7/7/07 adds up to lots of love

If there ever was a day made for Vegas, 7/7/07 was it.

Let the rest of the world spend the day worrying about global warming. This is Las Vegas, where two of its signature activities -- gambling and fast weddings -- got a boost on Saturday from triple sevens.

Thousands of couples got hitched, and industry leaders predicted 7/7/07 is likely to shatter records for the number of nuptials.

The gaming tally won't be known for weeks. Likewise for the number of newly betrothed.

But the line of cars waiting at the downtown drive-through A Special Memory Wedding Chapel stretched down the block.

And casinos reported being busier than usual, boosted by giveaways and players' belief that the lucky day would give them an edge.

Among those tying the knot at A Special Memory Wedding Chapel were Robert Shirk and Shawna Swanson, of Ventura, Calif. If they were going to get married on 7/7/07 in Las Vegas, why not go all out.

So they splurged on the "Elvis Package," which included a vintage pink Cadillac with crooning Elvis impersonator Eddie Powers officiating.

The couple has known each other for five years.

"We're not fools rushin' in," is how Shirk put it to Powers.

Many of those getting married Saturday said seven was their lucky number, or just the final sign that maybe it was time to pull the trigger.

"We've been together for 10 years, so we're already married," said Tony Taylor, of Detroit, standing with his wife-to-be, Rachel Gray, in line for a marriage license Saturday. "We're just making it official."

Others took the seven thing pretty seriously.

Brian Swinkert and Diony Romo, of Austin, Texas, flew here to get hitched because the county clerk in Texas wouldn't be issuing marriage licenses on Saturday. While waiting in line at the courthouse, they let seven couples go ahead of them so they could get their license at window seven. Romo was delighted to see that the clerk that helped them, Heather Hamstra, had seven letters in both her first and last names.

It took applicants about two hours to get through the line on Saturday. Everyone at the Clark County Marriage Bureau agreed the end of last week brought the busiest few days any of them had seen.

Maggie Tucker, Clark County marriage services supervisor, said no bridezillas had been spotted in line despite the sweltering heat.

When told her position made her a marriage expert, Tucker offered her advice.

"Marriage is what you make of it. You shouldn't rely on luck," she said. Still, "it is a cool day to get married."

Casinos reported being busier than usual on Saturday. (When the gamers advertised it as the "Luckiest Day of the Century!" was that for the casinos or for the players?)

David G. Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said gamblers tend to be more superstitious than the average person.

"There's something very unsettling about the idea that everything is random chance," he said. "Superstitions, lucky charms, are a way to fight that frightening randomness."

Some may call Dr. Schwartz a heretic to suggest the games are completely random, that the odds didn't improve on Saturday, that the marriages wouldn't last a day longer because of all those sevens and the "I Got Married on the Luckiest Day of the Century" T-shirts, which retailed for $2 at some wedding chapels.

Those true believers will find comfort in the story of Albert Castillo, 43, who drove to Las Vegas from Monrovia, Calif., because his birthday is July 7 and he wanted to try his luck here.

He arrived by himself Friday night at the Suncoast. By Saturday at 4:30 p.m., he was up $1,800.

He sat down at a roulette table, and bet that the ball would land on 3, 4, 7 and 13.

A few spins after sitting down, the ball landed on lucky 7. Another two spins? 13.

"I'm really not usually lucky," Castillo said. "I just had to try this."