Named by Playboy as the sexiest swimsuit model in the world, Joanna Krupa appears this afternoon at the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood.

Promoting the opening of the new Frederick’s of Hollywood store, Krupa will sign catalogs from 5-8 p.m.

For the grand opening, the store will also have free champagne, 20 percent off all merchandise, and a free Bridget lace thong panty will be given away.

Music will be provided by DJ Mike.

It’s almost commonplace now in Las Vegas to hear about human trafficking in prostitution rings, but in Chinese acrobat acts?

Three men are currently being held under an accusation of holding 14 Chinese performers (plus five underage) against their will here in Vegas, where they were “being treated like slaves.”

The complaints from federal prosecutors under the U.S. District Court allege that the men were controlling their movements, confiscating their visas, rationing their food, and paying them $50 per month.

One of the performers escaped the house they were being forced to stay in, and notified authorities.

The acrobat act was seen locally at schools and community centers but not on the Strip.

The trial date for the three men is July 13.

Sometime this summer, Cirque du Soleil will entertain their 20-millionth Las Vegas guest and to celebrate they are putting a select number of seats to four of their five Vegas shows on sale.

From now until September 30th, you can purchase tickets to see “Mystere,” “Zumanity,” “Ka” or the newest hit, “LOVE” for only $50. And these aren’t the cheap seats in the back of the theater, either. Some of the seats are tickets that normally go for $100 - $165.

Now not every show will have the $50 tickets, and it goes without saying that once they’re gone, they’re gone, so don’t wait to purchase tickets. And unfortunately, they are not discounting any “O” tickets.

To add to the excitement, Cirque du Soleil is partnering with Ticketmaster for a sweepstakes. Purchase one of the discounted tickets and you’ll automatically be entered to win round trip airfare and five night hotel stay for two to any Cirque du Soleil show in the world as well as airfare, hotel and tickets to the grand opening of the Cirque du Soleil/Criss Angel show at the Luxor in Las Vegas opening in 2008. Every additional purchase earns an extra entry.

To purchase your discounted Vegas Cirque tickets, simply visit this special Ticketmaster page online. Complete sweepstakes rules can be found on this page, too.

Ok, I just KNOW you all have been waiting for this crucial announcement but yes, the newly reunited Spice Girls will be visiting Las Vegas.

On Thursday (June 28) the original five members of the pop vocal group appeared at a press conference to announce they were reuniting for a world tour. It was the first time all five had been in the same room since Geri Halliwell - Ginger Spice to you - left the band at the height of their popularity.

Each of the women will pocket at least 10 million pounds (approximately $20 million US) for the eleven city tour that will visit six continents. Vegas is the second city on that tour, with a scheduled date of December 08, 2007. No venue has yet been named.

Listening to the press conference on the news, it appears that money was definitely the motivating factor behind the tour, as some of the comments made by the group had a bit of an edge to it.

From Halliwell, when asked what it was like to be reunited with her band mates: “Imagine you got divorced and you’ve got back together with your ex-husband.” She also went on to say that putting the tour together was like “organising a G8 summit”.

To add to the snarkiness, Victoria Beckham (Posh Spice) said about Halliwell, “She just appreciates the fact we’ve let her back in, but we’ve forgiven her.” She then tried to tone it down by saying, “I love all the girls. Yes, we argue, but we’re like sisters.”

Yikes! I’m thinking Vegas odds-makers should start taking bets on whether the tour will implode upon itself before it finishes. I’m guessing there will be separate travel arrangements for each of the five, which also includes Emma Bunton, Mel C and Mel B (Baby, Sporty and Scary Spice, respectively).

It appears they think there’s going to be a mad rush for tickets, because they are holding a ticket lottery for each tour date, with a maximum of six tickets per person limit.

More information on the tour and the ticket lottery can be found at the Spice Girls website at thespicegirls.com.

Great…now I have “Spice Up Your Life” by the Spice Girls playing in my head…

Poker from behind the WSOP Curtain only available from Dr Pauly of Tao of Poker. Complete 2007 WSOP stats at the Poker Prof’s World Series of Poker 2007 Information Page.

