Perez Hilton - The Queen of All Media at the Palms' Moon

Come party with the Queen of All Media, Perez Hilton, as he celebrates his birthday at the Palms' Moon Bar on Saturday, March 31st.

MTV's Real World May Return to the Palms with Original Cast

MTV's "Real World" Las Vegas, the reality show that opened doors in a city known for keeping TV cameras at bay, might be returning to the Palms.

The two sides have been talking about a cast reunion in the Palms' "Real World" suite, sources said Wednesday.

The original seven members would return for a monthlong shoot. Filming could start as early as next month, insiders said.

Known for its ratings success and steamy hookups, the show was a catalyst for a slew of reality shows filmed inside local gaming properties. The show broke ground as the first reality show shot in a casino.

The reunion would put Alton, Arissa, Brynn, Frank, Irulan, Steven and Trishelle back in the converted high-roller suite that was specifically built for the show.

Thanks to Norm!

Ocean's 13 Trailer

Ocean's Thirteen is intended to be the sequel to the 2004 film Ocean's Twelve, which was the sequel to the 2001 film Ocean's Eleven, which in turn was a remake of the 1960 Rat Pack film Ocean's Eleven.

Director Steven Soderbergh has stated that this will be the final "Ocean's" installment, making it a trilogy. Filming began in July 2006 in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, based on a script by Brian Koppelman and David Levien. The scheduled release date is June 8, 2007. Tagline: What are the odds of getting even? 13 to one.

George Clooney as Daniel "Danny" Ocean. Brad Pitt as Robert "Rusty" Charles Ryan. Matt Damon as Linus Caldwell. Al Pacino as Willie Banks. Bernie Mac as Frank Catton. Andy Garcia as Terry Benedict. Casey Affleck as Virgil Malloy. Scott Caan as Turk Malloy. Carl Reiner as Saul Bloom. Don Cheadle as Basher Tarr. Shaobo Qin as 'The Amazing' Yen. Eddie Jemison as Livingston Dell. Elliott Gould as Reuben Tishkoff. Ellen Barkin as Abigail Sponder. Eddie Izzard as Roman Nagel. Noureen DeWulf as Expo Girl. Bob Einstein as FBI Agent. Céline Dion as Herself. Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta Jones will not reprise their roles in this installment. This film will mark the first time that actors Al Pacino and Andy Garcia star in the same film since The Godfather, Part III in 1990. Andy Garcia earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role in that film. Al Pacino had all of his scenes filmed in three weeks.

Excalibur at the Miniland Las Vegas in Legoland

Legoland's Miniland Las Vegas Stratosphere Tower

Treasure Island at Legoland's Miniland Las Vegas

LEGOLAND California Unveils Miniland Las Vegas!

After nearly three years of planning and design, more than sixteen-thousand hours of creative artistry and more than two-million LEGO® bricks, LEGOLAND® California officially opened Miniland Las Vegas today.

The family theme park in Carlsbad unveiled its largest Miniland expansion ever with the recreation of the fabulous Las Vegas Strip made entirely out of LEGO® brick. Miniland Las Vegas features the world-famous Strip including ten different hotel properties chosen for their unique style. "The Strip" at LEGOLAND also features a miniature wedding chapel, monorails and real life sounds recorded in Las Vegas.

"Miniland is the heart of LEGOLAND California where kids and their families can see all that can be created with LEGO elements. As a visually stunning United States landmark, Las Vegas is a shining example of creativity and imagination," said President and General Manager John Jakobsen. "Las Vegas is recognizable around the world and we are excited to give our family visitors the chance to experience the city in a kid-friendly environment."

Jakobsen presented a check on behalf of LEGOLAND California to the Foundation for Positively Kids for $14,354.25 – the money was raised by auctioning off some former Park models for the first time ever on eBay. Positively Kids is a non-profit children's charity in Las Vegas dedicated to developing services that provide comprehensive care for Nevada's medically fragile and terminally ill children.

"This is an amazing time for Positively Kids. LEGOLAND has been an unexpected hero," said Fred Schultz, founder of Positively Kids. "It is very rewarding to know that a large organization like LEGOLAND has stepped forward to embrace a local non-profit when we know that their choices were many. The real benefactors are the children and the families we serve."

