Vegas Facts (Sopranos-Junior's Poker Funhouse)

The first neon sign appeared in Las Vegas in 1954 at the Boulder Club.

The bell is the oldest symbol still used on today's slot machines.

The average annual temperature in Las Vegas is 66 degrees.

It would take 288 years for one person to spend one night in every hotel room in Las Vegas.

Shrimp consumption in Las Vegas is more than 60,000 pounds a day. That's higher than the rest of the country combined and adds up to 22 million pounds per year.

The Stardust was the first hotel in Vegas to add a sports book to its casino.

Nickel slots on the Strip pay back anywhere from 86.9 percent to 92.8 percent of what they take in.

Las Vegas casinos never use dice with rounded corners.

It's estimated that every day Las Vegas casinos give away $3 million of freebies (more than $1 billion per year) just to get customers through their doors.

It's against the law to pawn your dentures in Las Vegas.

The Horseshoe was the first Las Vegas casino to install carpeting.

A vagrant once turned a $400 Social Security check into $1.6 million playing blackjack in a Las Vegas casino.

According to suppliers, purple is the favorite ink color in daubers used by Las Vegas Bingo players.

The beam of light atop the Luxor in Las Vegas is made up of 39 individual lamps. Each xenon lamp costs $1,200 and will last about 2,000 hours. The electric bill for the Luxor beam is $51 an hour.

Las Vegas has the highest number of unlisted phone numbers of any U.S. city.

The iconic, waving neon cowboy, located at Vegas' Pioneer Club downtown, is named Vegas Vic.

Frank Sinatra was the first Vegas headliner to earn $100,000 per week.

More than 110,000 marriage licenses are issued in Las Vegas each year.

Elvis and Priscilla Presley were married at the original Aladdin hotel.

The Silver Slipper was the first casino to hire female card dealers on the Las Vegas Strip (in 1971).

Bill SB 788

Jacksonville, Fl - I read in yesterdays newspaper Florida lawmakers have passed a bill that would expand gambling in the Sunshine State including some significant impact for poker here.

The bill is SB 788. It was reported Governor Charlie Crist will probably sign the bill, although the Florida Seminole tribe must also approve the deal.

In national news Barney Frank has opened the door to legal online poker. Read more of this story here.

Initial reaction from poker players and supporters concerning the bill was far from positive, however. The bill does include the much dreaded opt-out option for individual states. However, this is seen by some as an unavoidable piece of the legislation.

Today is a good day to die

Jacksonville, Fl - Crazy Horse was considered a holy man by the Lakota people. He was brave and appeared unafraid to die. The Lakota tribe revered him and would follow him into any battle. "Today is a good day to die" was immortalized amongst the Lakota.

On the contrary, blues man Albert King wrote "Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.

I recently received the enclosed video from my friend Stacey Childs. She was doing research for her monthly online magazine "Disco Underworld" and asked her readers to view the video and then answer the following: "What would your last lecture/work/article/book/painting be?"

I can't say what my final expression would be but I know I would want my family around. It's great food-for-thought. I am both a serious and lighthearted man, but it seems to me there should be some meaning or message behind every image I produce. I also believe many photographers/artists/writers, say and express more about themselves when they create.



If we knew the time or close to the day we were going to leave this world I am sure our work would be much more profound for many of us. I have my favorite photographers, artists and writers and feel like they are posting their last piece in every work they publish. I don't know if this is done consciously but their material is always inspired from something powerful.

In the skillful art of poker, playing the game successfully and sticking around for another day, one must also possess the fearlessness to crash and burn at anytime. We're all going to the big casino in the sky eventually, so why live in fear of the inevitable. Don't save up your "A" game. I don't believe you can take it with you. Play like there's no tomorrow. There might not be.