Did you see Tara Ried knocking back Bellini's at Jet? Did you spot Tobey Maguire at the Bellagio? Did you see your favorite Hollywood actor stiff the valet at the Mirage? Were you playing in the poker game when Paris lost her $200K Bentley?

Last weekend, Hayden Christensen celebrated his birthday bash at Tao and Steve-O was among the random guests that included Paris snd Stavros. While Kevin Federline (aka Mr. Britney Spears) held a CD release party at Pure and even got stood up by his wife.

I ran into Dan Rather with his wife at the Belllagio last week. I was covering the WPT CHampionships at the Fontana Room and I saw him walk by. I whispered, "What's the frequency Kenneth?" but he ignored me.

So if you happened to cross paths with a celebrity, feel free to tell me who you saw and we'll mention it here. Shoot me an email.

Posted by Dr. Pauly at 10:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Hardscrabble Productions (website not yet active) has an open casting call for a new reality TV show about the lives of exotic dancers. The Las Vegas-based documentary will provide a behind-the-scenes look at the personal and professional lives of both men and women in the exotic dancing industry.

If you're an exotic dancer working part-time or full-time in Las Vegas as of June 2006, email castings@hardscrabbleproductions.com to receive an email questionnaire. You can also request an application at: Casting Hardscrabble Productions, 511 Avenue of the Americas, 93, New York, NY 10011.

Hardscrabble will be interviewing throughout May for an early summer shoot.

Five dancers will be cast and receive $5000, plus appear on cable TV.

Posted by R.C. Clark at 5:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The new Regal Cinemas at the new Red Rock casino is giving away a free 85 oz. popcorn and 32 oz. drink with every ticket purchased.

Offer is good through April 30.

Posted by R.C. Clark at 12:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Franco Dragone's Le Reve at Wynn Las Vegas is offering a discount to Las Vegas moms on Mother's Day, May 14. All moms presenting a photo ID showing they're a Nevada resident will receive 2-for-1 tickets at the box office. How will they know you're a mother? The dark circles under your eyes and oatmeal stains are obvious tells.

Tickets are $99/$121, and performances run Saturdays through Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.

Speaking of Le Reve, four cast members (Jim Slonina, Wayne Wilson, Gregg Curtis, and Carmen Tausend) have formed a local theater company christened the New American Theatre Project.

Their inaugural production is Kenneth Lonergan's This Is Our Youth, which takes place in the early 1980s and centers around three wayward twentysomethings played by Slonina, Wilson, and Tausend. Curtis directs.

NATP hopes to tackle other challenging plays (including Euguene Ionesco, Samuel Beckett, and Tennessee Williams) during times Le Reve is dark.

This Is Our Youth's final performances are tomorrow and Friday at 8 p.m., as well as a special Friday/Saturday 1 a.m. show at the Las Vegas Little Theatre, 3920 Schiff Drive (Chinatown, off Valley View and 10 minutes from Wynn).

Tickets are $15. Call (702) 255-2771 for more information.

Posted by R.C. Clark at 7:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Rio is so big they have two buffets.

Good until June 30, they have a coupon good for $5 off their Carnival World Buffet or, our favorite, $10 off their Village Seafood Buffet (mmm... buttery lobster tail...).

Each coupon is good Sunday through Thursday and for up to four people, but if you have more in your party you can just print more.

Diamond members can skip to the head of the line.

Other Rio buffet coupons can be found in What's On magazine, available for free in Vegas hotel rooms and at the front desk.

A hint about this online coupon: usually once it expires, they extend the date. Keep checking the coupon's original location or derivations of the URL.

Posted by R.C. Clark at 6:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Beginning May 1st, players who play 150 hours of live poker (no tournaments) at The Venetian will receive entry into a free $500,000 tournament (eclipsing Station Casinos' 50-hours-required freeroll by $200,000).

The difference between Venetian and Station, however, is that The Venetian does not take a jackpot drop. They'll be footing the entire freeroll out of their own pocket.

On the other hand, the lowest limit for hold'em at The Venetian is 4/8 (at Station, 2/4).

No word yet on the tournament date or how fast players will need to accumulate hours.

Posted by R.C. Clark at 7:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Don't miss Ben & Jerry's free cone day, running today from noon to 8 p.m.

Every year on April 25th, Ben & Jerry's celebrates their birthday by giving their customers their choice of a free scoop in cone or cup. Here's your chance to try one of the new flavors only available at B&J scoop shops.

