The tail turns its head

 Sarah Lockett knew she would go to the Playboy Club at the Palms with her husband Steve when they came to Las Vegas.

The couple from Asheville, North Carolina, came to the club with $100 to make a bet. They ended their dinner with a $300 chip and a photo with one of the Playboy dolls.

"This is the only place we have gambled in Vegas," said attorney Sarah Lockett.

"(Playboy) has changed a lot with the times," said her husband, who works for a biotech company. "From the beginning, it embodies a man's modern sense."

Playboy Club published an eight-page pictorial of some of their dealers this month in the November issue of the same name, with a media spotlight on its first year.

Farms chairman George Malouf said the branding partnership with Playboy has increased the visibility of the property through television and major events.

"That was part of the reason why we were interested in working with Playboy," Malouf said. "The opportunities that are available to us are always different."

Playboy, Farms, and N9ne Group agreed to develop the Playboy Club and other real estate properties in October 2004. Opened on Oct. 7, 2006, the boutique casino has appeared on television shows for MTV, VH1, Lifetime, and E!, including Hugh Hefner's reality show The Girls Next Door

Media reports have helped boost the company's bottom line.

Although Farms operates behind closed doors and does not need to report earnings, Malouf said Playboy Club game tables do almost the same business as the main casino table does in 24 hours on average in eight hours.

Jeff Georgino, senior vice president of location-based entertainment at Playboy Enterprise, said Palms locations work.

"We wanted a connection to the game in the club environment," he said. "We wanted to be able to integrate with nightclubs with lounges and casinos because we had never run in Vegas before."

The casino is owned and operated by Farms, which offers a flat rate to the Playboy brand. Both sides declined to discuss the financial details of the deal.

Playboy Enterprises, which publicly trades shares on the New York Stock Exchange, said in a filing with federal regulators that its licensing group's revenue rose 36% to $5.5 million in the quarter ended June 30, reflecting some of the boutique casino's licensing fees.

The club also helped Playboy Enterprises' licensing group's revenue grow 21.7% from $9.2 million to $11.2 million between April and June.

Playboy also receives a percentage of its beverage revenue from the N9ne Group, which runs Moon nightclubs upstairs in the boutique casino and the drinks section of Playboy Club. Playboy, however, does not have a game license and does not receive any of its revenue.

Clubs are available for $20 on weekdays and $40 on weekends. Accommodation fees include admission fees for President Moon.

Sarah Lockett said she had no problem paying for the cover because of the experience the club presented.

"It's a good idea to pay a $20 fee to gamble," she said, speaking to the lips of a world-class person. "The experience here is completely different."

The casino has 19 slot machines, 9 blackjack tables, and roulette wheels. The area opens at 8 p.m. every night, and is open for six to eight hours, depending on the volume of business.

The blackjack dealer wore a vintage Playboy bunny costume complete with ears, bow ties, and rabbit tails.

Blackjack dealer Yolanda Butler said casinos have more interactions with players than other casinos, making them more relaxed.

"I found that the players were not that reluctant to lose money," said Butler, who was a dealer at the main casino before coming upstairs.

The marriage of rabbit ears and casino chips is planned to expand around the world.

Playboy Enterprises signed a deal earlier this summer to open the Playboy Mansion in Macau in 2009 and is considering other game projects outside of Las Vegas.

"It's going to be a very selective, high-end project," Georgino said. "They're all going to have a gaming component." 파워볼실시간