn't expect prices to bottom out until sometime between January and March 2010, the magazine added.

Markets in for worse times include Miami; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; and Orlando, Fla., Money said. Phoenix tied with Las Vegas in anticipated depreciation. The nation as a whole should see price falloffs of 9.7 percent, the report said.

LeAnn Rimes, a "former" country music star who has recently been branching out into pop music (i.e. a duet with Bon Jovi), will perform at the Country Music Awards at the MGM this Sunday and wants everyone to know this isn't a comeback--it's simply a second act.

"I don't ever feel I ever left," says Rimes, who at 25 has sold nearly 40 million records. "I feel I was blessed with a gift that I could sing anything that came my way. I never felt like my heart left country music."

Whatever you want to label her career direction, we applaud the way she is shedding that wholsome image and becoming a sex kitten (we applaud with one hand, of course, as the other one is busy).

"I was always America's sweetheart, but you grow up, you get married, you have sex, my God!" she says. "I work out a lot, I take care of myself and I like showing it off in a way that's fun and doesn't show too much and that shows that that's part of being a woman."

Keep working out, girl--we likee the results!

The entire LA Times article.
LowLife Event Listing (and gratuitous LeAnn bra photo)

From the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

"Golfers aren’t going to like this news, but here it is anyway. Shadow Creek, one of the country’s most exclusive golf courses, will close temporarily for course enhancements beginning Monday, May 19. The course, perennially ranked among Golf Digest’s top 10 courses in the country, is scheduled to re-open in December 2008. The enhancement project will be overseen by original course architect Tom Fazio.

The primary goal of the closure is to rebuild and reseed the tee boxes and greens, upgrade the course’s irrigation system and build a world-class, short-game area. The short-game facility, intended to reflect the diverse and intriguing shot values evident throughout the course, will feature multiple greens for guests to pitch and putt as well as practice bunker shots. Beginning in October, Shadow Creek will begin accepting tee times in anticipation of the December reopening."

Former basketball star Charles Barkley, an admitted problem gambler, has been sued by Wynn Las Vegas who want him to pay back $400,000 in gambling markers it extended him last year. If he doesn't, he could be charged with a felony.

The 13-time NBA All-Star, who estimates his gambling losses at $10 million, has not been shy about discussing his struggles with gambling.

“It’s just a stupid habit that I’ve got to get under control, because it’s just not a good thing to be broke after all of these years,” Barkley was quoted as saying in a 2006 ESPN interview.

“But I’ve got to understand you can’t beat the casino,” he said. “You might win a lot of money from them, but in the long run they are going to win more money from you, and I’ve got to get to a point where I don’t gamble for as much.”

Las Vegas is 1 of 3 cities marking the 10th anniversary of the death of Frank Sinatra. A new 42-cent stamp honoring the longtime Las Vegas headliner goes on sale next week, but was sold Tuesday at the Bellagio and Wynn casinos after daughter, Tina Sinatra, joined Postal Service governor James Bilbray in a dedication ceremony.

Other ceremonies were held in other places associated with Sinatra. In New York, senior postal officials joined Sinatra's children, Nancy Sinatra and Frank Sinatra Jr., in a ceremony at Gotham Hall. Frank Sinatra Jr. also went to a ceremony in Hoboken, N.J., Sinatra's hometown.

At midnight Wednesday (5/14), more than 16 casino marquees plan to post special messages honoring the influential showman.

The Plans: (more)

The Las Vegas Marathon, the one with lots of Elvises, the Blue Man Group performing along the way and even a "run-through" wedding chapel, is in trouble as the organizers are running in major debt.

The race winners haven't gotten paid their prize money nor have most of the vendors and race helpers. After some threats from the Nevada Highway Patrol, the organizers wisely paid them, at least.

If the hundreds of thousands of dollars aren't paid it will be difficult for them to get the needed permits for a 2008 race.

Station Casinos announced that, despite a net loss of $30 million for 1Q '08, they are going ahead with various projects around town. Their $675 million Aliante Station in North Las Vegas is on schedule for an end of year opening.

The big project they have on the books is "Viva" which, if financing is secured (calling all Arabs!), could actually top the mammoth CityCenter in cost (around $10 billion; CityCenter looks to be $8.4 bil) and become the most expensive project in the western hemisphere. Viva is planned for where the land where the Wild West Casino is now, on Tropicana just West of I-15, across from the world's busiest In and Out Burger (just think how busy In and Out will be after Viva is built!).

A hotel official says Toni Braxton's show at the Flamingo Las Vegas won't resume for at least another month. Harrah's Entertainment spokeswoman Deanna Pettit says the target date to resume the show, "Toni Braxton: Revealed," is now June 6. The Flamingo is offering refunds for canceled shows.

