For some reason, there aren't really any truly all-lesbian bars or nightclubs in town so if you want to meet some Las Vegas lesbians you might want to join Betty's Outrageous Adventures.

If you are a serious gambler and want to deduct your losses on your taxes (yes, you can do that), ya also have to declare your winnings, something that many people don't do or don't know how to do correctly. A couple of tax advisors have written a book called "Tax Help for Gamblers" that can help.

If you're a stinkin' terrorist you had better not try to rain on our parade. Nosireee! Not only will there be fire, police and other first responders on the Strip tonight but the National Guard, the Air Force and the Army will be joining local law enforcement to help secure the valley.
So run away, ya slimey terrorist--we'll have none of your shit this night!

Despite rumors to the contrary, Jay-Z's opulent sports bar/nightclub--40/40 at the Palazzo--opened as scheduled and treated it's patrons to a grand opening in style by celebrating LeBron James' 23rd B-Day.
(more)

If you go to the right Strip party this evening, you might just get on the syndicated showbiz roundup show "Extra". The show plans to hit a quintet of New Year's Eve parties, with Pamela Anderson at Pure (Caesars Palace), Mariah Carey at Tao (The Venetian), Nikki and Paris Hilton at LAX (Luxor), Avril Lavigne at Privé (Planet Hollywood) and Kevin Federline at Tangerine (Treasure Island) among the celebrity hosts.
Their starpower (and that of their guests) makes Las Vegas "bigger than Times Square" as a New Year's destination for the stars, according to Steve Weiser, "Extra's" Las Vegas bureau chief. "It's bigger than anywhere in the world."
"Extra's" New Year's Eve coverage will air starting Wednesday, Weiser notes.

If you are one of the estimated 303,000 revelers who will be on the Las Vegas Strip tonight, you may want to read this article.
Even if you won't be on the Strip, if you will be near the Strip, you will want to know about road and off-ramp closures.
I-15 off-ramps begin closing at 5:00 p.m. while the Strip will close at 6 p.m. at Sahara and at Russell, opening back up between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m., depending on how long it takes the county to clean up the mess.

If you are looking for hard core, chest-thumpin' hip hop music, Spin, the new club at Alexis Park, is probably your best bet. The DJs from the old O-PM nightclub have re-located off the Strip and, from all accounts, it appears to be a successful venture. If you went to LLive, Fusion, a Rumors or PurrfectLV party, or Metamorphosis, you may not recognize what used to be Alexis Park's Pegusus Lounge. Spin has been partying Wednesday nights and is now open weekends, too.
Spin's LowLife venue listing.

Gaming wins for casinos around the nation are down, feeling the crunch of a weak economy. Las Vegas is a different story, however, as it continues to thrive by attracting foreigners from countries with strong currencies.

There's some serious doubt that Jay-Z's new 40/40 sports bar/nightclub will be able to have their grand opening as planned as they failed to pass Clark County inspection. Unless they can come up with the necessary licenses by Sunday, they may have to start refunding their opening day advance ticket purchases.
If we had to bet on it, we would guess the power of the Venetian will prevail and things will happen as scheduled but Jay-Z & crew have to be sweating just a bit...
UPDATE: Rumors NOT True sez 40/40 rep.

The New Year's celebrations will draw more than 300,000 people to Las Vegas who will spend an estimated $211 million. Numbers will be up a bit from last year because we've added 1,200 more rooms since then. The 130,000 rooms available will be at 98% occupancy. More than 150,000 are expected to fly in for the NYE festivities which means McCarran will have had 1.5 milliion passing through from Christmas to New Year's.

A bunch of articles about experiencing New Year's Eve in Las Vegas:
--The Top 10 high-end nightclubs to party in on NYE.
--He experienced the "bizarre" Strip celebration last year.
--A wide variety of things to do on New Year's.
--Don't go to NYC, LA or Miami for New Year's says this Canadian writer, head to Las Vegas.
--What this L.A. writer will be doing on New Year's this year.
--The local paper gives their take on New Year's happenings.
--Ride the Monorail on NYE
--Norm, the local gossip dude, gives his take on where to watch the massive NYE Strip fireworks display. (more)

The much-anticipated Van Halen tour hits MGM Grand this weekend for two shows. A look at the current band which includes David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen's son, Wolfgang.
UPDATE: A Review of the First LV Concert

Here a new club, there a new club, everywhere a new club. And, of course, they all picked New Year's to make their debut. Some are still in a state of frantic construction while others are figuring out their staffing but all of them are going through pre-opening jitters. One thing they all have in common is that they are fancy and chic, cost a shitload to build (or re-model) and hope to carve out a niche in the highly competitive high-end Vegas nightclub category.
A behind-the-scenes look at 40/40, CatHouse, The Bank, and Prive', all opening sometime during the extended NYE weekend.