In Las Vegas, you can make your free-cone run throughout five locations (the ones not posted below are the cone scrooges who aren't participating):

Ben & Jerry's Aladdin
3663 Las Vegas Boulevard
Las Vegas, NV 89109
702-732-2942

Ben & Jerry's Casino Royale Hotel
3411 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Las Vegas, NV 89109
702-735-0015

Ben & Jerry's Green Valley
The Shops at Green Valley Ranch
2225 Village Walk Drive, Suite 177
Henderson, NV 89052
702-437-3300

Ben & Jerry's Sunset Station
1301 West Sunset Road
Henderson, NV 89104
702-435-1010

Ben & Jerry's Trails Village Center
1910 Village Center Circle
Suite 3
Las Vegas, NV 89134
702-638-1110

Posted by Poker Grub at 12:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

President Bush appears this morning at 11 a.m. at The Venetian for a show of support for U.S. Rep. John Porter's campaign fundraiser.

Unless you're one of the 250 guests shelling out $500 to $2,100 to meet-and-greet the President, what this means to you is to expect delays on the Strip, the airport, and all around and inside The Venetian.

According to police, roads can be shut down at any moment for up to 15 minutes at a time. Those roads include anything in between McCarran and The Venetian: I-15, I-215, Las Vegas Blvd., Paradise Rd., Flamingo Rd., Sands Ave., and Spring Mountain Rd.

The President is expected to return to the airport immediately after his 90-minute appearance.

Posted by R.C. Clark at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

To publicize Mission: Impossible III (a.k.a. M:I-3) and the 40th anniversary of Caesars Palace, ESPN will telecast a motorcycle stunt.

Shortly after Caesars opened in 1968, Evel Knievel attempted a jump over the Caesars Palace fountains. Gary Wells then attempted in 1980. Only Robbie Knievel (Evel's son) was successful in 1989.

This time, X Games gold medalist and Godfather of the freestyle motocross Mike Metzger will go for the Guinness World Record and try for a backflip over the fountains.

The public is invited to watch for free, and the broadcast will air live on ESPN and ESPN HD on May 4 at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Along with the stunt will be footage of Knievel's jump and behind-the-scenes stunts filmed for Mission: Impossible III with Tom Cruise and stunt coordinator Vic Armstrong (Indiana Jones, James Bond). Carey Hart's backflip will also be shown, along with Metzger's own flips at the X Games, which landed him double gold in Moto X Best Trick and Freestyle.

Posted by R.C. Clark at 2:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Tomorrow (April 25) from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., South Coast hosts a free job fair sponsored by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Come dressed to impress over 100 prospective employers and schedule interviews right on the spot.

Employers expected to attend include:

• Accountants Inc.
  
• Academy Collection
  
• American Family Insurance
  
• American Institute of Technology
  
• American Medical Response
  
• Ameriprise Financial
  
• Apex Bulk
  
• Arizona Dept. of Public Safety
  
• Arizona Tile, LLC.
  
• Army Recruiting
  
• Associated Training Services of Nevada
  
• Avalon Nurse Staffing
  
• Aveda Institute Las Vegas
  
• AZ Labor Force
  
• Byrd Underground
  
• CACI - Nevada Army National Guard
  
• Caring Nurses, Inc.
  
• CBS Radio - KLUC
  
• CDW Corp.
  
• Client Development Services
  
• Client Logic
  
• CM American Corporation
  
• The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf
  
• Concentra Medical Centers
  
• Consolidated Resorts, Inc.
  
• Cox Communications
  
• Credit One Bank
  
• Crescent School
  
• Dana Capital Group
  
• Desert Auto Group
  
• Dillard's, Inc.
  
• The Eastridge Group
  
• Enterprise Rent A Car
  
• Exotic Cars at Caesar's Palace
  
• Fairway/Henderson Cheverolet
  
• Fundmental/Transhealth
  
• Georgia-Pacific
  
• Green Valley Grocery
  
• Harrah's Entertainment
  
• Harrington & Reed Inc.
  
• HBSC
  
• Bill Heard Chevrolet
  
• Hertz Corporation
  
• High Tech Institute
  
• Hilton Grand Vacation Club
  
• Holiday Systems International
  
• Independent Capital Management
  
• JCM American Corporation
  
• International Ram Associates
  
• Las Vegas Health Care
  
• Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
  
• La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries
  
• LMG, Inc.
  
• Loomis Fargon & Co.
  
• Macy's Las Vegas
  
• Maleron Tobacco
  
• Manpower Inc of Southern NV
  
• Marshall Retail Group
  
• MGM Grand
  
• Miles Kimball
  
• Military Sea Lift Command
  
• Moneytree. Inc.
  
