Luxe Life Blog

Strip Scribbles: NBC poker series could turn viewers into millionaires

Posted July 7, 2009 • 2:01 p.m.

A good luck charm at the World Series of Poker.

Photo: World Series of Poker/Harrah's

A new NBC game show from the folks at Full Tilt Poker is underway this week here. NBC has former Riviera entertainment director and Sopranos star Steve Schirripa as host of Face the Ace, and the public gets to play along Friday.

It’s a series of seven one-hour episodes that start airing Aug. 1. The unique format calls for contestants to combat one of three unknown poker pros in a heads-up, no-limit Texas Hold ’em after selecting the opponent from behind one of three smoked-glass doors. If the contestant wins the first match, they can choose to take the money or go for the $1 million playing another mystery pro behind the final fourth door!

*Nice to see other writers are just now jumping on my July 1 scoop that Aubrey O’Day of Danity Kane fame will be joining Peepshow as Peep Diva when Shoshana Bean returns to her Broadway duties in September. Click HERE for that story!

Meantime, Aubrey will be here on the Strip filming a new VH1 reality TV series and at Planet Hollywood to watch Peepshow before her own curtain goes up. Co-star Holly Madison looks certain to stay on an additional 90 days in the rotating circle of guest stars because she’s triggered a boom in ticket sales.

*I broke the news on Twitter yesterday as soon as I received it but wanted to reinforce the fact that Limp Bizkit will play a free concert here, their first U.S. concert in eight years! Yes, free, and it’s set for The Pearl in the Palms on July 18. Fred Durst, Wes Borland, Sam Rivers, John Otto and DJ Lethal are geared up for the show and have revealed that they are at work on the group’s fourth studio album for release this year. Since it will be a case of first-come, first-served, expect the most loyal fans to line up as much as a week in advance.

*A big welcome back to master magician Lance Burton, who returns to his theater at the Monte Carlo tonight now that his doctors have given him the OK after his convalescence from surgery for a broken foot. Click HERE for our July 1 interview with Lance about his injury and his renewed six-year contract. Tickets are on sale for up to 120 days in advance, and his new schedule gives him Sundays and Mondays off, with shows the rest of the week at 7 nightly. Lance is on vacation Sept. 7-21 and returns to work Sept. 22.

*Joan Rivers impersonator Frank Marino, who has enjoyed a 25-year run on the Strip, will soon announce details of his all new-production, which is returning and relocating to the Imperial Palace as of this Labor Day. He joined comedienne Kathy Griffin at Madame Tussauds in The Venetian when she unveiled a wax figure of herself. The event honoring Kathy was filmed for an upcoming episode of her Emmy Award-winning Bravo series My Life on the D-List, in which Frank will appear. Frank and Kathy laughed: “We’ve both had so much plastic surgery, we’ve got more plastic in us than the statue does!”

*Meet Charlene Lee and Willy Williams, who are about to enjoy the “wedding of a lifetime” at MGM Grand on July 19 thanks to their favorite daytime drama The Young and the Restless. Veteran stars Tracey Bregman, who plays Lauren Baldwin, and Christian LeBlanc, who plays Michael Baldwin, will be the couple’s official witnesses at the ceremony. Charlene and Willy beat out 2,600 couples in the Wedding of a Lifetime contest. They will be married poolside at MGM’s Signature and will receive wedding gifts from MGM and our Convention & Visitors Authority.

*Talk about “the change” … Menopause the Musical has a new home at the Luxor as of tonight’s grand opening, and powerhouse vocalist and America’s Got Talent finalist Queen Emily will lead the cast on the red carpet before the first-night performance. Joining her will be actress Paige O’Hara, who was the voice of Belle in Beauty & the Beast, Annette Verdolino and Laura Lee O’Connell. The show enjoyed a long run at the Hilton.

*If you were watching NBC’s Today this morning ahead of the Michael Jackson memorial coverage, you saw Wynn executive chef David Walzog of SW Steakhouse preparing a summertime steak dinner and side dishes.

Star surveillance

R&B singer Tyrese Gibson, who is enjoying tremendous success with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, played host at Prive in Planet Hollywood, and our contributing photographer Scott Harrison stuck it out for an extra 100 minutes because the star showed up so late! Then Tyrese only gave the photogs a 10-second pose. Ah, what fame will do! … The unlikely trio of John Salley, Marlon Wayans and Lou Diamond Phillips -- all sports fanatics -- had breakfast at Iron Chef Kerry Simon’s restaurant at George Maloof’s Palms Place. The night before, Lou dined at N9NE Steakhouse in the Palms with his wife, mother and daughter enjoying sashimi and tuna. For the main course, Lou shared a bone-in rib eye and a side of macaroni and cheese with his wife.

Tonight’s tips

Comedian Rondell Sheridan is joined by fellow comics Rick D’Elia and David Gee to kick off a six-night run at the Improv in Harrah’s. Rondell played Raven Simone’s dad on the Disney Channel’s hit series That’s So Raven and hosted the TV series Men Are From Mars, That’s Funny and Show Me the Funny.

Tomorrow’s teases

The tug-of-war battle behind the scenes of the Michael Jackson memorial tribute that pits a high-powered Las Vegas executive against the lawyers in deciding where his museum should be located -- and Sin City might just win out! The horse-trading with Strip hotels might well net another startling acquisition, plus party time with sexy Hollywood beauties Audrina Patridge and Ashlan Gorse, and a photo trip to the re-created Las Vegas Strip at Legoland.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter HERE.

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