While the Strip will be closed to vehicle traffic on New Year's Eve to make way for the 300,000+ mob of partiers, the Las Vegas Monorail will be operating so you might consider that as an option to get back to your hotel or to get to and from your car if you are a local. The monorail will be open 7a-3a on NYE and is offering a special all-day pass rate of $9/person.
The Las Vegas Monorail website.

Teatro Ultralounge used to be a pretty cool club inside MGM, a chic place to hang out and a sexy venue for lifestyle mixers. Teatro was closed quite awhile ago, remodeled and replaced by Rouge. Now the club is making a comeback in the form of Teatro Afterhours and will move into the Krave Lounge space next to Planet Hollywood.
According to their website: "Teatro is a new harbor to those who live for the nightlife yet have not found their niche, with an ideal mixture of innovative style and captivating ambiance."
So there ya go. You've found your niche. Feels good, doesn't it?
LowLife venue listing for Teatro Afterhours
Teatro After Hours has 4 nights (mornings) of parties--the LowLife Event Listing

From HotelChatter.com:
"Several folks emailed us over the holiday weekend to give us the heads-up that the Palazzo Las Vegas missed its soft-opening date of Dec. 20th and instead will be opening on January 5th.
We gave the folks at the Palazzo a call this morning and discovered that rooms are open under a soft-opening this Friday, Dec. 28th but the hotel is not taking any new reservations until Sunday, Jan. 6th. Then the grand opening weekend for the Palazzo is January 18th and 19th when everything else, including the mega retail complex The Shoppes at the Palazzo should open as well.
For now, everything on the Palazzo reservations page is listed as sold out until Jan. 6th where we found a Palazzo Bella suite for $369. On the second night, a Monday, the rate jumps to $439. So much for those hotel opening rates."
UPDATE: The Delay Explained

Looking to maximize both your dancing fun and your drinking dollar? Maybe you should check out Polly Esther's nightclub over at the Strat. If the prices of drinks in some of the Strip clubs give you sticker shock, Polly Esther's is now offering a "$40 All-You-Can-Drink!" special in each of its four themed rooms.
The "$40 All-You-Can-Drink!" special is in the form of a wristband and covers most liquor including vodka, rum, gin, whiskey, scotch and Tequila. All of the Polly Esther's specialty drinks are included. The special does not cover energy drinks or shots, and is not valid for special events. The nightclub admission cover price is included as part of the special. We'll definitely drink to that!
Polly Esther's LowLife Listing

If you haven't seen Spamalot--one of the best shows on the Strip--now's the time to buy tickets. If you call 702-770-WYNN and ask for "Gift of Laughter" you'll get two tickets for the price of one. This offer is good thru January 30. Spamalot performs Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8 p.m. and Saturdays at 7 & 10 p.m. It's a great show so take advantage of this offer.

If you brought your kids to Las Vegas for the holidays this article takes a look at some fun things for them (and you) to do while in town. Check out M&M World, the Dolphin Habitat at the Mirage, Mandalay's Shark Reef, the hands-on, highly-interactive Lied Discovery Museum and the Lion Habitat at MGM Grand (many more listed inside).
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Harrah's Entertainment has received final approval to take the world's largest gaming company private in a $17.7 billion private equity buyout. Harrah's had received all the necessary OK's from everyone they needed except the National Indian Gaming Commission, something that was required due to their properties on Indian land.
Harrah's owns or manages 50 casinos worldwide, including Rio, Paris Las Vegas, Bally's, Bill's, Flamingo, Imperial Palace, Harrah's and Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Several years ago, some of the more enlightened people in Las Vegas decided we needed a place where local artists (yes, we have them here) could get together to create, display and sell art and generally establish an artsy counterpoint to the cultural wasteland of the Strip (well, other than Cirque du Soleil and, um, Carrot Top, of course).
Viola'--the Downtown Arts District was created! While First Friday (downtown's monthly street festival art showcase) is five years old, some of the other concepts have taken a bit longer to get going. An Arts District update.

