photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

The fireworks are back! The fireworks are back!

Not that they actually went anywhere, but New Year's Eve last year was decidedly unspectacular because of the decision to move the fireworks to the ground instead of their usual hotel rooftop location.

Based mostly on Monte Carlo's burning rooftop earlier in the year, extra safety precautions led switching the pyrotechnics away from the rooftops and onto the tops of parking garages -- making it difficult to see unless you were overhead.

But now they're back, with seven hotel-casino passing new safety guidelines in order to launch synched fireworks...

We didn't think we'd live to see the day where a Las Vegas promotion was deemed to risque.

A couple weeks ago, a truck for the Deja Vu gentlemen's club was refurbished to include windows on the sides, along with a pole in the middle.

The traveling vehicle would drive in traffic between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., and it contained strippers dressed in bikinis on that pole, dancing along their merry way.

We honestly can't think of a better promotion for a strip club.

It was somewhat of a safety hazard, but Deja Vu was cleared because it acted as transportation for hire, and the women could hold onto the poles.

The stripper truck drew a lot of publicity (both good and bad) but ultimately was deemed a safety risk, not just for the women but because of passersby who may be drawn to the truck at the risk of a red light, for example.

To see a video of the truck in happier times, visit

Learn how to be an actor this weekend.

On Sunday, Nov. 15 at 3 p.m., Mario Lopez (from EXTRA and "Nip/Tuck") will be on hand to take you through his career at the Film Actors Expo, taking place at Rave Motion Pictures (at the Town Square).

Tickets are $25 if you register before Saturday; otherwise it's $30 at the door. ($20 student tickets with valid student ID are also available.)

For more info, visit Actors Expo.

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority is stating that tourists to Las Vegas increased by 4.3 percent in September, compared with data from September 2008.

Yes, increased.

Convention attendance was also up by 12 percent.

This bit of good news marks the first time that tourist volume has been up in 15 months.

Casinos are in full swing with greater offers to players. Even we locals are getting free room offers. Assuming we'll be starting to dig ourselves out of this economic rut, we advise you to take advantage of the offers while you can.

Green Valley Ranch offered us two free nights in a suite...

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

In an abbreviated session heads-up that lasted less than four hours the 2009 World Series of Poker crowned the youngest player to ever win a WSOP Main Event. Joseph Cada is a 21-year-old from Michigan that now claims the title of World Poker Champion after eclipsing the record set last year by 22-year-old Peter Eastgate.

Cada takes home a winner's purse of over $8.5 million and a very special bracelet from the 40th anniversary edition of the World Series of Poker. Darvin Moon, a logger from Maryland, traded...

photo by flipchip • lasvegasvegas.com

Tonight at 10 PM PT the final two players will take their seats on the stage at the Penn & Teller Theater inside the Rio Resort in Las Vegas to decide the World Championship of Poker. An unlikely pair of poker players consisting of a logger from Oakland, Maryland, Darvin Moon, facing the youngest finalist to make a Main Event heads-up match, Joseph Cada, a college dropout from Shelby Township, Michigan.

Joseph Cada goes into this evening event with a commanding chip lead of 136 million to Moon's 59 million. The winner will receive $8,547,042 in cash and the the most coveted...