Kimo’s Vegas

Maryellen Cobb and her prize. Photo from Kimo Akane

WELCOME TO Kimo’s Vegas … the Player’s Edge!

MARYELLEN COBB had no idea what a Tesla Roadster was, but she caught on real fast when the lights on the penny machine she was playing went out and the machine froze. After signing the W2G, she watched as they removed the car from the carousel, wondering how much the tax is on a $150,000 car.

CELEBRATE MOM’S DAY when the Natural Vibrations West Coast Party & Dance Tour 2012 hits the King’s Room (ladies will get the irony) May 12 in the Rio.

NOHELANI CYPRIANO and Willie K tour 10 cities on the continent beginning May 16 in Carmel and ending May 27 in Vegas. Check out the website alohahawaiilive.com for show places and times and tickets.

RUMORS OF A Britney Spears Las Vegas residency continue … Would the eighth best-selling female artist of all time be able to sell a few seats in the desert? If there was a prop bet that the Femme Fatales Circus was coming to town, it’d be better than 50/50.

SBE ENTERTAINMENT GROUP has announced that the name of its hotel will join the ranks of the initialed … casinos that use initials as their name. The Desert Inn became the DI, Treasure Island just TI (but nobody calls it that), the Las Vegas Hilton became LVH (and everyone still calls it the Hilton) and the Fitz became the D. So when the Sahara opens in 2014 with the name SLS Las Vegas, will everyone refer to it by its old name even after a $300 million renovation? With properties in other U.S. cities, the brand just might catch on.

IF YOU’RE LIKE ME, one of your first stops in Vegas is to buy a case of water at a market. Why pay $2 bucks a bottle when you can get a whole case for $5? What does grocery shopping have in common with the casinos? Golden Gaming has more than 8,500 slot machines in markets, convenience and drugstores. And now, just like in the casino, there’s a players club called Checkout Rewards, where shoppers can get points and win prizes just for playing slots in the store.

CONDE NAST TRAVELER has just released its list of the best new hotels in the world. One hundred and twenty-one hotels made the grade, but only 12 are located in the U.S. Congrats to Disney Aulani for bringing one of them.

OFFICIALS BELIEVE the 12th annual Tiger Jam raised about $1 million. In addition to the concert and auctions, this was the first year of the charity’s Exclusive Poker Tournament that was won by Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson. How much did the doggies in the window fetch? … A Fiji getaway sold for $19,000; a skiing lesson with Olympian Lindsey Vonn $20,000; a Maui Jim Fishing Excursion and the Ultimate Gastronomic Golf Getaway with Mario Batali went for $10k each.

THOMAS “AMARILLO SLIM” PRESTON passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer. The 83-year-old won the 1972 World Series of Poker Main Event and was a four-time WSOP bracelet winner.