The top pick in a poll of LEGOLAND guests, Miniland Las Vegas is designed to simulate the feeling of walking down Las Vegas Blvd. Models in the area range from the 20-foot-tall Stratosphere tower to the intricate sculpture of an MGM icon, made from 1,250 LEGO bricks. The largest Miniland hotel, the Venetian, is comprised of more than 20 individual models. Each Miniland Las Vegas building has amazing lighting and sound features, with many of them replicating the famous lights of the Nevada city.

Las Vegas is one of seven geographical locations in Miniland U.S.A. recreated entirely of LEGO bricks. More than 24-million LEGO bricks create this attraction considered the heart of the Park.

Riviera Rejects Riv Acquisition Holdings' Merger Proposal

Riviera Holdings Corporation (Amex: RIV) reported that its board of directors has rejected a $27 per share cash merger proposal it received on March 26 from Riv Acquisition Holdings Inc. ("RAH"). Riviera reported that it is not in a position to consider the merger proposal because RAH has entered into a lockup and option agreement for 9.2% of Riviera's outstanding stock held by Triple Five Investco LLC and Dominion Financial LLC without prior approval by Riviera's board of directors. Such action by RAH has triggered the defensive provisions of Nevada's Business Combination Law and Riviera's articles of incorporation applicable to "substantial stockholders." Consequently, RAH and its related parties are disqualified from engaging in a merger or other combination with Riviera for the three-year period specified in the Business Combination Law.

William L. Westerman, Riviera's Chairman and CEO, said, "We are deeply disappointed that RAH chose to proceed with this lockup and option agreement without board approval. Prior to taking that action, RAH and its related parties made repeated requests to Riviera to allow the acquisition or lockup of Triple Five's and Dominion Financial's shares in transactions that our board determined were not in the best interests of Riviera or its shareholders. We rejected RAH's requests because, among other reasons, they would have interfered with the ability of all Riviera shareholders to receive and respond to competing acquisition proposals and thereby get the highest value for their shares. RAH's lockup and option agreement for 9.2% of our stock, which takes that stock off the market for 90 to 180 days, is a prime example of what we repeatedly told RAH we would oppose. "As a result of RAH's acquisition of a lockup and option without board approval, RAH and its related parties are not only disqualified from a merger or other combination with Riviera for three years, but if they buy our shares from Triple Five, Dominion Financial or anyone else without our board's prior approval, their voting rights as to those shares will be reduced to 1/100 of one vote per share, to the extent provided in our articles of incorporation."

Riviera Holdings Corporation owns and operates the Riviera Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip and the Riviera Black Hawk Casino in Black Hawk, Colorado. Riviera's stock is listed on the American Stock Exchange under the symbol RIV.

Lego Las Vegas Miniland Adds Final Touches

With just hours to go before the official grand opening of a $1-million-plus scale model of the famed Las Vegas Strip, builders spent Wednesday snapping and glue-gunning the final few thousand bricks into place on replicas of 10 casinos -- from the smooth black Luxor pyramid to the towering 20-foot Stratosphere, complete with a tiny working roller coaster shuttling green-faced passengers up and down the central spire.

Piles of little 3- to 4-inch Lego figurines -- including scantily clad women, men handing out girlie fliers and partygoers toting neon green hurricane drinks -- were stacked in bins and on the roofs of the waist-high casino buildings awaiting placement.

"We've got to get 2,000 little people in there this afternoon," design manager Pat DeMaria said as he surveyed the team of landscapers and engineers who were digging holes for tiny cacti and preparing to fill empty pools with water.

After years of complaints about the Disneyfication of Las Vegas, the famed Strip is getting the theme park treatment from DeMaria's designers. The new, 2-million-brick model recreates a handful of landmarks in intricate detail, from the bas-relief carvings on the campanile of the Venetian to the chic Tangerine bar set into the facade of the newly remodeled Treasure Island hotel.

The scale starts at 20-to-1 at the base, so the brick people don't seem dwarfed, and shrinks to 60-to-1 at the top, designers said.

