The Strip is LIVE tonight at 8pm PT w/ @AnnieDuke

[UPDATE: We'll start the Annie Duke interview at 8:15p]

On the eve of the start of the 42nd World Series of Poker Main Event, we hear from the only pro in the game who has any kind of serious name recognition in mainstream popular culture. That's Celebrity Apprentice runner-up Annie Duke, who is sitting out the WSOP this year to focus instead on her role as commissioner of the Epic Poker League. My Las Vegas Weekly column this week lays out my argument for why this league could be exactly what the game needs to interest people beyond the poker world. Annie explains how it works and then talks a bit about Joan Rivers, Donald Trump and her 1 v 100 stint.

The episode also is expected to include an interview with U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Las Vegas, who is sponsoring a bill to repeal the virtual ban on playing poker online. That conversation won't be recorded until tomorrow, though.

As usual, we'll play the interview starting at about 8 p.m. and you can hear that and chat with other listeners -- pluss watch Black, Jack and Aces gnaw ferociously at treats! -- on this UStream site. When Miles gets home from work, we'll do the regular parts of the show.

C'mon down! But if not, I'll try getting the podcast out probably Thursday night, so you can subscribe to The Strip (it's free!) in iTunes or Zune to get the latest show and various specials.

SPECIAL: INSIDE THE PLAZA RENOVATION

Last week, I went on a hardhat tour of the Plaza as it nears the completion of a $35 million renovation. Along the way, I also asked CEO Tony Santo a number of questions that are on the minds of many, from the mechanics behind the Plaza's big Fontainebleau firesale buy. Santo and I also discussed the departure of Firefly, what constitutes a VIP/high-roller at a place like this, why the balconies will be closed and why they decided not to go back to calling the joint the Union Plaza.

I've tried a couple of things with this one. First, there's the Flickr slideshow above. Second, there are two versions of the edited audio in the podcast feed, one a normal MP3 playable on any device and the other an AAC version that will show pictures on iPods capable of displaying them as the interview/tour unfolds. You can right-click on the links in the prior sentence to download either or subscribe to the show (it's free!) in iTunes or Zune. (Aside: If anyone uses Zune, please let us know. Miles doesn't believe it.)

That's what I did on my holiday weekend. How was yours?

Totally Awesome Time-Lapse Film Of Vegas

You all remember Philip Bloom? He's the British filmmaker who last year threw a questionable tantrum against the Wynn Las Vegas, accusing them of nearly killing him because they failed to remove a feather pillow from his room. That was a messy drama that ended with Bloom first threatening to sue me and then making the whole matter disappear from his blog and elsewhere.

Well, we come not to bury Mr. Bloom but to praise him. This is just spectacular and beautiful and well worth the accolades that Mr. Bloom's many fans have bestowed on his technical genius. Check it out. It's about 4 minutes of sumptuous Vegas Porn, shot from the MGM Signature. I've watched it several times now and just think it is sensational.

24 Hours of Neon from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Hat tip to Markus Hundt in Germany for passing along the link.

Source: Bellagio Abandoning Awful Floral Wallpaper In Redesign

The Twitterverse, podosphere and blogland have been going nuts in the past week or so over photos leaked to VegasTripping.Com that show some fairly hideous design features for the redesigned basic rooms in the main Bellagio tower. A disgusted Chuck Monster of VegasTripping.Com, on the most recent episode of The Vegas Gang podcast, said it made the rooms look like they belong in the Stardust and others chimed in that it looked like something that would give Roger Thomas hives.

With good reason. That above and this...


...are pretty awful. Also, it reminds me of Blanche's bedroom in Golden Girls:


Well, I'm happy to report that a trusted MGM Resorts source tells me that even when the sample rooms were being shown to various employees, the staff was being told the designer herself had decided she didn't care for that wallpaper and that it would be replaced with something understated. No word yet what that choice is.

The rest of the furnishings and such, however, will be as these photos show them and actually look "pretty cool" in person, I am told. If you look at the pictures and imagine that wall print gone, the whole scheme is infinitely better if still not all that great.

The first floor of rooms come into circulation within 10 days, I am told. Starting last month, they are taking four floors out of commission at a time in the main tower and plan to completing/releasing a floor a week until December when they're all done. It's the first main-tower room redesign since before the Spa Tower opened, which puts it at about 7 years. That's letting things slide modestly, given the high-end Vegas standard is to redo the rooms every 5 years, but these haven't exactly been the flushest of times for MGM.

I tend to think that Chuck's analysis on Vegas Gang was fairly spot on: This is appears to be an effort to bring the Conservatory into the rooms the way Mirage has borrowed design motifs from the volcano. But, really, the pale greens and stripes and the clashes with the carpet do not feel sophisticated, and that will harm the Bellagio brand.

Still, at least someone had the wisdom to realize that wallpaper would be offensive in a Radisson, let alone in the best-loved and most iconic luxury resort on the Vegas Strip. Can't wait to see it for myself.

[Thanks to Chuck for permission to use these images. Check out a couple others on his site.]