You can walk down the streets of a lot of cities around the country and hear musicans play their music and see other kind of performers do their thing. You'll never see that on the Las Vegas Strip unless it's a special event sponsored by a Casino.
However, over at the Fremont Street Experience it's a different story. The performers or "buskers", as they are called, can make a decent living on Fremont although not necessarily from tips. Selling CDs of their music is where the money is, with one piano man selling 100 CDs a night at $15 a pop.

There are five permanent Cirque du Soleil shows going on in Las Vegas currently with two more being worked on as you read this (Criss Angel/Cirque at the Luxor and and Elvis Cirque at the CityCenter). There's a distinct possibility there will be another one in the Mandalay when Mamma Mia closes next year.
With permanent Cirque shows opening in Macau and Tokyo in the summer and a newly announced "Cirque Meets Hollywood" planned for L.A., there seems to be a distinct possibility of too much cirque.

Professional dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy, of Dancing With The Stars fame, caught the eye of Elaine Wynn (who loves the show) and she told her husband Steve about him. That attention ultimately brought Maksim to Las Vegas recently to choreograph part of Wynn Las Vegas' Le Reve, the Cirque-like show that has gone through several makeovers. Should you see the show, you won't see Chmerkovskiy but you will see his choreography as the two routines with the ballroom dancing are his work.

How to win at slots? "Don't play" is the best advice but then again, that's the best advice for all of the games in Las Vegas. However, if you really want to play those one-armed bandits, this article offers some insight on what to play and where.

For example: "As a rule, it's generally better to play higher- rather than lower-denomination machines. Casino Player magazine, which tracks slot payoffs, calculates that the return on the average $1 machine in Vegas is 96% to 98%, whereas 25-cent machines are programmed between 93% and 95%, and the high-hit-frequency penny grubbers come in closer to 90%."

Bellagio's Conservatory & Botanical Gardens has been transformed into a holiday scene, featuring a 42-foot-tall Shasta White Fir with 12,000 lights, flying reindeer and animated penguins. Nearby, Bellagio executive pastry chef Jean-Philippe Maury has created a 230-pound chocolate Santa wearing a suit of sugar icing.

According to this L.A. Times article, the new Palazzo tower will be offering a good rate on rooms in the beginning, the smallest of which are 720 square feet. Use the promo code they give ya.

The Palomino Club in North Las Vegas was pretty darn famous for quite awhile, with people coming from all over the world to check it out. Hollywood celebs would frequent it and Johnny Carson and Merv Griffin plugged it on their shows. Heck, Playboy even ran a spread at the place using the actual Palomino girls.
It was (and still is) the only all-nude club in Vegas with a full liquor license and only one of two West of the Rockies. Pretty good for a cowboy bar where their bikini contests evolved into amateur nude contests and eventually morphing into a gentleman's club, making the owners millions.
Funny how the evolution of entertainment in Las Vegas--oh, yeah, and a murder or two--can change things for a strip club.
(more)

At first, craps can be in intimidating game due to all the different betting options and the odds that go along with them. However, if you've ever been part of a table where someone (maybe you) is rolling a bunch of winning numbers, you know no other game in the casino gives off as much energy or excitement. The game isn't really all that difficult to learn and besides, it has some of the most favorable odds for the player in the entire casino.
This article takes a look at some tips on better craps play and the author even visits a guy who helps people roll the dice better to put a more positive "influence" on them.

They don't like each other and have publicly called each other "liars". It wouldn't be a big deal if they were just normal neighbors but they aren't--they are billionaires who own two of the hottest properties on the Strip.
Steve Wynn and Sheldon Adelson have hotels next to each other and have a history of trying to sabatoge one another.
This time, it's over parking spaces. Does Adelson have enough parking at his proposed 2nd convention center? Wynn doesn't think so and has brought in the D.A.
"They are big babies - both of them," said one gaming executive familiar with the disputes. "Someone didn't spank them enough when they were young."
Update: Adelson Wins this Round

...but do we really want it?
It's being reported that Las Vegas will receive a franchise in the brand new United Football League, a league backed by Billionaire entrepreneur and Wall Street investor Bill Hambrecht and Google executive Tim Armstrong with Dallas Mavs owner (and Dancing With The Stars stud) Mark Cuban as one of its high-profile owners.
The UFL plans to begin its season in August, play local games in Sam Boyd Stadium on Friday nights, and holding the UFL championship game (the Not-So-Super Bowl?) in Las Vegas.

