Anyway, here's my very limited gallery of Las Vegas photos, including one of a certain baseball non-Hall of Famer/author who was signing autographs and posing for pictures at a booth on the Strip. I just snapped a freebie walking past.

A few points on the trip:

The Rio: The Carnivale-themed hotel was perfect for me. Young, fun, musical, visual, colorful, cool but not pretentious. Beers were $3.50 at the monstrous buffet, $4 at the video-poker bars and $5 at iBar, whose waitresses were all striking models. A small pool of single-deck blackjack tables outside the Bikinis club featured bikini-clad dealers, each sporting a thong and translucent sarong. One local nut surmised there were only three Vegas hotels where "the girls in the magazines" actually existed: the Rio, the Hard Rock and ... he didn't mention the third. I think his drink arrived from one of the cocktail waitresses, who double as singers and dancers on the casino floor.

The 51st-floor VooDoo Lounge has live music inside and a DJ outside, where you can dance or just hang out, drink and appreciate the view of the Strip. Again, cool and unpretentious, a very tough combo to find sometimes.

The Gambling: Somehow I survived seven nights of casinos in the Bahamas and Vegas. I didn't wake up early enough to bet Syracuse +4.5 at Villanova on Saturday (and, of course, the 'Cuse won by 15). I did win on the AFC in the Pro Bowl — figured the conference had won everything else this past season. Got reamed Friday night at the Palms, but broke pretty much even after that.

Not too many bad beats, but this one sticks out: Playing at a $25 BJ table, I get dealt 3-3 against the dealer's 3. I split, get an 8 for an 11 and double to $50. Get an 8 for a 19. Not great. The other 3 draws another 8. Double again on 11 to $50. Get a 2. Dealer turns over a 10 for a 13, hits and gets an ... 8! Sometimes you can make all the right plays and lose $100 on what was supposed to be a $25 hand. But you've got to double and split when you're supposed to for this simple reason: if you're gonna sit at the table knowing the dealer has an advantage, you've got to continue to gamble when that advantage swings your way.

The best: I surveyed two $10 roulette tables, looking to load up on 28 (my Feb. b-day) on one of 'em. What I do is place four chips on 28, sharing two chips between 28 and 25, 28 and 29, 28 and 31 (see layout). Thus, on a $10 bet, 28 would pay off $242, while 25, 29 or 31 would pay $34 (and leave $10 on the table). As I'm being handed my chips, but too late to bet, 28 hits. Just my fucking luck. I look to the adjacent table I passed up and 28 hits 60 seconds later. Our next number is 26. The table next to us also hits 26. Now it's getting freaky. Our next number ... 28! Stayed for a few more spins and walked away having made $200 in five minutes.

That's about it. I'm tired and just wanna play guitar. Seven flights in 11 days takes a bit out of ya. And I've got a lot on the edit calendar to get to.