Monday, Feb. 16, 2004 | 10:42 a.m.
VegasBeat appears Sunday through Friday in the Las Vegas Sun. Timothy McDarrah can be reached at [email protected] or at (702) 259-4096.
When he was a student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Palms owner George Maloof spent many nights playing craps and learned a very important lesson: If you gamble regularly, you are guaranteed to lose.
"That didn't stop him," according to a long feature article on the Maloof brothers in the Sunday New York Times Magazine. "But it opened his eyes to the advantage of being the house."
The gossipy article is a detailed look at the Maloof brothers -- Phil, Gavin, Joe and George -- and how they have taken their father's successful New Mexico beer distributing business and turned it into a billion-dollar endeavor.
The article also reports that Sam, the bellman who walked Britney Spears down the aisle, is still employed at the hip Flamingo Road hotel.
Did Sam think the marriage would last?
"No," he told the magazine. "Nobody did."
Not even Jason Allen Alexander -- the groom?
"Well, I guess he had a lot more riding on it," Sam said.
The piece also reports that brother Phil is about to take over a new Maloof music venture with Jimmy Iovine's Interscope Records.
Fore
Michael Douglas is hosting his celebrity charity golf tourney at Cascata Golf Course again this year.
It is slated to take place on May 2, with a gala dinner the previous evening.
For last year's event Douglas hosted celeb pals such as Martin Sheen, Sylvester Stallone, Kenny G., Andy Garcia, Matthew McConaughey, Haley Joel Osment, Clint Eastwood, Alice Cooper, James Woods and Joe Pesci at the exclusive Boulder City links. He hopes most of them will make encore appearances, Douglas told us before he went to see Elton John's "The Red Piano" debut at The Colosseum on Friday night.
The golf tourney benefits the Motion Picture & Television Fund, which supports older entertainers. Tickets to see the stars play are expected to go on sale next month.
Good 'View'
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman was scheduled to present the key to the city to the hosts of "The View" -- Barbara Walters, Joy Behar, Meredith Vieira, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Star Jones -- during their poolside taping at Caesars Palace this morning.
Live on Tuesday's show, cameras follow stylist William Whatley through his West Sahara Avenue salon as he transforms three women into Sharon Stone as she appeared in "Casino," Julia Roberts as she was in "Ocean's Eleven," and Ann-Margret from "Viva Las Vegas."
Also Tuesday, Mouhktar, Julia, Vanessa, Jesus, Antonio, Ugo and Wassa -- cast members in "Zumanity" (New York-New York) -- will perform live.
On Wednesday Robin Leach will be joined by Spago Chef David Robins and Wolfgang Puck as he hosts the final of a cook-off competition between two viewers.
Locally, the shows air this week daily at 10 a.m. on KTNV Channel 13.
Zippy mag
The ZIP code 89052 isn't 90210 -- but it's not too shabby on its own.
The Anthem and Southern Hills ZIP code is also the title of a new glossy magazine being distributed to the affluent folks in those neighborhoods.
It is similar to Summerlin magazine, which targets that community.
The debut February/March issue has features on road rage, recycling old candles, area resident and baseball Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers, and Coronado High School football star Andrew Hatch.
VegasBits
Beautiful: Pop princess Christina Aguilera bought about $2,000 worth of lap dances at Jaguars late Friday night for her boyfriend, Jordan Bratman, and a bodyguard. Earlier the trio attended the "Red Piano" show at Caesars ...
Star: Music legend Ray Charles took the stage for two songs during Lon Bronson's regular late-night Saturday gig at Le Bistro Theatre (Riviera). "It was really something to see," said singer Michael Cagle, who was in the audience with Greek Isles lounge singer Steven David ...
Roses: Steve and Elaine Wynn, Walters, Behar, and Lovee and Bob Arum were in the crowd at Bette Midler's concert Saturday night at MGM Grand Garden Arena ...
Joker: Rocker Sammy Hagar took in Jeff Beacher's "Comedy Madhouse" show at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel on Saturday night. Earlier, Hagar dined at Bradley Ogden (Caesars Palace). Also at Beacher's show: Jack and Kelly Osbourne and Riviera headliner Frank Marino ("An Evening at La Cage") ...
Relax: Midler and her vocal coach and choreographer Toni Basil, a Las Vegas native, attended the early "Zumanity" show on Friday night. The Divine Miss M wildly waved her hand -- to great cheers -- when "Zumanity's" clown act, Spy Monkey, asked if there was a virgin in the house ...
Stung? Because of illness, Sting postponed his Sunday night show at The Joint. It is rescheduled for Friday ...
Sneer: Former Detroit Pistons tough guy Rick Mahorn was at ghostbar (Palms) on Friday night, as were dozens of current NBA players not attending the league's All-Star game in Los Angeles ...
Visit: Among the guests who attended the VEGAS Magazine party at Ivan Kane's swank Los Angeles club Deep on Thursday night were Dennis Hopper, Bill Bellamy, Marsha Thomason ("The Haunted Mansion"), James Lesure ("Las Vegas"), Wilmer Valderrama ("That '70s Show"), Cris Judd, Kiera Chaplin (granddaughter of the great Charlie Chaplin), Michael ("Are You Ready to Rummmmble") Buffer and Estella Gardinier from "The Bachelor" ...
New: Food Network star Mario Batali ("Molto Mario") is about to become the latest celebrity chef with a Las Vegas presence. Batali, who has three highly rated New York restaurants and won the prestigious James Beard award as New York's Best Chef in 2002, is close to signing a deal with The Venetian to open a restaurant in the planned Palazzo Tower, according to a hotel insider.
From Sun wires
President's day: Actor Ben Affleck got the loudest ovation among the celebrities who attended the Daytona 500, but he also got some bad news.
"They told me I was going to be bumped, and I was like 'bumped? What are you talking about bumped? Who's bumping me?' " Affleck, who drove the pace car, said. " 'The president of the United States. OK, terrific. Guess I'm bumped then.' "
Affleck served as the grand marshal -- even though some of his duties were given to President Bush. Whoopi Goldberg was an honorary starter, and LeAnn Rimes sang the national anthem and was the featured performer in the pre-race "Tribute to America" show.
Lee Greenwood and the reigning Miss America, Ericka Dunlap, also sang.
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