Braxton's show has been dark since the 40-year-old entertainer was hospitalized overnight April 7 with what hotel officials said was a complaint of chest pain. Pettit says she can't comment about Braxton's medical condition. Braxton has been treated in the past for pericarditis, a viral inflammation of the heart.

Braxton is a six-time Grammy winner for songs including "Un-break My Heart." Her two-year run at the Flamingo Las Vegas hotel is scheduled to end in August so you don't have much time to stay in Toni's vagina, or, at least, the room that corresponds to that part of her body behind the mural on the Flamingo Hotel.

Gratuitous Toni Braxton Photos (more)

With everyone feeling the economic crunch, the city of Las Vegas is looking for ways to raise revenue without raising taxes. Associating the "Vegas" name with a product or service is valuable, say the experts, so you will probably start seeing things like "the official airlines of Las Vegas" or "Las Vegas' preferred rental car" in local and national advertising.

A recently hired consulting company will release a plan in a few months and they think they can add $6 million to the city's coffers annually in just a few years of selling out.

With Mayor Goodman in his lame duck term, they had better hurry so they can take advantage of something like "The Official Gin of Las Vegas"...

O, maybe, American LowLife could be the "Official Swingers Site For Las Vegas!" Yeah, now we're talkin'...

While we usually don't get all that excited about ventriloquists, Terry Fator is an exception, probably because he not only gets his puppets to talk but he turns them into impressionists where they talk and sing in a bunch of incredible voices such as Garth Brooks, members of the Rat Pack, Gnarls Barkley, Etta James, Stevie Wonder, Tony Bennett, Elvis, Richard Marx, James Blunt, Roy Orbison, Keith Urban, Nat King and Natalie Cole, Brooks & Dunn, Maroon Five, Louis Armstrong, and even Kermit the Frog. Terry himself is an excellent impressionistic singer so often does duets with his puppets.

Fator won NBC's "America's Got Talent" and was signed to a 15 show deal at the Las Vegas Hilton. Now, according to Norm, the R-J gossip dude, it appears Terry's days of playing county fairs and corporate events are over:

Fator Signs With Mirage, Some Links to "Wow" Performances (more)

"Fremont East" is an area in downtown that the City of Las Vegas is attempting to transform into a cool nightclub, bar and restaurant district. The Las Vegas Sun takes a look at the progress:

"With great fanfare eight months ago, Las Vegas hailed the rebirth of East Fremont Street with a street party and the lighting of sparkling new neon.

There was much to celebrate. Only two years earlier, this stretch of urban pavement two blocks from the canopied, tourist-laden Fremont Street Experience was home to some of the most bedraggled characters in the city.

On any night, you could walk these few blocks and be offered your choice of carnal or pharmaceutical pleasures — for a fee, of course.

But through incentives that included vastly discounted liquor licenses and the elimination of bar-to-bar distance ordinances, some businesses started to move in."

The complete article on Fremont East

With the recent but relatively rare nomination of a slot machine cheater for membership on the Nevada Gaming Control Board's List of Excluded Persons, commonly referred to as the "Black Book", it might be a good time to take a look at what the black book is and how one can get on it.

Nevada's Black Book (not actually black but silver) is an attempt to keep organized crime out of casinos. Officials add the names of known crime figures to the book, and then any book member commits a crime simply by setting foot in a casino. The casino also commits a crime if it fails to report gambling in its facility by a Black Book member.

The book is only 36 pages long (and has only 35 members until the recent slot cheat's nomination is confirmed) but lists some of the most notorious names in gambling crime since its creation in 1960. It was born out of the fear that if Nevada couldn't keep organized crime out of gambling then Congress would eliminate the industry completely through high taxes.

More on the "Black Book", its History and its Members (more)

An arm injury to Zab Judah has forced the cancellation of his May 31 welterweight fight with Shane Mosley at Mandalay Bay, and the possibility of salvaging the bout down the road looks bleak.

Judah, who has been in Las Vegas training, suffered multiple lacerations to his left arm after falling in the bathroom at the Top Rank gym May 1 and putting his arm through a glass shower door. The wound required 50 stitches, leaving him unable to train for four weeks.

The Judah-Mosley fight was scheduled to be shown on HBO Pay Per View. If it is rescheduled, an August date is most likely. HBO has two pay-per-view events set for June. An MGM Mirage official said tickets purchased for the fight will be refunded at the original point of purchase. According to Schaefer, approximately 6,000 tickets had been sold.

It was a very lucky day for one Texas tourist who hit the Megabucks jackpot at the Palms Hotel and Casino.

"I was playing the other (slot) machine before, played about $150 -- then I walked around and there was absolutely no one playing them. So I walked around, stuck $20 in and the first pull," said Connie Thiele.

She and her husband were playing at the Palms, hoping to earn enough points for a free lunch. Instead she won $21 million. Thiele says she plans on paying off some bills and maybe buying a new car. She also is thinking of cutting back at work.

