Kimo’s Vegas
Tia Carrere. Photo from Kimo Akane
TIA CARRERE came toe-to-toe with a man in her dressing room at the Tropicana after her Dancing With the Stars performance. When she asked what he was doing, the man ran out with her purse in his hand. BTW: The show has been extended through August.
THE KING OF ALL BLING … According to Ty Stewart, executive director of the World Series of Poker, this year’s championship bracelet is worth more than the last 60 combined. Designed by jeweler-to-the-stars Jason Arasheben of Jason of Beverly Hills with an annex conveniently located at the Cosmopolitan, the one-ofa-kind piece contains 35 carats of diamonds and 170 grams of 14K gold … The winner of the WSOP also will get more kala than New England quarterback Tom Brady’s base salary last year: $7 million-plus, more than enough to hire some guy to carry the bracelet for him.
THE NEXT BIGGEST thing in Vegas may not be in Vegas after all … MGM Resorts chairman Jim Murren says that “a convergence of casino gaming and social media will be the next big thing in our industry.” In a high-stakes game of shut the front door and put up or shut up, the casinos of Las Vegas are hedging their bets and buying companies such as Playtika, Double Down and RocketFrog that already have a gamification relationship with lotsa friends on Facebook.
THE UNITED STATES vs. the state of New Jersey … Gov. Chris Christie displays his brass pair saying that New Jersey will defy the federal law that bans sports betting in all but four states. Officially known as the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, sports betting is legal in Nevada, Delaware, Oregon and Montana only.
KIMO’S VEGAS TRIVIA: Beneath the casino floor of the Wynn Las Vegas is the undersea world that supplies thousands of fresh lobsters to the hotel’s restaurants …
ACCORDING TO the folks who specialize in data, there were about 2.4 billion travel-related searches online in January and February. That, by the way, is equal to seven-and-a-half searches for every man, woman and child in the U.S. The most-searched term was Disney followed by Las Vegas, Florida, the Caribbean, Mexico and Hawaii.
MAUI NO KA OI … Over at the Fremont, the reels were good to Richard Caldito of Wailuku, who won $25,000, and Paul Ramos of Makawao, who won $15,000.
CHECK OUT the new Vacations Hawaii website … Now it’s even easier to navigate and get the scoops on its new summer schedule. While you’re at it, enter to win a Vacations Hawaii package for two. You can enter once per day per person between now and Aug. 30.