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com
Evelyn Ng watching the action from behind the ropes

At Noon on Friday the “Shuffle Up and Deal” command will signal the start of the 38th annual WSOP Main Event. Staying true to the time honored format of $10,000 buyin No Limit Hold’em Freeze Out Poker, the final event of this year’s WSOP promises to bring all the fun, excitement, action, dreams, and “bust out” grief we’ve experienced at other main events from past years. The drama will run continuously for eleven days in the Rio Resorts Pavilion.

Thousands of poker players, ranging from the game’s Superstars to the one shot satellite hopefuls, crowding into the cavernous arena to do battle across the green felt tables. Will this be another record year? Will you be here to witness poker history first hand? Best get in gear and get going because it all comes down at Noon tomorrow. Four Day 1’s and two Day 2’s have been scheduled for this mother of all poker tournaments, The WSOP Main Event.

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com
What better time and place for quad Aces than the World Series of Poker

The Fourth of July was celebrated in the Rio Pavilion with two final WSOP tables. Event #52-$1,000 No Limit Hold’em w/Rebuys was won by Michael Graves, the final table chip leader. Graves takes the Corum watch, a classic WSOP Gold Bracelet, and $742,121 in cash. Second place finisher Theo Tran received $387,193 as first runner up.

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com
A little humor from those ESPN guys

The second final table was Event #53 - $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout. Playing far into the night - 4:00 am - the event finally went to Hendon Mobster Ram Vaswani. He goes home with the Corum watch, coveted WSOP Gold Bracelet and $217,438 in folding money. Runner up, Andrew Ward, settled for a nice $124,816 payday. Event #54, $5,000 No Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball w/Rebuys, began on Thursday with an all-star cast. This is the last tournament for players to accumulate points for the POY award and as of early Thursday morning the event was shaping up to be the decider.

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com
Would this be a doctor that can fix your poker game or a poker playing doctor…maybe both

Poker from behind the WSOP Curtain only available from Dr Pauly of Tao of Poker. Complete 2007 WSOP stats at the Poker Prof’s World Series of Poker 2007 Information Page.

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com

Robert Mizrachi outplayed the WSOP $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Event #50 final table anchored by non-other than poker legend, Doyle Brunson. Solid play and classic aggression gave the day to Robert. This was Mizrachi’s first WSOP win and gold bracelet. He received, in addition to the WSOP gold jewelry, a Corum Watch and $768,889 in prize money. Following his victory he was joined on the ESPN stage by a delighted crowd of friends and family. Rene Mouritsen finished second for $464,877 and Patrik Antonius goes away with $311,394 for third place.

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com

In other final table action at the 2007 WSOP on Tuesday, the $1,000 S.H.O.E Event #51 played out in public view on the uncloaked stealth table dias. Dao Bac ruled supreme to take the victory in the event. Bac received the customary Corum Watch, the highly sought after WSOP Gold Bracelet, and $157,975 in cash. Second Place finisher Adam Geyer takes down $86,691 in cash and Las Vegas poker pro Chip Jett collects $55,801 for a close third.

Congratulations to Robert Mizrachi and Dao Bac for their 2007 WSOP victories.

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com

Poker from behind the WSOP Curtain only available from Dr Pauly of Tao of Poker. Complete 2007 WSOP stats at the Poker Prof’s World Series of Poker 2007 Information Page.

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com

Legendary Poke Player, Doyle Brunson, will be aiming for his 11th WSOP bracelet today when he takes his seat at the 2007 WSOP $10K Pot Limit Omaha World Championship final table. The Grand Master of the game will be holding court with the young guns when the actions starts at 2:00 pm today. The players at the final table represent a total of 10 WSOP bracelets…that’s ten for Brunson and zip for everyone else.