While the Wynns, Kerkorians and the Adelsons receive a lot of the press, there's a new breed of Las Vegas gunslingers who are helping to re-shape the town for the future. Names like George Maloof, Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, Anthony Marnell and even Andre Agassi are part of that group.

Steve Wynn, who rightly receives a lot of the credit for the "new Vegas", concedes that these whippersnappers are great for Sin City: “These kids are just so smart,” said Mr. Wynn, 66, the chairman of Wynn Resorts and developer of the Mirage, Bellagio and Wynn Las Vegas resorts. “They will remake this city in their image. Of course, us old guys aren’t done yet. But the new energy is nothing but exciting.”

Read the entire NY Times article on the new Las Vegas titans.

Generally, when one thinks of the game "bocce" (should it be thought of at all), the image of the players involved would be that of old Itallian men rolling balls down a narrow court while old Italian women gossiped amongst themselves and glanced over at the game occasionally. The younger generations would be doing something else entirely.

Caesars Palace is trying to change that image and has started up a summertime lunch-and-booze service at its Italian restaurant, Rao's, which includes a sexed-up version of the game complete with extremely hot Bocce Bellas who make sure your balls are up to snuff.

Rao's is offering bocce now through Labor Day so grab a nearby table, order a burger and a few pitchers of sangria and ask the Bocce Bellas to help you figure out how to play this ancient pastime (even if you don't need help).

More on Bocce (more)

M Resort, the billion dollar hotel, spa and casino being built on the far South end of Las Vegas Boulevard (at St. Rose Parkway), appears to be on schedule for a spring 2009 opening, acording to this press release. Hopefully, there won't be any delays as they actually have events booked for later in 2009.

The M Resort and Casino will be an opulent, $1-billion addition to Las Vegas with an 11-story - 390-room tower, 35 suites, 90,000 sq. ft. of casino area, a 40,000-sq. ft. conference room, a 20,000-sq. ft. health spa and salon, eight restaurants, four bars, one entertainment venue, retail outlets, a 100,000-sq. ft. pool area, and other five-star amenities.

The Cher era officially begins this evening (5/6) as the 62 year old diva opens at Caesars Palace for at least 200 shows over the next 3 years, alternating with Bette Midler and Elton John in the Colosseum.

Cher has been working the Strip for 39 years, first with her ex Sonny Bono and then as a solo act and has been constantly reinventing herself. She says she's retired from touring and is going to make her fans hit the road to see her, instead.

A quick look at Cher's Vegas history.

A few months removed from a drug arrest in Pahrump, Heidi Fleiss (the infamous so-called Hollywood Madam) is about to be slapped with a lawsuit over the house she had been renting in the Nye County town since December 2005.

The owner of the two-bedroom house says Fleiss and her menagerie of as many as 25 exotic birds left behind more than $40,000 in damage when they moved out March 1.

Fleiss, who won worldwide infamy in the early 1990s for running a high-priced ring of call girls to the stars, moved to Pahrump in late 2005 to open Heidi's Stud Farm, a legal brothel catering to women.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- The owner of the Tropicana casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City plan to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday night (5/5). Tropicana Entertainment LLC said it plans to continue operating and will keep current staffing levels.

The expected filing was buffeted by a chain of events that began Dec. 12, when the New Jersey Casino Control Commission stripped the Tropicana in Atlantic City of its casino license.

The regulators determined that the company was incapable of running the "first-class operation" required by state law.

hat touched off a funding crisis that the company desperately struggled to fend off until deciding to file for protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, listing assets of $2.8 billion and liabilities of $3.3 billion.

Story Update

With Las Vegas and Miami both being cool party cities we're used to being in competition for tourist dollars, the latest nightclub concepts and even celebrity chefs. However, one thing we really didn't want to compete with Miami over is the largest drop in home prices.

House prices in the cities of Las Vegas and Miami fell faster than any other metropolitan area in the United States in February with Vegas home prices 22.8% lower than a year ago and Miami 21.7%. Another sunbelt location, Phoenix, was third with a 20.8% drop.

Economists from JPMorgan Chase noted that at an annualized pace over the past three months, prices were down 41% in Las Vegas and 36% in both Los Angeles and San Francisco.

“Some of this is seasonal - prices tend to be weaker near the start of the year and get stronger in the spring - but even so, these numbers are much worse than anything on record,” the economists noted.

While demand for higher-end homes has slowed in the suburbs, the desire for residential properties on the Strip seems to be relatively strong. Most are out-of-towners looking for a second home and, as one real estate boker says, "...buyers are not asking about the best schools."

In CityCenter, "Vdara" is the most affordable offering of the different complexes within the monster development and the only one that allows the owners to rent their units out. Price tags are from 1/2 a mil to $3.5 mil.

