The Lure of Vegas - The A-List's Love Affair With Casinos
The Lure of Vegas - The A-List's Love Affair With Casinos They say that money can't buy you love, but when you hit the A-List money becomes no option. Small wonder, then, that stars will jet off to Vegas for real rather than stay at home and play in an online casino and really give credence to the term "millionaire playboy" - although, as we shall see, the girls aren't too bad at it either.
As we all know, Las Vegas is the Promised Land for all gamblers, and Hollywood stars are no exception. Only an hour flight from Los Angeles, Vegas is home to world-renowned casinos such as The Bellagio, which is known as a celebrity hot-spot, with Matt Damon, Alex Rodriguez and Demi Moore all known to frequent it.
The casinos can be sure of two things: that stars often want a chance to remain hidden from the public eye and that they are likely to spend large amounts of money at the table. With this in mind it is no surprise that The Palms is another favoured casino, as it has a policy of holding private games for celebrities. It has a no-limit private poker parlour where Ben Affleck - a regular there - has been known to play long into the night with $1,000 chips.
By the same token, celebrities may not wish to hide. Bruce Willis has been widely reported as being over $100,000 down in the general gaming area. It is common knowledge that these stars are extremely wealthy, and showing-off has long been common for the Hollywood set. A high-profile splurge in a Vegas casino is perfect for attracting the media spotlight. Not that Vegas is the only place to go, although it is definitely the most famous. In 2003 Atlantic City saw the arrival of the seriously upscale Borgata Casino, which itself attracted a number of upscale boutiques, including Gucci and Armani.
Frank Fahernkopf, President and CEO of the American Gaming Association, said of the Borgata that it "revolutionised Atlantic City". Suddenly, the city was attracting a more upscale crowd including celebrities, "especially those who live in New York". Fahernkopf was certainly correct, as Drew Barrymore and Jon Bon Jovi have both been snapped by paparazzi there. Likewise, the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia is known for its A-List clientele. It is the largest casino in the southern hemisphere, with a main floor that is a staggering 500 metres long. Stars like Maria Sharapova and Andy Roddick are known to be visitors, with the latter mirroring Ben Affleck in playing private poker in one of the many smaller rooms off the main floor.
Of course it is not only the upper set that enjoys games of craps or poker. Millions of "normal" people fly to Vegas each year to sample the famed atmosphere and, should they fail to win big but instead see some of the stars mentioned here, perhaps a photograph will soften the blow for them.
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