Kimo’s Vegas

Antonio Esfandiari won the One Drop benefit poker tourney. Photo from Kimo Akane

WELCOME TO Kimo’s Vegas … the Player’s Edge!

WHAT KIND OF guy spends a million bucks on a poker tournament? Well, there were 48 of them, including the big kahunas of the MGM Resorts City Center Bobby Baldwin, Treasure Island’s Phil Ruffin, porn king Rick Salomon and poker pros Phil Ivey, Phil Helmuth and Daniel Negreanu. The tourney was a fundraiser organized by Cirque du Soleil’s head dude Guy Laliberte. The winner of the amazing first-place purse of $18,346,673 is Antonio “the Magician” Esfandiari … and, yes, that’s what $18 million in cash really looks like.

THE CLARK COUNTY Commission, the folks who make the laws in Sin City, has made it illegal to do business in a public right of way. Soooo, no can sell, peddle or offer to sell or solicit for sale merchandise, goods, items, wares or services. That means its seven out for the folks selling water, Hello Kitty and Mario & Luigi. Oddly, a species even more resilient than the lucky bamboo they sell in Chinatown, the Las Vegas porn slappers, do not violate the new ordinance because they don’t ask for money.

SOON YOU’LL BE able to visit a gun range in the comfort of your own hotel. The Palazzo is waiting for approval from the Clark County Planning Commission.

NOW AT THE Imperial Palace Auto Collection, check out Eleanor, Nicolas Cage’s nemesis in the movie Gone in Sixty Seconds. The 1967 Mustang Fastback is one of 11 made for the movie, and if you play your cards right, she’ll come home with you for $375,000.

STILL TIME TO check out Vacations Hawaii’s new website and enter to win one of its fabulous packages … one entry per person per day. Check out the official rules for all da scoops. Maybe you’ll get lucky like Wallace Sekigawa, who won 16 big ones, or Corinna Chun of Aiea, who won $20,904 playing KENO at the Cal.

CONGRATS TO Col. Arthur Nishimoto (Ret.) of the famous “Go for Broke” 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Last week in Las Vegas he was awarded the country’s highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal. Each one is specifically created by the U.S. Mint to honor the recipient, and no two are identical.

THE NBA Summer Series is happening July 13 to 22 at Thomas & Mack and Cox Pavillion. The league features 24 teams and 13 of the top 14 draft picks.

OUR BUDDY, Vegas columnist Norm Clarke, reports that Vegas is a hotbed of new TV reality shows … a spinoff of Pawn Stars featuring Danny Koker of Counts Kustoms, a Housewives knockoff, and a show based on three Miss Nevada contestants.

FOLLOW US on Twitter, like us on Facebook and get the latest Vegas news online at KimosVegas.com and every week here in MidWeek. Send your Vegas questions, mana’o, photos and reunions to Kimo@KimosVegas.com.