That poker scene is in the Riviera, one of my sentimental Favorites in Vegas. Now that the Horseshoe has closed its Hotel, and Sahara's Hotel is on its way out, the Riviera is the LAST link to Old Vegas...I'm talking the type of Hotel where, even on NON-smoking floors, you can still smell the smoke from the 1960s....and 1970s, 1980s etc.

Seriously, I was fortunate to first visit Las Vegas in 1992 jusssssssst before things changed, and I witnessed the transition between 1992 thru 1997 so I was able to experience the LAST gasps of old style Vegas fun and debauchery. I was able to know what it was like in 1993-94 being COMPED a whole weekend at the Golden Nugget for simply playing $25 Blackjack for 2 hours each night. That's right TWENTYFIVE. Places like the Sands, Dunes, Riviera, Stardust, circa 1992-1996, pit bosses knew your name and would take care of you if you simply played with Green Chips at Blackjack or craps, and if you were playing with BLACK ($100) Chips, well fuck....you'd have at minimum a suite, your own host/hostess at your beck and call, and the Limo to take you to your favorite strip club and back (probably with one of the strippers riding your lap) Nowadays, at places like Paris or Mandalay or any of the HUGE Corporate Obscenities along the strip, they dont even notice you until you've LOST at least 5 grand (preferably at slots) in one night, and then they will make a big deal about giving you a free Steak and a complimentary foot massage or some bullshit.


Oh wait, this was about Chico Wang....fuck him, he's as dead as Julius Caesar