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Chef ready to grill Trump over immigration

Spanish star chef Jose Andres is putting Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump‘s feet to the fire over immigration.

Andres, who was in Las Vegas to launch his Dine-N-Dash culinary tour at SLS Las Vegas, tweeted Friday: “Dear Mr. @realDonaldTrump when you called me a few weeks ago you said you would love to chat about immigration reform with me after NH! Ready?”

The New Hampshire primary is Tuesday.

Trump has called for a permanent border wall between Mexico and the United States, proposed ending what is known as birthright citizenship and called for the deportation of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States.

$600,000 on Carolina

There’s buzz in the sports betting community that a $600,000 bet was made on the Carolina Panthers to win the Super Bowl.

It was reportedly made through William Hill, the largest sports operator in Nevada.

The story making the rounds was that it was a money line bet at minus 190. It would pay about $316,000.

There have been $1 million Super Bowl bets in Las Vegas. One of the largest was in 1980 when an unidentified gambler reportedly bet $1.5 million on the Los Angeles Rams, who were 11-point underdogs to the Pittsburgh Steelers. He lost when the Steelers covered with a 31-19 victory.

In 1989, Las Vegas impresario Bob Stupak put up $1 million and took the Cincinnati Bengals, who were seven-point underdogs to the San Francisco 49ers. San Francisco won 20-16. There were rumblings that Stupak hedged his bet by making halftime wagers.

In 2002, NBA star Charles Barkley, then retired, bet $550,000 on the money line at Mandlay Bay on the 14-point underdog New England Patriots, who beat the St. Louis Rams 20-17. Mandalay Bay sought to have the bet voided because Barkley received the betting slips without having a sufficient line of credit and had not signed a marker.

Mandalay Bay paid Barkley $787,000, and the sports book director was fired.

In another big score, I reported in 2001 that golfer Phil Mickelson won $560,000 by wagering $20,000 before the season that the Baltimore Ravens would win the Super Bowl. Baltimore hammered the New York Giants 34-7. Rat Pack figure

Last Wednesday was the 10th anniversary of the death of comedian-singer and ex-boxer Sonny King.

He was so close to the Rat Pack he was considered an unofficial member.

Frank Sinatra, who annointed King a “lounge giant,” was the godfather of King’s daughter, Antoinette.

King died at age 83 in Feb. 3, 2006, the birthday of Rat Pack member Joey Bishop.

A distraught Bishop told King’s wife, Peggy, “I can never celebrate my birthday again.”

King, who delivered a eulogy at Sinatra’s funeral in 1998, recalled the time he found former two-time lightweight boxing champion Beau Jack shining shoes in a restroom at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida.

He told Sinatra. Sinatra gave the boxer $1,000 and for the next four weeks in a row, tipped him $200 to $300 a night, King said.

King not only roomed with Dean Martin and was Jimmy Durante‘s stage partner, but he introduced Martin and Jerry Lewis. They teamed up to become an iconic comedy duo.

On this day

Feb. 7, 1960: Sen. John Kennedy of Massachusetts brings his presidential campaign to Las Vegas, staying at the Sands hotel-casino. Sinatra introduces the senator at his Rat Pack show that night, where Kennedy meets Judith Campbell Exner. She later writes a book claiming they had a long-term affair.

Sightings

Andres, golfing at ultra-exclusive Shadow Creek on Saturday. … NFL Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor, dining Friday at STK in The Cosmopolitan with Peter Feinstein, owner of Sapphire strip club before heading back to the club for Taylor’s birthday party. The New York Giants great turned 57 on Thursday. Also spotted at STK: New York Giants star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., and Marvel Comics creator Stan Lee, who turned 93 in December. … Matt Damon, filming a big crash scene for his latest “Bourne” film about 2 a.m. Friday with an estimated 200 extras. … New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, playing black jack and shuffleboard and shooting pool at the Encore Players Club at Wynn Las Vegas. He later had dinner at Andrea’s. … UFC ring girl Arianny Celeste, with friends at Andiamo Italian Steakhouse at The D. At another table: UFC heavyweight Stipe Miocic with his fiancee Ryan Marie Carney. … Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones at Marquee in The Cosmopolitan on Friday.

The punch line

“A 76-year-old man who has been to all 49 Super Bowls will be attending Super Bowl 50 this Sunday — but enough about Peyton Manning.” — Jimmy Fallon

Norm Clarke’s column appears Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He can be reached at 702-383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find more online at www.normclarke.com. On Twitter: @Norm_Clarke.

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