Note to self: When trying to smuggle 1/2 million dollars of drug money in a spare tire, don't fill the thing up so full with air that it bursts, spewing a cloud of $100 bills upon people in the parking lot. Gotta remember that.
A couple of guys passing through Boulder City didn't, however...

It was bound to happen. With the popularity of video games these days it would make sense to incorporate some of that addictive excitement into something that makes money for the casino industry. While Wheel of Fortune and Elvis-themed slots are all well and good, they really aren't reaching out to a new generation of slot players.
Enter Cyberview Technology. They are testing games where you can make money shooting spaceships or playing video pinball (or lose money). There are no regulations against skill-based slot machines so it's a wonder we haven't seen this type of thing sooner.

Knowing that the odds were in their favor, casinos used to issue comps for meals, shows and rooms to players who gambled for long stretches at a time, not just the big-dollar whales. Times have changed, it would appear, as corporate-style management has hit the casino with the bean counters having much more pull than the pit bosses.
This article takes a look at the new requirement for earning comps: losing.

The richest man in Australia, James Packer, is well-known in Las Vegas, especially to the casino dealers on the Strip due to his reputation as being one of the best tipping "whales" in the world.
Now he's coming to Vegas to be on the other side of the table--the ownership side. Packer has agreed to pay $1.8 billion in cash for three, mostly low-end hotel/casinos, none of which are on the Strip. He's buying the Cannery Hotel and Casino in North Las Vegas; the Nevada Palace Casino on the Boulder Strip; and will operate the Rampart Casino in Summerlin (the nicest of the bunch) under a management contract.
Not sure why he would want those properties but I'm sure we'll hear more on Mr. Packer's Las Vegas plans soon...

The Palazzo's marketing department has come up with a unique way to let people know about the soon-to-be-opened tower at the Venetian: build a float and put it in a parade. If you are the type that watches things like the New Year's Day Rose Parade on television then you will see the Palazzo float prominently featured as it'll be the first display in the entire parade and will be used as the stage for the opening ceremonies.
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So we thought we did pretty good when the LA/LV Michelin dining guide came out as Vegas has the only 3-star restaurant (MGM's Joel Robuchon) in both cities while not a single eatery in LA received more than 2 stars.
However, if you want to go to a city with more Michelin stars than any other head to Tokyo. They kicked our butts. Eight restaurants in Tokyo, including two sushi eateries, got three stars. All in all, Michelin awarded a total of 191 stars to 150 restaurants in Tokyo -- more stars than in any other city in the world, including Paris. Paris has a total of 65 stars for all of its restaurants, but can still claim to have the most three-star or top-rated restaurants, with 10.

Mamma Mia, the Broadway show based on the songs of the pop group ABBA, welcomed it's 2 millionth guest at Mandalay Bay Hotel earlier this month, making it the most successful Broadway musical to play Las Vegas.
However, the show ain't doin' badly worldwide, either. The production has been seen by 30 million people, has 3 performance groups in North America, 9 current productions around the world and has surpassed a gross of $2 billion!
ABBA?! Who woulda thunk it?

Steve & Elaine Wynn had a good year with their Wynn Hotel and decided to spread a little cheer. So, to all the non-commission/non-tip employees, he gave $1000 (after taxes) to about 4,200 employees or about $5 mil. total.
"We had a great year, and all the accolades that came in were due to their efforts," said Elaine Wynn, director of Wynn Resorts.
The bonuses went to "the backbone of our company," she said, "the people who primarily work behind the scenes, the people who need, people who don't get the tips or commissions. Single moms and people who struggle to send money home to family members. "It's the best $5 million we ever spent," she added.
A reserve fund for the bonus money was set up in August, a Wynn rep said. Accompanying the bonus checks was a note that said, "P.S., Santa Claus said to tell you he's taking care of the taxes."

If you are the type that enjoys driving around and checking out the cool Christmas lights people have decorated their homes with, this article lists some of the more elaborate displays decorating the Vegas Valley. We also have a listing of the huge, non-residential displays, too, just 'cause we're really not as scroogy as we act sometimes...