About the only thing missing is any hint of gambling. Fiber-optic light boards advertise the Mirage dolphins and fake cabaret shows -- in some cases headlined by the Lego designers' alter egos -- but the constant jangle of slots and video poker machines is absent from the set.

Instead, there is a water-spitting Lego elephant, a two-track Lego monorail and automated Lego limousines that disappear into hotel-registration carports and then reappear on the other side. Kids can punch a button to see a parade of newlyweds come out of the Strip's infamous Little White Wedding Chapel -- some in white gowns and tuxes, others in less formal nuptial garb.

"We wanted to make it kid-friendly," said Kristi Klein, the lead designer. "So there are lots of interactive elements for them, like the exploding Mirage volcano and the Treasure Island pirate ship." Young Lego fans, drawn by the bright colors and all the moving parts, peered over yellow barricades that blocked off the new installation until its official opening Thursday.

The Las Vegas Miniland was built by a team of 15 designers in Carlsbad and at Lego headquarters in Billund, Denmark, over three years. It is the biggest scale model in the Legoland park, located 40 miles north of downtown San Diego, though the model Chrysler Building on the shiny New York New York casino is dwarfed by the plastic version rising a few yards away in the Lego Manhattan area.

"It's plastic replicas of fake copies of these great buildings," DeMaria said. "You have to take it a little tongue in cheek."

World Series Of Poker Champion Jamie Gold Won't Face Retroactive Penalty For Cheating

The World Series of Poker will not penalize reigning WSOP World Champion Jamie Gold for two rules infractions that occurred during the 2006 WSOP Main Event.

In a recent interview with The New York Times, Gold said that in one incident he exposed a hole card to an opponent. He said that in the other incident he told an opponent he held top pair and top kicker after the opponent had bet. While common in cash games, such actions are violations of WSOP tournament rules.

Under the 2006 WSOP rules, Gold would have been subject to a penalty requiring him to sit out 10 minutes of play - if WSOP floor persons had seen either of those incidents when they occurred. The rules for the 2007 WSOP call for a 10-hand rather than 10-minute penalty.

After The New York Times interview was published, senior WSOP officials reviewed video footage and had two conversations with Gold about the incidents. Gold freely acknowledged and expressed contrition for the rules infractions, attributing them to his exuberance and excitement at participating in his first-ever WSOP Main Event.

The WSOP officials determined from the video review and the discussions with Gold that he did not deliberately attempt to violate the rules and that no penalties would be invoked retroactively for the incidents. "Not only were we impressed with Jamie's candor and contrition, but we also recognized that tournament officials didn't witness the incidents or take appropriate action at the time of the rules infractions," said Jeffrey Pollack, commissioner of the World Series of Poker. "We share culpability in this case and are satisfied that the actions in question were inadvertent mistakes. We look forward to Jamie's participation in the 2007 WSOP.

"I do want to stress, however, that we do not condone any violations of the rules and will make every effort to enforce them in every WSOP event," Pollack said.

World Series of Poker Designs "Poker Superstructure"

Players competing in this year's World Series of Poker can expect to find a richer variety of games taking place in a newly designed "poker superstructure" adjacent to the Rio, but not much of a presence from any online poker sites that accept wagers from U.S. residents.

World Series of Poker commissioner Jeffrey Pollack detailed some of the new wrinkles for poker's biggest event - including a schedule moved up nearly a month - on a recent conference call.

Pollack did not identify the Internet poker rooms in question, but said the World Series would have no affiliation with sites that cater to U.S. customers.

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, signed by President Bush last fall, aims to crack down on Internet gambling by Americans by severely restricting financial transactions linked to online gambling. "You're not going to see very much of it," Pollack said of online poker's presence at the World Series. "We are not in business with any dot-net that's affiliated with a dot-com that takes U.S. bets."

Among the poker sites affected would be Bodog, Full Tilt, Poker Stars and Ultimatebet. In recent years, some of those companies had set up plush hospitality rooms and eye-catching promotional displays at the World Series.