The priciest residences in CityCenter are at the Mandarin Oriental where remaining units (they are 90% sold) start at $3.5 mil and hit upwards of $12 mil.

A 99 cent shrimp cocktail: it was sooo Vegas...
Unfortunately, after almost 50 years of selling chilled crustaceans in spicy sauce for less than a dollar, the Golden Gate hotel and casino has raised the price of its shrimp cocktail to $1.99. The casino claims to have sold more than 30 million of the cocktails, which cost 50 cents until 1991 and 99 cents until last week.

Are tougher economic times forcing Las Vegas show producers to cater more towards family friendly shows like "Stomp Out Loud," "Tournament of Kings," or "Gazillion Bubble Show"? Is dumping Spamalot and bringing Christian impressionist Danny Gans to Wynn's new Encore and replacing sexy Toni Braxton with Donny & Marie Osmond at the Flamingo the sign of the times?

Gawd, we hope not! Mike Weatherford of the R-J takes a look at the trend.

Probably the biggest star to emerge from the TV show American Idol, Carrie Underwood, has a recent single called "Last Name" where Las Vegas is the backdrop for her Britney-like adventure of partying in a Las Vegas nightclub, meeting a glib guy, getting too liquored-up and then getting married in one of our wedding chapels, only to have one of those "what-have-I-done?" moments.

Carrie starts out not knowing his last name and ends up not knowing her's, even though it would be on the wedding certificates she would have to sign. But, of course, she's really drunk and knows not what she's doing (except that she looks pretty damn sober at the wedding ceremony, performed by Elvis, of course).

We don't recognize the nightclub, or the casino and while there's not a chapel specifically named "Victorian Chapel" in Las Vegas that we could find (although there is a "San Francisco Sally's Victorian Chapel" and several have a Victorian-style chapel as part of their offerings), but the musicians did appear to hit Fremont Street and shoot a few scenes in front of the 4 Queens.

So, the moral of the video is, we guess, to party in Vegas as a couple so when you run into a hot, slick-talking tourist or two you don't have to worry about last names or ending up in a wedding chapel--you can just have sex without the worries of all of that. Pretty sure that's what Carrie is trying to tell us...

Watch Last Name on YouTube.

What's the proper term for more than one Elvis Presley? Whatever you call 'em it'll really come in handy as Las Vegas will have a bunch of those pelvis-shakers gathered in one place later on this month. A bid to break the Guinness Book world record attempt for largest number of assembled Elvis impersonators to sing at one time is planned for May 25 at the Imperial Palace.

The record was set in January 2007 when 147 Elvis impersonators gathered in Parkes, Australia, to shatter the previous mark of 77 set in London in 2005. Australia? London?? Shouldn't Las Vegas have owned this record long ago?! C'mon, guys! Let's take back what is rightfully ours!

The record attempt at the Legends in Concert theater will open the 17th annual REEL Awards, which honors the top celebrity impersonators in the industry.

Want to be part of the record-breaking sing-along? Go to the Reel Awards Website to sign up.

In case you are interested, here are the rules: (more)

We reported on it back in mid-December but at that time the machines were just prototypes. Now, you can actually play video game slot machines at MGM and Bellagio (near the mall entrance).
Bally's Gaming and the original vid game-maker themselves, Atari, have joined forces to take us to the next level of slot machines--those that have a game-of-skill element.
These first versions have the old Pong game built in and, if you hit certain payouts, you can play Pong against the machine to increase the number of credits. Breakout, Asteroids and Centipede versions coming...
For a video demonstration of the game, CLICK HERE.

It will be interesting to see how Avril Lavigne's fans embrace her evolution from skate boarding, alt-culture, pop rocker to Vegas party girl but, judging from the looks of her recent photos, we're all for it.

According to Norm, the R-J gossip dude: "Avril Lavigne, (was) at a Palms roulette wheel at 3 a.m. Wednesday with three gals and two bodyguards. All four women went into the bathroom for more than 10 minutes and then came out and headed directly to the roulette tables. Lavigne was dancing on the cement tables at Tabú Ultra Lounge (MGM Grand) on Monday night and partied at Privé Las Vegas (Planet Hollywood Resort)."

The new Iron Man movie, which opens in theaters tonight (5/1), has a big Vegas connection to it. First of all, director Jon Favreau wrote "Swingers", the Vegas-based movie (with the misleading title), and also appeared in couple of other smaller productions that were shot in Las Vegas.

Iron Man itself starts out at a Caesars Palace craps table and the director wouldn't settle for anything but the real thing: the casino floor, the baccarat room, even outside by those famous fountains, it's all genuine, authentic Caesars.

Additionally, the lead character is based on Howard Hughes and Favreau has actually written a four-part comic book series titled "Iron Man: Viva Las Vegas".

A bit cooler than "Viva Viagra", eh?