Here are the BIG displays (most with picture links) (more)

The performer who changed the face of Las Vegas entertainment is closing up shop this weekend. Caesars took a risk when they built a special $95 million venue for her and her show which was projected to last two years. After five years, Celine Dion's "A New Day" rewarded Caesars Palace many times over as more than three million people saw the production and revenues from the box office and merchandise topped $400 million.
Catch ya on the flip side, Celine...
An In-depth Look at Celine
More on The End
The Final Show

There's a lot of cowboys in town for the National Finals Rodeo and Trevor Brazile can boast that he's the number one. Not that he would boast but, since he won the NFR's All-Around Championship, he sure could. And it's his 5th title, too.
Cowboyin' can be profitable as Brazile will win over $400k during the year and around $2.8 mil. for his career, moving into 2nd on the all-time list.

Other NFR Articles + The All-Around Cowboy Championship List (more)

Remember the days of inexpensive Las Vegas hotel rooms and cheap food? Boy, has that changed. According to the latest and just-released edition of the Zagat guide for Las Vegas we have, amazingly enough, bypassed New York City to become the most expensive restaurant city in the country. An average restaurant meal in Las Vegas is $44.44, according to the guide, compared with $39.46 in New York. These are meals compared across the board, from Fat Burger to Joel Rubuchon.
~sigh~ It's enough to make ya long for the good, ol', cheap, mob days...

The list of Top 10 Most Expensive Dining Cities (more)

While Penthouse Media Group tried to buy American LowLife, we passed on the deal so they took their 1/2 billion dollar offer and bought AdultFriendFinder, instead. Looking to have the adult version of the social networking sites MySpace and Facebook, Penthouse reportedly acquired 260 million registered users (slightly less than AmericanLowLife's worldwide empire--ChinaLowLife is huge, I tell ya, HUGE) and AFF's 1.2 million paid monthly subscribers, about 1.2 million paid monthly subscribers more than ALL.

Well, we had to miss the big party but couldn't sleep, worrying how the "Boobs or Bust 2: Go Big or Go Home" event at Jet went. You know, the gig sort of hosted by hunk Mario Lopez where "boob bucks" are handed out to the guys in the bottle-service booths and the female contestants flirt, cajole and beg the men out of their money. The lady with the most bucks at the end of the night wins the grand prize--money for breast enhancement surgery! Woo hoo!
Here's a look at how the exciting evening went

Hans Klok wins a Magician of the Year award after his show at Planet Hollywood is closed.
Marshall Sylver's "World's Funniest Hypnotist" show has closed at Harrah's so he will have to go back to his self-help infomercials.
The Bulgarian Zumanity aerialist who was seriously injured when she fell from her silk ropes during a Nov. 13th show of Zumanity is no longer in critical condition. The little person she landed on is fine and back performing with the show.
Baby Spice sprained her ankle during a Spice Girls performance at the MGM and has her foot in a cast.
Marie Osmond has become a hot property again thanks to her appearances on Dancing With the Stars. Suncoast scored big when they signed her in May before her resurgence. You can see the "Dancin' Mormon" at the Suncoast Dec. 21-23. We knew you'd want to know that.

Las Vegas keeps growing and growing, with Clark County recently passing the 2 million in population mark. Our biggest obstacle to sustained growth, as most everyone has heard, is a lack of water. While there are preliminary plans to build a water pipeline to water sources upstate (which may or may not pan out), the declining water level at Lake Mead, at its current rate, will mean Hoover Dam won't be able to produce electricity by the year 2010.
Turn out the lights, the party's over...

While Posh (Victoria) Beckham was here in Las Vegas for her three Spice Girls concerts at the MGM, she and hubby David were seen all over town, attending the Mayweather/Hatton fight, eating dinner with Tom Curise and Katie Holmes at SW Steakhouse in the Wynn and spending three hours in a private VIP room at Spearmint Rhino Gentleman's Club Monday night, creating quite a stir when they initally strolled in.

October gaming revenue in Nevada hit more than $1.164 billion for the month, an all-time high (we thank you for your donation to the cause!). Revenue was up nearly 20% on the Strip from last year at this time. The biggest loser was, of course, Northern Nevada.
~sigh~ Those perennial dead-weights on our shoulders drug us down again to a tune of -8%. C'mon, Reno, get your shit together! (Note: If you live in So. Nev. you must bash No. Nev. at every chance--it's the law! Although these days it's like picking on the handicapped...)

A breakdown of which games did what damage to y'all... (more)

The LowLife List of Las Vegas New Year's Parties is LARGE...

