Death of Dion’s husband followed by loss of brother
Celine Dion's siege of heartbreak worsened Saturday when her brother Daniel died on what would have been her husband Rene Angelil's 74th birthday.
Daniel Dion succumbed in Terrebonne, Quebec, at a care center named after their father, Adhemar Dion, who died in 2003.
Angelil, who died Thursday at the family home at Lake Las Vegas, and Daniel Dion both died of throat cancer.
Angelil's funeral will be held Friday at the Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal, the site of their 1994 wedding.
They lived at Lake Las Vegas and in another home near Orlando, Florida, most of the time since her debut at Caesars Palace on March 25, 2003.
They loved Las Vegas and decided to renew their wedding vows at Caesars on Jan. 5, 2000, in a ceremony that reflected Angelil's Lebanese and Syrian roots.
Dion was quick to defend her husband's gambling passion when ABC's Barbara Walters asked her during an interview if he was a compulsive gambler.
"The truth is — Rene's a gambler. Of course he is. And I'm glad he is. One reason I'm glad he's a gambler I'll give you: because he mortgaged his house so that I could do my first album when I was 12 years old.
"We absolutely had no money at that time. Want to talk about being a gambler? That was really a big gamble. That's probably the biggest gamble we've ever done," she said.
When she returned to Caesars Palace in March 2011, she acknowledged his love of gambling — a Caesars Entertainment executive had told a London newspaper he gambled $1 million a week — during her show.
While addressing the audience, she mentioned how it was a dream come true to be back in Las Vegas.
Then she impishly added, "But for Rene, being in Vegas again is an even bigger dream come true."
Then she did an imitation of dice game player and declared, "He's all in!"
Angelil was a regular in the poker parlors, often playing under an assumed name.
Longtime World Series of Poker publicist Nolan Dalla shared one of his favorite memories of Angelil in a blog Friday.
"The funniest moments I can recall happened when newcomers used to sit down and have no idea who he was," Dalla wrote.
"Sometimes they'd try to bluff him out of pots with bets of a couple hundred dollars, utterly unaware he'd reportedly once lost $9 million out in the pit before taking up poker instead of playing the sucker games."
Dalla said one night during the height of the poker boom around 2007, "a couple younger players joined our table during March Madness."
The high-limit section was near the entrance of the Colosseum, where Celine was performing.
"Perhaps no more than $15,000 was sitting on the table at any time," Dalla recalled. "Angelil probably had handkerchiefs that cost more than that."
The big crowd lining up to see Dion annoyed the new players and "one of them muttered something to the effect, 'Who in the hell would want to see her?'" Dalla wrote.
Angelil's poker face didn't change expression.
One of the kids flopped a strong pair and "made what for this game was a pretty big bet," Dalla continued.
Angelil was working on a flush draw and announced, "All in."
The kid jumped on it.
Angelil got his flush, busting the kid.
As Angelil was raking in his haul of $5 chips, he "deadpanned a line that had half the table in stitches and the remainder wondering what all the commotion was about.
"'I'm so happy. Now, I can afford to see Celine Dion.'"
On this day
Jan. 17, 1996: Comedian George Burns was to open a week of sold-out shows at Caesars Palace marking his 100th birthday. But a fall suffered several months earlier makes him too frail, and the tickets become just collectors' items. Burns dies two months later, having fulfilled his vow to live to 100.
The scene and heard
Penn & Teller celebrated their 23rd anniversary as Las Vegas headliners on Saturday. They made their Las Vegas debut at the now-closed Celebrity Room at Bally's Las Vegas. They also just celebrated 15 years at the Rio this past week.
Sightings
Actor Vince Vaughn, at the bar at Crush restaurant at MGM Grand on Friday, chatting with bartender/co-owner John O'Donnell. ... Washington Nationals' slugger Bryce Harper, leaving the Lifetime Fitness Center in Green Valley on Friday. ... Fashion designer and TV personality Whitney Port, at a friend's bachelorette party Friday at Marquee at The Cosmopolitan.
The punch line
"An NFL player is about to become a father for the 12th time with nine different women. So today, he was traded to the NBA." — Conan O'Brien
— 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.