Pollack also reiterated the World Series will not accept any "third-party" registration for the tournament except from organizations that have a licensing agreement, such as sponsors, charities or affiliated casinos. That means online poker sites that run satellites for the World Series cannot register their winners directly. (Of course, they could send the winners cash and tell them to register themselves.)

The final table of this year's $10,000 main event is scheduled for noon July 17, more than three weeks earlier than last year's date of Aug. 10. The 2007 World Series begins June 1 with a $5,000 mixed Texas hold 'em - meaning limit and no-limit - event.

"We'll also be on ESPN earlier than ever before. The turnaround to TV will be shorter," Pollack said. The revised schedule positions the tournament as "the summer programming we were meant to be, rather than creeping into the fourth quarter," where it faces competition from the NFL and college football.

Playing off the success of last year's $50,000 buy-in HORSE tournament - a mixed-games event featuring hold 'em, Omaha, razz, 7-card stud and 7-card stud high-low split that attracted many of the world's best poker players - officials tweaked and expanded the roster of games available during this year's World Series. "Last year's HORSE event was a way for us to signal we're going to look at the tournament fresh again each year," Pollack said. "We wanted to (make HORSE-type games available) not just for the top players but for the other players as well."

The 2007 schedule includes a $2,500 HORSE event, a $5,000 HORSE event and a $1,000 SHOE event along with the reprise of the $50,000 HORSE world championship tournament. Another mixed-game tournament pairs Omaha and stud high-low.

Other tournaments feature "specialty" games such as deuce-to-7 triple draw, Omaha high-low and razz. "That comes from meeting with the players, and listening to the players' requests," said Howard Greenbaum, chief of operations for the World Series.

In all, 55 "bracelet events" - indicating a championship bracelet is awarded to the winner - are planned.

The tournament "superstructure" at the Rio will hold 258 tables this year, according to Pollack, who said officials plan to accommodate as many as 10,000 players in the championship event but will not cap the field. "If there's more, we'll find a way to figure it out," Pollack said.

Last year's championship event drew a record 8,773 players, but that number could decline because of the government's crackdown on online gambling. One offshore sports betting site set an over/under of 6,900 players. Betting on the size of the field is not permitted in Nevada.

The main event, scheduled to begin July 6, has been no-limit Texas hold 'em since its inception in 1970.

"No-limit hold 'em is the game of choice," World Series tournament director Jack Effel said. "You'll continue to see a nice, healthy offering there."

Thanks to Jeff Haney

Reba Coming to Las Vegas

Reba McEntire will return as host of the 42nd annual Academy of Country Music Awards, the organization announced. ‘‘I’m so flattered,’’ McEntire said in a statement. ‘‘I’m thrilled to be heading back to Las Vegas to help put on the greatest show in country music.’’ The awards will be presented May 15 in Las Vegas, and the show will air live on CBS.

George Strait leads the nominees with eight nominations, including entertainer of the year and top male vocalist. Vocal duo Brooks & Dunn have seven nominations and Rascal Flatts six.

Negreanu's Book, Hold'em Wisdom for All Players, in 2nd Printing

Professional poker superstar Daniel Negreanu's first book, titled Hold'em Wisdom for All Players, is now in its second printing, less than three months after its initial release.

Hold'em Wisdom for All Players offers 50 easy-to-read and right-to-the-point poker strategy nuggets intended for beginning to intermediate poker players. Daniel's wit and wisdom makes for great reading; even better, it makes for killer winning advice.

Avery Cardoza, publisher of Hold'em Wisdom for All Players, stated, "Daniel Negreanu's writing style is conversational, straightforward, and educational. It covers topics as diverse as the Top 10 Rookie Mistakes to Bullying Bullies and Exploiting Your Table Image."

Cardoza added, "I'm not surprised how fast the book is selling. Daniel is a superb writer who enjoys a huge and loyal fan base."

The Midwest Book Review observed, "Whether you're just an armchair observer of Hold'em tournament play, or an aspiring beginner sitting down at kitchen table games, or a tournament player seeking to improve your play, you need to give a careful reading to Hold'em Wisdom for All Players!"

Respected poker authority Howard Schwartz said Hold'em Wisdom for All Players "is sure to find its way into every serious player's library. Be happy with this little gem--priced right and packed with valuable advice for any level player."

