VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: Bourbon Street sees staggering changes

Thursday, April 22, 2004 | 10:39 a.m.

Question: What tarnished off-Strip property is poised to go to the next level thanks to a new investor with major Tinseltown juice?

Answer: Bourbon Street. Really.

Seems that one of the new investors in the property is Los Angeles resident Reagan Silber, a professional poker player of substantial means -- and substantial Hollywood connections.

We called Silber on Wednesday to talk about his new Vegas venture, but the generally reclusive potentate didn't return the message.

Last weekend Silber had some new Vegas friends and some old Hollywood pals over to his Bel Air mansion for a little no-limit hold 'em.

At the end of the $10,000 buy-in charity tourney benefiting Peace Games (a part of the national service network AmeriCorps), it was Leonardo DiCaprio getting out-bluffed by Jack Black.

Among the participants at the event, organized by Amanda Scheer-Demme and photographed for a future edition of GQ magazine: Ellen DeGeneres, Tobey Maguire, Heather Graham, Danny Masterson, Macy Gray, Jon Favreau, Sean Hayes, Paul Rudd, Anthony Kiedis, David Schwimmer, Marcus Allen, Bijou Phillips, Lukas Haas, Donovan Leitch, Chris Kattan, Guy Oseary, Chris Weitz, Mena Suvari, Gina Gershon, Esai Morales, Breckin Meyer, Jason Bateman, Lisa Loeb and Natasha Gregson Wagner.

Also on hand were champion poker players Phil Hellmuth Jr. and Phil Gordon, and Vegas folk including Barry Shulman (publisher of Card Player magazine), his scenester son Michael Shulman and nightclub impresario Andrew Sasson of Light.

Told you this Silber fella had juice.

Sources at the Flamingo Road hotel and casino say that Silber hopes to bring similar activity to a spruced-up Bourbon Street.

Poker, more

The Golden Nugget opened its poker room Tuesday after a 16-year absence.

To commemorate its opening, poker legend Johnny "The Orient Express" Chan and Jack Binion stopped by to check out the new room.

"We are hoping to capture some of this growing interest in poker while linking Las Vegas' past with its present," Golden Nugget co-owner Tim Poster told us in an e-mail. "Re-opening the poker room will appeal to both new and veteran poker players, while adding to the vintage Vegas appeal of the casino."

The Nugget's poker room originally opened in 1946, when the casino first opened its doors. It shut in 1988.

Still more

In other poker news, the young adult division of the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas is sponsoring its first Kosher Poker Tournament.

For more info or to register for the July 11 Sunset Station tourney, contact the federation offices at (702) 732-0556.

You're tired!

"The Apprentice" diva Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth caused quite a scene at McCarran International Airport on Sunday night, the New York Post reported Wednesday.

She was jetting back to Los Angeles after her appearance on the "VH1 Divas" show at the MGM Grand. Seems she pulled the old "Don't you know who I am?" routine at the American Airlines ticket counter when she was refused an upgrade to first class.

A representative for Manigault-Stallworth said she was only joking.

TV don

Frequent Stardust headliner Don Rickles has joined the cast of ABC's midseason pilot "The Catch," which revolves around two bounty hunters.

The project is helmed by "Alias" creator J.J. Abrams.

In the pilot, Rickles plays boss to Greg Grunberg and Orlando Jones.

The 77-year-old comic has a long list of film and TV credits, including a memorable turn as a Las Vegas casino exec who gets thumped with a telephone by Joe Pesci in Martin Scorsese's "Casino."

Appreciation day

Mom does things for you all year long. Here's a chance to do something for her.

Through April 29 you can enter your mother in the America's Best Mom contest. Nominations are being accepted at AmericasBestMom.com.

The nationwide search culminates in a live television broadcast on Mother's Day (May 9) on PAX Television (it airs locally on Cox cable channel 51).

"We'll find her, we'll crown her, we'll award her fabulous prizes, and in doing so, we'll put all Moms back on the pedestals they so richly deserve," said Robin Leach, who will host the TV special.

El Lay radio

The top-rated Los Angeles Kevin and Bean morning radio show will broadcast live from the Hard Rock Hotel on Friday.

During their KROQ 106.7-FM broadcast, the duo will get the key to the city from Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman for their contribution to the promotion of the city.

The broadcast begins at 5 a.m., and the public is invited. Scheduled guests include Wayne Newton, Penn & Teller, Elvis impersonator Steve Connolly, Blue Man Group, Amazing Jonathan and The Riviera's Frank Sinatra impersonator Kevin Cavenagh.

VegasBits

Return: Simon & Garfunkel are coming back to Las Vegas. Sources tell us that they will play the MGM Grand Garden Arena on July 3 ...

Steppin' out: Roy Horn's miraculous recovery continues. One of his therapists told a friend of ours that Horn will "be walking with a cane within three months" ...

School: The New York Times had a nice feature Wednesday on Andre Agassi's charter school ...

Tour: Liz Phair will headline this summer's "Chicks With Attitude Tour," according to Billboard.com. A Las Vegas stop is on the tour sked, but no date or venue has been finalized. Others on the bill include Cardigans lead singer Nina Persson, Katy Rose and Charlotte Martin ...

Show: Leann Tweeden, the co-host of the "Best Damn Sports Show Period" was a Folies Bergere (Tropicana) showgirl Wednesday night. The segment was taped for her show, which is being broadcast from the Palms pool next week. Also on Wednesday, Leach shot some segments at Spago (Forum Shops at Caesars) and at The Venetian for the show.

From Sun wires

Senator's wife charged: The wife of Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., was arraigned Wednesday on a charge she struck a woman in the face during a confrontation in a garden center parking lot.

Wanda Minge Baucus, 56, allegedly hit Tierney A. Barron several times at Johnson's Nursery in Washington Tuesday night, according to a Metropolitan Police report. The two got into a fight after Baucus blocked Barron's car, the report said.

Police said Barron had a swollen left cheekbone and "scratches and redness" on her left shoulder blade.

Arab-American museum planned: Jamie Farr's golf cart, a manuscript of Paul Anka's song "My Way" and White House reporter Helen Thomas' Olivetti typewriter will be displayed at an Arab-American museum set to open next year in Dearborn, Mich.

The $12.8 million, 38,500-square-foot building is scheduled to open in April 2005.