Despite a shitload of tragedies, the Southern rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd is still around in some sort of form. And, as the Hard Rock's entertainment offering while the rodeo is in town, the band will be appearing at The Joint this weekend for two concerts. A Las Vegas Sun columnist takes a look at the history of the band that was named after an asshole Florida gym teacher.

Finally. After persistant badgering by the high-stakes gamblin' staff of American LowLife, Caesars Palace has finally raised their published limits on blackjack and craps to $50,000 per hand or line bet, the highest in town.
"Now we finally have a place where we can lose all this money we make from the LowLife site much more quickly" said the Lowest Lowlife. "I was tired of having to throw it away at $10 thou per hand--it made the evenings go so slow."
Caesars also raised the limits on roulette to $3,000 (from $500) for "any way" wagers.

Men's Health Magazine took a look at a bunch of drinking-related statistics and came up with the Most Dangerously Drunk cities in the U.S. Denver, once again, was the drunkest with a couple of other Colorado cities not far behind.
Las Vegas wasn't even in the top, er, bottom 50. I'm not sure what happened as we did our part--did you?

The entire list of "Most Dangerously Drunk" cities and the methods used to calculate: (more)

It looks like the fight between Floyd Mayweather and Ricky Hatton was a financial success. Worldwide gambling on the fight is estimated to have been more than $100 million. Receipts from the live gate will top $10 million, while pay-per-view sales through HBO are expected to be in the range of $70 million.

It was also a star-studded affair... (more)

If you've ever sat down and played slot machines, you know that your initial investment can go quickly or take awhile, depending on your luck. Would you prefer to know in advance that you will be guaranteed at least a pre-determined amount of time or a certain number of hands, instead, even if you hit a losing streak?
Stations Casinos thinks enough of the new system--called "Guaranteed Play"--to give it a spin in their casinos. Some in the gaming industry feel this is the wave of the future, not just for slots but perhaps even for table games.

With Floyd Mayweather beating British fighter Ricky Hatton in a 10-round TKO this past weekend, a U.K. newspaper ranks the top Vegas boxing matches of all time, from an English perspective.
A listing of "Greatest Las Vegas Boxing Battles" from the Telegraph.

Once the National Finals Rodeo leaves town, there will be some tremendous bargains on hotels rooms, at least until December 24th. While there are some good deals in the $20-$40 range, you can also get rooms at resorts like the Palms, TI and Mirage for $89 or less.
A Listing of Hot Holiday Specials (more)

It seemed like it was going to be tough to replace Celine at Caesars it looks like the Divine Miss M will be a suitable replacement.
Interest in Bette Midler at the Caesars Palace Colosseum is so high that five shows have been added to her initial run.
Midler debuts Feb. 20 and has about 100 shows scheduled. Tickets go on sale Sunday for the added shows on March 11-12 and 14-16.
Locals should appreciate that her 13-piece band will include six musicians from the Fat City Horns. Santa Fe and the Fat City Horns perform each Monday at the Palms.
Details: Bette Midler; debuts Feb. 20; Caesars Palace Colosseum; $95 to $250; 731-7333.

"Jersey Boys" will be the BIG show at the Venetian's new Palazzo tower. With a few exceptions (Mamma Mia! and now Spamalot and Phantom), Las Vegas hasn't been kind to Broadway-type shows. Will Jersey Boys succeed in Las Vegas? While Mamma Mia! is upbeat and happy-happy all the way through, Jersey Boys has some downer and slower parts, things that may not play in Sin City.
Here's a look at the upcoming production...

Yeah, we have all sorts of entertainment going on this weekend but we happen to respect and admire one of the more influential female performers in all of rock music, who just happens to still be rockin' at age 62 (62!). Deborah Harry, the blondie of the rock group Blondie (although she's not blonde anymore) will be performing solo in a small setting inside Santa Fe Station. You go girl!
An interview with the icon.

If you just happened to be thinking about ice skating while in Las Vegas, you can head up to Lake Las Vegas as they have the only floating ice rink in the country. If you don't want to actually skate, you can grab some pizza, hit an Irish pub or an Italian bistro or cozy up to a nice, juicy steak. MonteLago Village at Lake Las Vegas is a nice step away from the glitter of Sin City.

While it's certainly not an exact count, most of the people who keep track of the population of Southern Nevada seemed to agree that the county of which Las Vegas is a part of has passed the two million mark (of which 97% live in the Vegas Valley).
A few facts: The county's population has doubled since 1994 and quadrupled since 1981; For every new resort hotel room built, the community gains roughly seven new jobs and 14 new residents; Nineteen of the last 20 years Las Vegas has been the fastest growing city and Nevada was the fastest growing state in the country.
We seem to have a growing problem...
A rather amazing bar graph.