Steve Miller, President of Card Shark Media, syndicator of Negreanu's weekly newspaper poker advice column said, "Daniel is one of the most popular and charismatic players in poker. He exudes the confidence of a new generation of poker players raised on video games, the internet and MTV."

Miller added, "Newspaper editors and publishers are extremely satisfied with Daniel's ability to attract the coveted 21-49 year old male reader. It is also popular with female readers and other demographic cohorts. Importantly, the column effectively attracts new advertisers to our subscribing newspapers."

Daniel Negreanu's accomplishments include three World Series of Poker bracelets, two World Poker Tour championships, consensus 2004 Player of the Year, and more than 40 wins in tournaments worldwide.

Las Vegas Restaurants, On and Off the Strip, Raise Prices, Lower Quality

If it seems that dinner out in Las Vegas represents an ever-larger proportion of your budget, you're not alone.

Rita Cream, who has lived in Las Vegas since 1990, has watched prices go up and up. "Everything was so cheap" in the early '90s, she said. "In the casinos -- the nice restaurants, the steakhouses and the pasta places -- they had specials. The prices were pretty reasonable. The food was good, and it was nice because you weren't going in a coffee shop that didn't have any atmosphere." But during the past few years, she said, prices have skyrocketed -- "especially on the Strip. They have all those gourmet restaurants there -- I mean really gourmet, where you know you're going to go in and spend $300 and $400 with no problem."

Finding restaurants that charge that much per person, often without wine, doesn't take a lot of imagination. Special menus can be even higher; the prix-fixe Chinese New Year menus at Wynn Las Vegas topped out at $988 -- with more than 200 early reservations at that level. But while Las Vegas' widely hailed restaurant revolution has brought many truly fine restaurants to the city, it also has brought a valleywide outbreak of "The Emperor's New Clothes" -- places that have priced their menus on the same level as the finest restaurants but fail to measure up.

"It's really beautiful inside," Cream said. "When you go in, you go, 'Oh my God, it's gorgeous,' and then the food is a joke. Tourism's so good they feel like they can charge whatever they want and the people will come." And Cream especially is miffed by neighborhood restaurants that charge Strip prices. "Casinos off the Strip, or restaurants, why do they have to charge $50 for a steak?" she asked. "I don't know who they're catering to."

She mentioned one neighborhood-casino restaurant where she felt the prices were skewed too high. "We went there three or four times," she said. "You give a place a chance, and then you say, 'What, am I nuts?' "

The same question crosses the mind of William Hammant, who moved here last April from the Laurel, Md., area between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, and said restaurant prices in that region were slightly lower than they are here.

Hammant said he is widely traveled. "I really enjoy fine dining.

"I don't mind paying, if the quality is there," he said. "But at the same time, it just seems to me that everybody's trying to charge top dollar." And he said he sees how that practice can backfire, especially for those restaurants outside the tourism area. "On the Strip," he said, "maybe this has worked all right for them with the tourist trade, but with all these restaurants opening up, you can get somebody to come once, but people aren't going to come back, because they have more choices."

Hammant said he'll give a place that looks interesting a second chance if the prices seem higher than the quality, but "beyond that, I'll just keep looking. I've found some that were good, and just stuck with them and went back."

Those, he said, include Marche Bacchus, Rosemary's Restaurant, Marc's Restaurant and Wild Truffles. "They're not cheap, but I think the prices are in comparison to what the quality is," he said.

Hammant said that in his experience, a frequent reason that a restaurant's food quality may not measure up to its prices is because the owner isn't paying attention. The food isn't consistent, he said, or meats aren't well trimmed. He cited one example of a popular neighborhood restaurant where an $11 appetizer of mussels included only five or six shellfish -- and they were burned. "Nobody's watching what comes out of the kitchen," he said. "It takes effort on their part."

Cream said she and her husband are always on the lookout for good prospects. "We don't go out anymore and spend hundreds of dollars for dinner," she said. "We try to look for a place that has nice atmosphere and the food is reasonable.

"What do they think? We're stupid?"

Thanks to Heidi Knapp Rinella