• Muzak of Las Vegas
  
• Neilson & Company
  
• Nevada State Bank
  
• North Las Vegas Police Department
  
• Nurse Core of Las Vegas
  
• On Demand Sedan & Limousine
  
• Optimus Group, Inc.
  
• Owens Corning HOMExperts
  
• The Pearl Factory
  
• Power Plus
  
• Primary Nursing Registry, Inc.
  
• Primm Valley Casino Resorts
  
• Pro-Caps Laboratories
  
• Realty Times
  
• St. Rose Dominican Hospitals
  
• Sofa Express and More!
  
• Soleil Management
  
• Staffmark
  
• Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center
  
• Terrible Herbst
  
• Transportation Security Administration
  
• Towbin Dodge
  
• Transcor
  
• Trench Plate Rental Company
  
• Trendwest
  
• Tru Talent Management
  
• US Airways
  
• Wackenhut of Nevada, Inc.
  
• Waddell & Reed
  
• Yellow-Checker-Star Transportation
  

Posted by R.C. Clark at 12:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Happy Party Gras, the biggest party west of the Mississippi.

The Fremont Street Experience imports the musical style of New Orleans (blues, zydeco, reggae, Dixieland) for a free three-day outdoor festival downtown.

Floats, parades, beads, and bands will all be in abundance from Fitzgeralds to The Plaza beginning at 5 p.m. today and lasting until 10 p.m. Sunday (April 23).

Live bands include Full Throttle Blues, Bonafide, Calypso Kings & DT Brass Band, LA ALLSTARS, Theo & Zydeco Patrol, The Royal Dixie Jazz Band, Blues Storm, Bourbon Street Parade Band, Loveshack, Full Throttle Blues, Bennie & The Swamp Gators, Carl Ferris, Ryan Ahern, and Speaks Brothers.

Posted by R.C. Clark at 5:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After recently learning poker and becoming obsessed with it, socialite and Carl's Jr. spokesperson Paris Hilton gloated that "I'm really lucky in Vegas. I always win!"

We don't doubt the winning silver spoon gene pool that Paris and Nicky were born under, but as far as gambling goes, it turns out Paris spoke too soon, as she reportedly lost her favorite $200,000 Bentley GT in a poker game. Yes, that Bentley, which an allegedly intoxicated Stavros Niarchos (both pictured above in a Spider-Man liplock) crashed into a parked truck back in November.

Consequently, her parents have banned Paris from their family casino and told her to seek therapy for her gambling addiction (bet with your Bentley, not over it).

We're rooting for Paris this weekend, when she arrives in Vegas again to celebrate Niarchos' 21st birthday at Tao tomorrow. In hot water last time Paris sneaked in underage Niarchos, Tao is surely breathing a sigh of relief.

(For those paying attention to upcoming celebrity birthday appearances, that means Hayden Christensen will celebrate his 25th at Tao tonight.)

Posted by R.C. Clark at 1:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

We're sick sick sick of these gas prices, and it isn't even the start of summer yet.

Is it worth driving 20 miles to save two cents a gallon?

We'll let you be the judge. The handy-dandy website VegasGasPrices.com lists cheapest ($2.71 at Rebel Gas, Trop & Jones) and most expensive ($3.19 Hallmark Truck, Cotton & Losee) gas prices all around the Las Vegas area.

Travelers find and input gas price data, which is then compiled and automatically updated.

If you're looking for gas prices outside of Vegas, well, there's a reason the site's called VegasGasPrices.com. But do check out MSN Autos. Enter your ZIP Code and find addresses and maps of the cheapest ($1.98, Pocatello, Idaho) and most expensive ($3.69, Hilo, Hawaii).

Time to look into Hybrids and recipes for potatoes (ahem, Idaho).

Posted by R.C. Clark at 12:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

On June 8, VH1 will tape a Classic Rock'n'Roll Celebrity Poker Tournament to air this fall on VH1 Classic.

Celebrity rockers already signed include Sully Erna (Godsmack), Ace Frehley (KISS), Dusty Hill (ZZ Top), Vinnie Paul (Pantera, Damageplan), Steve Van Zandt, and Jane Wiedlin (the Go-Gos).

The rockers all play for the charity of their choice. First prize is a $10,000 entry into Hollywood Park's North American Poker Tour Invitational (Sept. 2006) and a day programming and guest VJing on VH1 Classic . Humph. Sounds like work to us.

