What Happens In Vegas

You know how that's supposed to end, but courtesy of our sin city spies and some NBA ballers who aren't shy, here are some stories that made it out-along with the places to be during all-star weekend

Light
Rumor has it that Shaq was rejected from this Bellagio hot spot because its proprietors weren't down with his white linen suit. But big fellas don't get mad, they get even. Diesel lent his muscle to Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf and others, who opened Pure, one of Light's biggest competitors.

Pure
Tony Parker and Eva Longoria often post up in the booth nearest the DJ in the elevated glass VIP area overlooking the dance floor. This four-room, 36,000-square-foot megaclub may be home to nightly performances of the Las Vegas Pussycat Dolls, but the bash Parker and Longoria throw here on All-Star Saturday should still turn things up a notch.

Somewhere on the Strip
Vegas wasn't much fun for Kwame Brown, in town for preseason games in October. Not only did he lose big, he ended up owing the Lakers too. Brown partied so long—"I went pretty hard, at either Mandalay Bay or the Mirage, I can't remember"—that he slept through the next day's practice. The fine wasn't punishment enough; he also had to apologize to the team.

Mirage
Everybody loses money here, but when Jermaine O'Neal and his boys do, it's for charity. O'Neal and UNLV alum Greg Anthony host an annual offseason poker tourney to raise money for Operation Smile, which aids kids who need surgery to fix their grins. O'Neal may appear rook-like when he says he needs to hit "the learning room" before he plays, but he says he's raised more than $50,000 in two years. Aces, indeed.

Tao
The Venetian's 22,000-square-foot, Asian-theme club, which features a 20-foot Buddha statue and a jaw-dropping view of the Strip, is Shawn Marion's home away from home. "The Buddha is amazing," The Matrix says. "Plus, there are girls doing sexy dances on all these different stages. I don't hide out in the VIP areas. I'm always near the dance floor."

Caesar's Palace
Last summer, Corey Maggette held a family reunion in the Rain Man suite here (a.k.a. Duplex 16, where scenes from the 1988 Oscar winner were filmed). Maggette had plenty of room for the gathering in the plush two-bedroom, 3,500-squarefoot suite. No word on whether everyone had to break for "The People's Court."

Circus Circus
Legend has it that father Bill once dropped a young Luke Walton and one of his brothers off here with $100, a parting wave and a simple edict: "The limo will be back at 5." The boys hit the arcade. Not surprisingly, when Mom found out, she was not pleased.

Jet
The Mirage's 15,000-squarefoot, multi-level club has always been a personal fave of old-schoolers like MJ and Sir Charles. But newschooler T-Mac is cohosting a shindig on All-Star Friday with Diddy. The club's huge moving-light and laser ceiling grid will be ramped up again on Sunday night when Lamar Odom hosts a postgame gig.

The Palms
With its several specialty suites, this is the players' hotel in more ways than one. Last summer, Team USA 'mates Melo, LeBron and Chris Paul partied in the $15,000-per-night Kingpin Suite, a retro 4,240-squarefoot pad with not one but two full-size bowling lanes. No, you don't need an extra $2 to rent shoes.

Bellagio
What Vegas list would be complete without a wedding? Caron Butler tied the knot on Aug. 20, 2005, at the resort's South Chapel, where packages run from $2,000 to $15,000. D-Wade, Eddie Jones and Brian Grant were among those on hand. Elvis did not attend.

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