Monday, April 7, 2003 | 10:50 a.m.
I asked John Corbett if he wanted to play some poker.
A screening of the first episode of Corbett's new original FX series, "Lucky," had wrapped a few hours earlier at the Brenden Theatres inside Palms late Friday night.
In the show, Corbett -- best known for his roles in CBS' "Northern Exposure," HBO's "Sex and the City" and the movie, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" -- plays a down-on-his-luck poker player who tries to clean up his act after blowing the $1 million he wins in the World Poker Championship.
So what the heck, I figured, let's see what he's really got.
"I don't really know how to play poker," Corbett said to me.
But you looked so convincing on the show, I dumbly replied.
"Well, I am a good actor," he smiled.
"Lucky" seems destined to follow in the footsteps of FX's last original series, "The Shield."
That cop drama is a critical and commercial smash. Star Michael Chiklis stunned the entertainment industry when he won an Emmy Award last year for Best Lead Actor in a Drama.
After watching the first four episodes of "Lucky" (FX was handing out promotional DVDs), it is safe to say that Corbett would not be such a dark horse in that same category this year.
Crisp dialogue, Corbett's rakish charm, the allure of high-stakes poker and the thrill and fantasy of Vegas -- where the series is set -- come together to make some riveting television.
It debuts on FX (Cox cable channel 24) Tuesday at 10 p.m.
The show was almost entirely filmed in Las Vegas.
Corbett was joined at the Palms events (there were pre- and post-show receptions at ghostbar and Little Buddha, respectively) by FX President Peter Liguori and entertainment chief Kevin Reilly, the show's co-creators and writers, Mark and Robb Cullen, and co-stars Craig Robinson, Billy Gardell and Ever Carradine (granddaughter of John, daughter of Robert and niece of Keith and David "Kung Fu" Carradine), John Brenden (of Brenden Theatres), Michael Keaton and George Maloof.
Corbett's girlfriend, Bo Derek, was a no-show.
Daly news
Howard Stern is not the only national media figure coming to the Hard Rock Hotel.
VegasBeat has learned that NBC's "Last Call With Carson Daly" is also coming to the hotel.
Daly and his crew will be at the Hard Rock from May 6 to May 10.
The hotel is also hosting Melissa Etheridge -- she is headlining the Herman Wolfson Partners & Equestrian AIDS Foundation Benefit on April 19. General-admission tickets are $113.
Stern's show pulls into the Hard Rock on April 22 for a three-day stay.
Tiger game
How much would someone pay to play a round of golf with Tiger Woods?
We'll find out during "Tiger Jam VI," the April 19 charity event that features a Bon Jovi concert at Mandalay Bay Events Center.
The items up for grabs at a pre-concert auction include 18 holes at a pro-celebrity outing in California in December, followed by 18 holes with Woods himself.
Also available will be a Guinness-certified World's Largest Trading Card (featuring a nearly life-sized image of Woods) and trips to the Grammy Awards, the 2004 Ryder Cup and a Bon Jovi concert in London.
Welcome mat
Longtime Beach Boys keyboard player Billy Hinsche just bought a condo, with a killer Strip view, off Horizon Ridge Parkway in Henderson.
The seller was former University of Nevada, Reno third baseman Kevin Eberwein, now of the Colorado Rockies.
Hinsche's first housewarming gift was a vacuum cleaner from his childhood pal, Desi Arnaz Jr., who lives in Boulder City.
Hinsche spent most of the weekend hanging up his gold records.
Bouncing
Movie producer-turned-restaurateur Victor Drai ("Weekend at Bernie's," "The Woman in Red") had dinner at Simon Kitchen and Bar at the Hard Rock on Saturday night.
His own place, Drai's, downstairs at Barbary Coast, was so busy Friday night that maybe he needed a break. On Friday he served Leonardo DiCaprio at a table that also included "Die Another Day" co-star Rick Yune and Marklen Kennedy.
The large group then hit the Hard Rock, Rain in the Desert and ghostbar at Palms and Sapphire before ending up at the "Real World" suite back at Palms.
Up at ghostbar, they all ran into Stephen Baldwin and several folks from that day's Several Sources charity golf event.
It was a tough night for ghostbar VIP host Marko Greisen, who had his hands full (figuratively speaking, of course) keeping all the women away from DiCaprio and Baldwin.
VegasBits
Bill Cosby was admiring the spring butterfly display at the Bellagio conservatory Sunday evening before his 9 p.m. address to a National Association of Broadcasters group in the hotel's Grand Ballroom ...
Palms owner George Maloof was spotted at 11 a.m. the other morning with a drop-dead gorgeous brunette having breakfast at the Coffee Pub on West Sahara Avenue. Several patrons noticed that a large plastic anti-theft security tag was still affixed to the hem on the right front portion of Maloof's shirt ...
As of Thursday Laurent Sadu is no longer general manager at Picasso. He has been replaced by Mario Danielli, who had been working in Northern California.
From Sun wires
"Gladiator" star Russell Crowe married girlfriend Danielle Spencer in a lavish ceremony in the family chapel at his country ranch in Australia today, his 39th birthday.
Spencer, in a gown custom-made for her by Italian fashion supremo Giorgio Armani, was whisked to the ceremony in a motorcade of two black Mercedes, a black pickup truck and two police cars, led by three burly motorcyclists in their wedding best. Armani, also a wedding guest, had dressed the bridal party, including Crowe.
The nuptials capped an event-filled weekend Crowe had planned for his guests, which included a cricket match starring Australian cricketer Shane Warne, as well as musical performances.
Despite the couple's best efforts, scores of media groups clambered to cover the nuptials, hiring out all available local helicopters and staking out the entrance to Nana Glen, Crowe's property in the lush hills near Coffs Harbor, a resort town halfway between east coast cities Sydney and Brisbane.
All apologies: Fox News reporter Geraldo Rivera apologized Sunday for breaking military rules last week when he revealed U.S. troop movements in Iraq.
Military officials denounced Rivera for disclosing unauthorized information after a report in which he squatted in the desert and outlined military movements in the dirt.
In an interview Sunday on Fox, Rivera said he "should have been more careful."
"Last weekend, after my reports from Iraq with the men and women of the 101st Airborne, I was told I violated one of the rules set up by the Pentagon for reporters embedded with the military," Rivera said in an interview Sunday on Fox. "My network and I decided it would be best to voluntarily withdraw to Kuwait to review the situation."
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