Current plans call for the final table to be played before a live audience and braodcast live over the Internet at WorldSeriesOfPoker.com without the usual 1 hour delay. Tune in at 2:00 pm PDST for all the action of this historic event, providing it goes as planned. A complete list of players seat assignments and chip counts plus a few Flipchip WSOP Classic Photos after the jump…

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com

Seating and Chip Counts for the World Championship PLO Final table

Seat 1 - Doyle Brunson - 510,000
Seat 2 - Patrik Antonius - 650,000
Seat 3 - Marco Traniello - 420,000
Seat 4 - Rene Mouritsen - 775,000
Seat 5 - Tommy Ly - 1,895,000
Seat 6 - Jonas Flug-Entin - 445,000
Seat 7 - Steve Sung - 175,000
Seat 8 - Stephen Ladowski - 360,000
Seat 9 - Robert Mizrachi - 1,090,000

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com

Experience Las Vegas Poker from the most talented scribe writing today, Dr Pauly of Tao of Poker. Be a part of the complete 2007 WSOP with the Poker Prof’s World Series of Poker 2007 Information Page.

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com

Blair Rodman has been playing in events at the World Series of Poker since 1982 and has cashed but he has never taken home the gold. That all changed Sunday evening when he defeated Amato Galasso heads up in the $2000 No Limit Hold’em Event #47. Wearing his trademark “Kill Phil” cap and suffering from extreme fatigue, Rodman was surviving on the surge of adrenalin dumped into his system when the river card finally gave him the elusive victory. He takes away the coveted WSOP gold bracelet, A Corum watch and $707,898 in cash. Galasso picks up $448,808 for his second place effort.

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com

At another final Sunday evening table, this time $1000 Deuce to Seven Lowball Triple Draw w/Rebuys WSOP Event #48, Lenny Martin and Rafi Amit were going heads up for the championship. When the cards cleared Rafi had all the chips and the win. The final table begin at 7:00 pm after day 2 lasted until 5:00 am Sunday morning. A hyper Rafi walks away with the WSOP gold bracelet, A Corum watch and $227,005 in cash. Lenny Martin settled for second and $128,120.

Congratulations to Blair Rodman and Rafi Amit, the latest WSOP champions. Sunday also saw day 1 of the $10,000 buyin World Championship Pot Limit Omaha Event #50. The $10K main event begins at Noon on Friday and runs for 11 days. See you there.

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com

Experience Las Vegas Poker from the most talented scribe writing today, Dr Pauly of Tao of Poker. Be a part of the complete 2007 WSOP with the Poker Prof’s World Series of Poker 2007 Information Page.

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com

2007 World Series of Poker continuews to set records for numbers of players entering the events. Saturday’s $1500 Buy In No Limit Hold’em Event #49 attracted a record 3151 players for the Noon start. This number represents the largest crowd to ever play in one of the preliminary events and the biggest single day in the 38 year history of the WSOP. By the 2:00 AM stop time there were just over two hundred players remaining from the gigantic field. The event pays 288 places so everyone returning for Day 2 on Sunday receives prize money.

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com

Harrah’s, owners of the WSOP, announced on Saturday they will be adding a fourth “Day 1″ to the WSOP $10,000 Main Event. Beginning on July 6th the the event will run through July 17th. While prognosticators have been predicting lessor numbers than the 2006 record of 8773 players, the preliminary events are indicating another huge event with an attendance record possibility. We won’t have to wait very long since the 2007 WSOP Main Event gets underway at Noon on Friday. See you there for the richest sporting event in the history of the world.

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com

Experience Las Vegas Poker from the most talented scribe writing today, Dr Pauly of Tao of Poker. Be a part of the complete 2007 WSOP with the Poker Prof’s World Series of Poker 2007 Information Page

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com

Local Las Vegas Professional Poker player Freddy Deeb is the World Champion Poker Player for 2007. He defeated Bruno Fitoussi in heads up play that finally ended at dawn this morning. Freddy already has a WSOP bracelet; but now he has one of the very special WSOP all around best poker player bracelets. Along with the jewelry he received a special Corum watch and $2,276,832 in cash.

When I took the winner’s photo I reminded him that I’ve taken his photo many times over the years but this was the most important one ever. He wholeheartedly agreed. He told WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack the credit for his win goes to his lucky shirt.

Bruno Fitoussi received $1,278,720 for second place. Congratulations to main man Freddy Deeb, World Champion Poker Player.

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com

photo by flipchip/lasvegasvegas.com