DULY NOTED

Saturday, Nov. 25, 2006 | 7:03 a.m.

TRADING MEMENTOS INSTEAD OF BLOWS

After battering Erik Morales on the way to a third-round knockout Saturday night, Manny Pacquiao showed there were no hard feelings or personal enmity when the two crossed paths in the casino at Wynn Las Vegas less than 24 hours later.

The super featherweights made an impromptu exchange of the jackets they were wearing in the casino to serve as souvenirs of their historic trilogy of bouts, according to a report by Nick Giongco of the Manila (Philippines) Bulletin.

The fighters, who were both staying at the Wynn, bumped into each other in the baccarat pit - where they were perhaps picking up the slack for James Bond, who has evidently abandoned his erstwhile signature game in favor of Texas hold 'em.

Pacquiao, who won two of their three fights, traded his red jacket for Morales' dark blue one as fans gathered to snap photos.

An avowed gambler on all sorts of pursuits including pool and cockfighting in his native Philippines, Pacquiao was betting much higher than Morales.

Pacquiao was enjoying a Corona with lemon as he played cards, according to Giongco's report, and "Morales also had a bottle of the fine-tasting Mexican beer, which he gulped as though it was sparkling drinking water."

WAR GAMES

National TV football prognosticator Wayne Allyn Root will provide, free of charge, 10 years of his handicapping service to customers who purchased his NFL "Game of the Year" prediction after the pick failed Sunday. Root recommended the Broncos laying 3 points, but Denver lost to the Chargers, 35-27. "I guarantee all my big plays, and everyone gets exactly what he is promised," Root, based in Henderson, says. "That's how I've stayed at the top of my business for 21 years."

TWENTY-ONE!

Semiretired blackjack pros Dave Irvine and Mike Aponte of the notorious MIT card-counting team are featured in a segment of the latest episode of "Real Sports," currently airing on HBO (Cox cable channel 200). It's a good bet one or both will be back in Las Vegas early next year to attend the exclusive, invitation-only annual "Blackjack Ball" at an undisclosed location in Southern Nevada. The price of admission to the ball can be steep, Irvine told the Sun recently. In previous years, attendees - some of the world's top blackjack players - have had to present a high-end bottle of wine or champagne that they scored as a comp while staying (comped, naturally) at a luxury casino resort.

The HBO report is solid, highlighted by hidden camera footage of casino security's laughably pathetic attempt at putting on a tough-guy act as Irvine and Aponte are ushered out the door for counting cards.

Of course, you have to get past the inevitable minor mistakes and cringe-inducing cliches in virtually any story on a gambling issue that's not a casino-PR puff piece. For example, we're told that an "MIT professor" came up with the system to beat the house. (Huh? Ed Thorp and Ken Uston, among others, would have something to say about that.) And, as a camera pans the Strip at night, we're informed that this city was built on dreams!! (Ouch.)

3 and 47

The current betting lines on Super Bowl XLI on Feb. 4 in Miami, according to the Wynn Las Vegas sports book. The AFC is a 3-point favorite against the NFC, with an over/under of 47 points.

107

Rank of UNLV among 119 college football teams rated in this week's edition of The Gold Sheet (in a dead heat with Army and New Mexico State). Those with worse power ratings are Idaho, Stanford, Buffalo, Duke, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Florida International, Louisiana Tech, Utah State and Temple.

$144,700,704

Jockey Russell Baze's lifetime earnings by his mounts, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. With 9,524 winners headed into Friday's action at Bay Meadows, Baze is poised to break Laffit Pincay Jr.'s lifetime record of 9,530 victories and become the world's winningest jockey. While not too shabby, Baze's total is less than half of Pat Day's record $297,912,019 by his mounts.

Mitch Hedberg:

"I like to play blackjack. I'm not addicted to gambling. I'm addicted to sitting in a semicircle."

AROUND THE HORN

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