Excerpted with permission from the Viva Las Vegas Newsletter (5/14/99) by billhere.  For the free, twice weekly, Viva Las Vegas newsletter  and index of coupons-lists, just send an e-mail to: billhere@lvcm.com

(while in the Hard Rock Cafe Casino. . .)
But as we looked around, who do I spy playing blackjack: THE DENNIS RODMAN. I slide into a seat at his table and was with him for over an hour, last night at the Hard Rock!  Well, this ex-NBA Laker player, who was fired, is something else.

Nose rings in each nostril, two rings in one ear, tattoos all over his arms, homely with long gangly arms(probably explains his great rebound statistics) and a very tall 6-foot 8-inches, wearing a cloth cap so we could not see his technicolor hair.

Well Dennis started out with a marker for $100,000, betting $500 to $3,000 per hand and grabbing his crotch constantly. Drinking vodka laced with grapefruit juice out of a pitcher!  It seemed like he knew the game of blackjack but when he failed to double down when he had an ace and seven against the dealer's five upcard, I realized that he did not even know basic strategy.

Bedlam reigned while he was playing. Chips were continually dropping to the floor and he fooled around with the dealers' chips and cards. He constantly used the telephone located in
the pit about ten feet from the table. When he was on the phone, a pit boss brought him his two cards and asked Dennis if he wanted to hit, stand or double down. Then the pit boss went
back to the table and ordered the dealer to do whatever Dennis had told him. There were three suits(pit bosses) and two security guards watching the mayhem. Nobody at the table could bet if Dennis wanted to play alone. If you objected, he threw you $200 or $500, to shut you up. He also did that if you were losing. His chips were stacked like a mountain with no order. Just a mountain of chips. At any whim, Dennis played at another table by going through the pit area.

The girls were something else! He was with a girl with a huge cleavage! She looked like the assistant type but Mrs. billhere says they were socially involved. I wouldn't argue with her.
Well Miss Cleavage is talking to Dennis and he gives her $1,500 in chips! She immediately takes a security guard with her to the casino cage to cash in the chips. No bimbo there!

During the hour we were playing, six young girls, at different times, went over to Dennis and visibly introduced themselves sexually to Dennis. Strictly bimbo types.

Security was in shambles. They didn't know what to do with him. Either to protect the pit area from Dennis running around in there or the crowd around the table, which is now six deep and blocking the whole aisle.

Dennis stayed until 2 a.m., lost the whole $100,000 and tipped one dealer $7,000.

I called a few wise guys in Las Vegas, to see what their take on Dennis Rodman is. The unanimous opinion was that he will never play in the NBA again and that all his money will be
gone by the end of the year. He has already lost his beautiful wife, Carmen Elektra. With his glazed eyes and demeanor he appeared to be on drugs.