While not too many people use the service yet, the ability to check your bags somewhere other than McCarran seems like a pretty cool concept. With Delta and US Air deciding to join Southwest and United, the top 4 McCarran carriers now offer the service. Save some time! Check your bags at the Venetian, Luxor, the Las Vegas Convention Center or the new McCarran car rental center.
Hopefully, one of these days they will come up with something convenient for Vegas locals.

If you are into the upcoming world welterweight title fight this weekend between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Ricky Hatton, are rooting against Mayweather and ya can't get tickets, head over to the Crown & Anchor Pub for a wild night of crazy Brits rooting for their homeboy Hatton.
The Crown & Anchor has become the semi-official Hatton Hangout with the fighter recently visiting the pub for a game of darts and vowing to return for a pint after Saturday's fight.
Crown & Anchor Lowlife Listing
LowLife Fight Listing

Not really. There wasn't a huffing party scheduled. Really.
Even though LowLifes like to party, many of us have already destroyed enough brain cells so that we kinda want to slow down the burn of the ones we have left. At least not zap them on a large scale like a new trend the younger generation seems to be trying.
It's called "huffing" and it makes you retarded, dude. Huffing is the inhalation of household products like Freon, correction fluid, hair spray and, the most popular one, computer cleaner, which even has it's own name: "getting dusted" (hey, I thought that applied to angel dust!).
While some of the older generation used to sniff glue, the chemicals in the past 10 years are getting harsher, potentially causing a bigger buzz and, unfortunately, more bodily damage.
Hmmm, no wonder we go through so much computer cleaner here at LowLife central...

Blackjack, if played by "the book", used to give a gambler the best odds of winning compared to the other casino games of chance. However, by fudging just a few of the standard rules — reducing the blackjack payout to 6-5, requiring the dealer to hit and not stand on what's called a "soft 17" (an ace and a 6), and not permitting the player to double-down on any two cards, casinos have radically skewed the odds toward the house.
Casinos are trying to distract you from the poor odds with a more party atmosphere, including loud music, flowing drinks and scantily clad ladies.
Some tips on how to improve the odds.

There were 17,00 runners--some world class runners at that--some walkers and some wheelchair participants just like many of the other marathons around the world but our marathon had some very Vegasy things too, like a run-through mass wedding ceremony, hundreds of jogging Elvises, fireworks, a live performance by the Blue Man Group along the way and, of course, the Las Vegas Strip.
A look at the Las Vegas Marathon.

The Super Bowl of rodeo is coming to town once again and we'll be inundated with cowboys, country music and western apparal sales. It's National Finals Rodeo time (12/6-12/15) and with it's $5.5 million in prize money it's helping make the best cowboys very rich. The all-around winner pocketed a record $330,000 last year. Now that deserves a big yeee-hawww!
An NFR Slide Show
The LowLife NFR Listing including schedule of events.

Las Vegas is becoming the high-tech surveillance capital of the United States. What happens in Vegas does indeed stay in Vegas--for a lot longer than most patrons realize.
For example, "in the (Stratosphere) surveillance room, 50 monitors are linked to 2,000 cameras, from the casino entrance to the tower observation deck. Two employees keep an eye on the monitors. Guests are on camera from the moment they enter -- except in their rooms and in restrooms. An investigator tracking suspect could go back and review old tape, assembling a mosaic of a visitor's moves for the past two weeks."
The complete article.

The "Sirens of TI", the free sexy pirate show outside Treasure Island, is taking a month-long break for maintenance. The show will resume in the evenings beginning December 26.

Here's an extensive listing of Las Vegas restaurants prepared by the LA Times complete with star ratings and a pricing guide. Lots from the Strip, several from downtown and a few spread around the rest of the valley.

The Las Vegas Marathon, which runs on Sunday (12/2), is getting more and more professional, attracting more runners (15,000), more elite runners, a larger purse ($164,000), more spectators (200,000+) and, for the first time, more road closures (you might want to check out the map of closed streets).
Making the LV Marathon more Vegasy.
We also have a few LowLifes participating in the race! Go LowLifes!!
ADDITION: The winners were a Russian woman and a Kenyan man (can you believe that?!).