Las Vegas Nv

For the sunbathers around the pools and waterfalls of the Mirage resort hotel, it's an afternoon of trade-offs. Because it's so hot, the strawberry daiquiris aren't staying slushy. On the other hand, the guests can pretend to nonchalantly dip in the water to cool off--and coyly position themselves in the background as the Panavision cameras film Chevy Chase floating on a pool lounge. Warner Bros.'

Even in this era of bigger and better, few recent Las Vegas openings matched that of the Stratosphere tower less than four months ago. Once designed as the largest free-standing tower in the world, the 1,149-foot Stratosphere came equipped with two sky-high thrill rides, cloud-level wedding chapels and a revolving restaurant. Alas, the structure now stands as proof that even in Las Vegas, glitz doesn't guarantee success.

The most formidable of the world-class gamblers, according to executives of four Las Vegas casinos where he has played, is billionaire media tycoon Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer of Australia. Packer, 58, purportedly the wealthiest person in Australia, is known for his bullying style, nasty temper and exceptional business acumen. He suffered a massive heart attack in 1990 and was clinically dead for 10 minutes.

Michael T. Stirling cradles the phone between shoulder and ear. Two calls blink on hold. His eyes flick wearily to the clock dial embedded in a 2.2-pound ingot of .999%-pure gold--a gift from a Hong Kong baccarat player. Stirling's voice turns icy: "Whadda ya mean he wants our plane? He's got one of his own. Yeah, and make sure he doesn't charge us for gas. Yeah, I don't like the looks of it. Owes us $400,000 Australian--that's 280 American, nine months, now. He's here and he hasn't paid.

29 Million Visited Las Vegas in 1995: The figure broke the record for visitor attendance, set the year before, and is a 2.8% increase, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority said. Reinforcing its reputation as the world's premier casino and resort destination, Clark County showed a 5.3% increase in gaming revenues to $5.7 billion. Conventions increased 6.2% to 2,826, which represented 2.9 million delegates and a non-gaming economic impact of $3.3 billion, a 10.7% increase over 1994.

"Want us to power up the Big Shot for you?" In the hot hazy afternoon sun, you're already standing 921 feet above the ground on a deck of concrete. Your eye travels up the length of the Big Shot--the white steel cylindrical shaft of the thrill ride that launches you 160 feet higher in 2.3 seconds, then sends you hurtling back down faster than gravity. For good measure it bounces you lazily up and down a couple of times like you're on the end of a Bungee cord.

Amtrak will bring a new high-speed European train to Las Vegas today in hopes of enticing partners onto the Las Vegas-Los Angeles passenger route. The Danish-built Flexliner, a self-propelled train that does not require a locomotive and can be driven from either end, will debut at the Amtrak station at the Plaza Hotel. "This will be a demonstration to attract potential partners," said Dominick Albano, spokesman for Amtrak West in Oakland.

The smoke was still clearing from the Treasure Island resort's pirate ship battle on the Strip one recent evening when Patty Nicols, a vacationer from Glendora, spotted a bank of shiny new slot machines glowing seductively in hues of rust and blood red.

When deciding what to do in Las Vegas, Southern Californians might wonder if they can skip "Mystere," Cirque du Soleil's extravaganza at Treasure Island, on the Strip. After all, the Cirque often sends a troupe through its usual haunts in Santa Monica, Costa Mesa and (not so often) San Diego. If you're in Las Vegas for only a few evenings--with so many other entertainments beckoning your credit card--why see something that you can see at home?