Now that Christmas is over and done with, people are setting their sights on the next big celebration, New Year’s Eve. Party plans range from night club celebrations to cozy gatherings at home with family and friends, but almost everybody intends to do something to celebrate the end of the decade. Those based in Las Vegas can enjoy an elaborate fireworks show on the Strip, with pyrotechnics being shot off the roofs of seven different casinos, including the MGM Grand, Planet Hollywood, Caesars Palace, the Venetian, the Stratosphere and the newly-opened Aria.
One poker pro who will be at Aria to ring in the New Year is UB.com’s Phil Hellmuth. He has been invited to one of the biggest New Year’s Eve parties in Las Vegas and the Poker Brat couldn’t resist name-dropping some of the celebrities he would be rubbing elbows with as the clock strikes Midnight via his Twitter account (@phil_hellmuth). As Twitter reports, Hellmuth will watch the ball drop with the likes of Eva Longoria-Parker, her husband Tony, and countless others at the Beso Restaurant and Eve Nightclub in CityCenter.
Reality star Kim Kardashian will also be on hand and will play host to a pre-New Year’s Eve party Wednesday night at Eve, which is situated above Beso. Both Eve and Beso are owned by Longoria-Parker, who worked hand-in-hand with famed chef Todd English to launch the Las Vegas version of her popular Los Angeles restaurant of the same name. The New Year’s Eve bash will serve as the grand opening of Eve, while Kardashian’s party will be a precursor to the official launch of the club.
Jean-Robert Bellande of “Survivor” fame has spent the final days of 2009 gallivanting all over Latin America. According to his Twitter feed (@BrokeLivingJRB), he has been everywhere from Cabo San Lucas to Puerto Rico to the Dominican Republic this holiday season. Bellande can’t seem to go too long without getting his poker fix, though, and found time to play online in between lounging on the beach and sightseeing: “Booked a small win over Brian Townsend this morning after being stuck big in 2-7. Feeling very relieved.”
Online poker pro Jeff “ICuRaRook” Sluzinski is going to take a small break from his schedule to celebrate the New Year and a friend’s birthday. “No poppin’ crazy bottles at clubs or anything for me,” Sluzinski told Poker News Daily. “We might go to the Strip, but we will probably just chill at [my friend’s] house.” However, Sluzinksi does plan to log some hours online New Year’s Eve, as he is in contention for the Yearly Tournament Leaderboard honors on PokerStars. The top three finishers all win entries into stops on the various PokerStars-sponsored tours. He currently sits in fifth place and has a couple more days to boost his numbers and claim one of the top prizes. Although he admits he will be playing online on New Year’s Eve, Sluzinski intends to call it an early night. “I’ll stop around 7 or so,” he explained.
In typical fashion, many poker players, like Joe Sebok, are waiting until the last minute to finalize their New Year’s plans. He Tweeted about his options and has not even decided what city he is going to ring in 2010 in, Los Angeles or Las Vegas. Unfortunately for the “Poker2Nite” host, he may be sidelined from all festivities thanks to a cold, as he noted on @JoeSebok: “Woke up with scratchy throat, a headache, and sore body. I get it 2009, you ain’t going down w/o a fight. You are going out tho, you b***h.”
Poker News Daily would also like to wish all of our readers a Happy New Year. May your New Year’s Eve celebrations be lively and fun and may 2010 be a year for all of you to remember.
