Poker News

David Copperfield

Unlike previous years, when Las Vegas hotel-casinos tried to outdo each other with big-name entertainment flown in for a special New Year’s Eve performance, this year, it’s slim pickings if that’s what you’re looking for.

One of the biggest names in town will be David Copperfield at the MGM Grand. His production show, An Intimate Evening of Grand Illusion, will be performed at 1:30 p.m., 4 p.m., 7 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. The 10:30 p.m. performance will include a special midnight balloon drop. Tickets are $97 inclusive. For reservations, call MGM Grand at (800) 929-1111 or online at www.mgmgrand.com.

Across the street at the Tropicana, it’s The Press Band - Very Vegas, a group of Las Vegas’ finest musicians. These guys are really good and they play everything from pop and R&B to disco and rock ‘n’ roll, as well American classics from the 1950’s to the present. And here’s the best part — admission is free. You heard me right. It all gets underway at 10 p.m. in the Celebration Lounge. For more info call the Tropicana Box Office at 702-739-2411. I would expect it’s a first-come, first-served offer.

One of my favorite groups is going to be rockin’ the night away at the Silverton Hotel & Casino. Hootie & the Blowfish will be taking the stage at 10:30 p.m. and should have you in a pretty good mood, along with the booze you’ll be drinking, to usher in the New Year. Tickets for the New Year’s Eve concert, which will be held in the entertainment pavilion, are $99. For more info, call (702) 914-8557 or 1-866-946-4373.

Others in town include the Goo-Goo Dolls at Mandalay Bay, who go onstage at 9:30 p.m. Tickets $75 & $100; the Four Tops & Shirley Alston Reeves at the Stardust. Tickets $74.95. Show begins at 10 p.m.; Kanye West at the Aladdin. Show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets $75 to $150; and none other than Guy Lombardo’s Royal Canadians at The Orleans. The band begins playing at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $139. The Luxor will have Dame Edna, that naughty lady (?) from down under who plays housewife, megastar and guru all at the same time. She recently arrived here to perform at the Luxor after a triumphant Broadway season of her all-new extravaganza, Dame Edna: Back With A Vengeance!

But before landing in Las Vegas, she went home to Australia to put the finishing touches on her latest production, Dame Edna: A Dame in the Desert, especially for Las Vegas. The show starts at 10:30 p.m. For tickets ($110 and $137) call the box office at 1-800-557-7428 or go to www.luxor.com. The girl everybody loves to watch, or at least hear about her latest escapades, will also be in town. Paris Hilton will ring in 2006 as the official host of the Tao Las Vegas New Year’s Eve Party at The Venetian Hotel Resort Casino. Tao is a 40,000-square-foot restaurant, lounge and nightclub combined and is the latest in what has become a long list of great Las Vegas clubs. From 9 to 11 p.m., Tao will featurean open bar and pass around trays of delicious hot and cold selections from the Tao Asian Bistro. DJ’s will be spinning in three different rooms all night, and you’ll have a spectacular view of the the Strip’s New Year’s Eve fireworks display.

Tickets are $200 and you can get them by going to www. taolasvegas.com. You can also call (702) 388-8588. So as you can see, no Rolling Stones, no Cher, no Barbra Streisand or Mariah Carey, but what is offered should guarantee a fun time for everyone and that’s all we care about in Sin City. And of course, I don’t

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