Phil "the Unabomber" Laak will host and Matt "not Jennifer Tilly's boyfriend" Savage will be tournament director. (Pictured above is Jennifer Tilly, because she's prettier than Laak and Savage.)

The tournament will take place at Flamingo's Second City Theatre and is sponsored by CelebrityPokerPlayer.net, which will be awarding two players from their site a chance to play against the rockers. Harrah's (which owns Flamingo) will also give one player a chance to play.

Posted by R.C. Clark at 2:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pssst... just in case you have a Darth Vader 2005 fetish or want to spot celebrities ahead of time, Hayden Christensen will be celebrating his quarter-century birthday (April 19, to be precise) this weekend at Tao -- first dinner, then the club upstairs.

Now you just have to figure out whether it's Friday or Saturday.

Posted by R.C. Clark at 1:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Summer's almost here and so is a special $149 per night offer for a luxury suite at The Venetian.

Each reservation includes:

• $22 offer for two tickets to the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum
  
• $10 off two admissions to Madame Tussauds Celebrity Encounter
  
• Buy one ticket to the outdoor gondola ride, receive one for half off

Reservations must be booked by May 2 for stays between now and July 31.

Book online or at 1-866-403-8046 with code GRED61D.

Posted by R.C. Clark at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Station Casinos, which opened its most expensive casino yet last night (Red Rock, pictured above), is slowly, surely, and silently reducing perks to loyal players.

Already gone is the private lounge that is still advertised as a benefit but has long been unavailable at the Stations.

Redeeming 600 points used to be exchanged for $1 at the gift shop; now it's 1,000 points for that same $1 trinket.

The private gated parking, once available to all Platinum members, is now only offered to select Platinum members. Contacting Station to find out exactly how many points or play is required was returned with no answer.

Perhaps Red Rock's $925 million pricetag is the cause of only a handful of locals receiving gated parking.

Posted by R.C. Clark at 1:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Throw a rock in Las Vegas and you're likely to hit an Elvis impersonator. With over 30,000 Elvises (Elvii?) roaming the city, odds are good you may even be related to one.

But now that billionaire Robert F.X. Sillerman has purchased an 85 percent stake in Elvis Presley Enterprises (for $114 million), he himself can be the sole Elvis impersonator if he chooses.

Sillerman now owns Elvis' name and likeness and is looking at creating a world-class Elvis-themed cabaret show and interactive attraction on the Las Vegas Strip. In September 2005, Sillerman purchased the museum and impersonator Elvis-A-Rama (3401 Industrial Rd.) with plans to close it this October. And being that the 30,000 impersonators would be competing with his new business, Sillerman can legally halt all impersonators with the shake of his hip.

With some impersonators commanding salaries in the six-figure range, the Elvis persona is still very much popular with tourists.

The one thing Sillerman does not own is Elvis' music. But how fun would it be to hear Elvis' music without seeing blue suede shoes?

Posted by R.C. Clark at 12:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The largest mini bike race in the world returns to Las Vegas on May 5 at 8:30 p.m. at the Orleans Arena.

Good for the entire family, the MiniMoto SX combines amateur and expert riders from around the world, including Jeremy McGrath, Guy Cooper, Darcy Lange, Tommy Hofmaster, Chris Gosselaar, and David Pingree.

From noon to 6:30 p.m., bikes will be on display. The MiniMoto Expo, a free trade show, will also be open to the public.

Tickets to the event are $17, $25, and $29 and can be purchased at the Orleans Arena box office.

Posted by R.C. Clark at 11:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sponsored as part of VH1 Classic and Live Nation, Def Leppard will join Journey for a late summer tour, with a stop in Las Vegas on Aug. 18 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

Def Leppard is a venerable institution of arena rock bands, touring last year with Bryan Adams and Cheap Trick.

Journey's career has spanned over three decades, and with more than 75 million albums sold, they're the 29th best-selling rock group of all time. Since a falling out with former frontman Steve Perry, Journey's been touring with Steve Augeri on vocals for the past eight years.

Tickets go on sale this Friday at Ticketmaster.

Posted by R.C. Clark at 11:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A trip to Las Vegas is not complete without a trip to the buffet. Over the past few years I picked up a few tips which has made my buffet experience more enjoyable.

1. If you go during peak hours, expect to wait in line. The cheaper the buffet, the more crowded it is. The better the buffet, the more crowded it is. If you try to go during off-peak hours, you might miss out on some of the daily specials or eat some of the food that's not as fresh. If you know that the lunch buffet starts at 11:00am, then show up a few minutes earlier and secure your place in line.

2. Make sure you're hungry! In order to get the most bang for