And inside teddy bear No. 2 …

Friday, April 21, 2006 | 7:17 a.m.

We prefer our casinos smoky. We like our cars fast. So how do we want our bribes?

According to the various public corruption scandals in Nevada these days, a few officials prefer their bribes straight up, in unadorned wads of cash. But most people are picky, it turns out, demanding their dough concealed in imaginative ways.

Clark County's recorder is accused of wanting the dough stuffed inside teddy bears.

One infamous strip club owner put the money inside Crown Royal whiskey's signature purple bags, the golden drawstring snugged tight.

Drawstrings loosened was a favorite form of payment for another commissioner, provided topless dancers did the untying.

A former county commissioner took her money hidden in a trash can, where it must have reeked of metaphor.

But for the purists on the Las Vegas corruption scene, nothing quite beats the plain white envelope. It whispers old-world class.

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