Celebs play poker to aid Africa

If you have spare time Saturday, you can see Don Cheadle's celebrity poker tournament for free -- co-starring Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Brad Garrett, Evander Holyfield, Jerome Bettis, Annie Duke, Sara Rue, Montel Williams, Chris Webber, Ron Artest, Howard Lederer, Erik Seidel, Phil Gordon, Andy Bloch, Chris Ferguson and Phil Hellmuth.

Cheadle sizes up a few players:

"Obviously, Ben's a very skilled player; he's won an event. And Matt enjoys the game a lot," Cheadle tells me.

I asked Williams which celebrity is the player to watch.

"They need to look out for me!" Williams boasted. "I play all over the world."

The Ante Up For Africa helps people in Darfur. It starts at 2 p.m. in the Rio Pavilion. You can play for a $5,000 donation or give at AnteUpForAfrica.org.

CHUCK D: FLAV WAS ALWAYS CRAZY

Public Enemy, still starring Chuck D and Flavor Flav, performs a few songs at Mirage club Jet on Saturday. Chuck D says doing Vegas is like a personal gig.

"Flavor lives in Vegas, so it's more like coming in and visiting Flavor," he tells me.

I reminded Chuck D that Flav is, obviously, out of his mind.

"He's always been crazy. He's been crazy since minute one," Chuck D says. "Public Enemy is a diverse group of guys from the same area of Long Island. It shows an alchemy of extremes, from one end to another -- with Flav on one end."

Chuck D also says he wrote "Tear Down That Wall" to call out "border madness" in Arizona because the state passed a law forcing police officers to look for illegals. He supports the state boycott.

"I can't believe they're doing this to themselves," he says.

GIRLS NEXT DOOR

Kendra Wilkinson hangs Saturday at Moorea Beach Club at Mandalay Bay. ... Holly Madison spends Sunday at MGM's Wet Republic. ... Adult-film star Jenna Haze does Rio's Crown nightclub tonight. ... Naughty by Nature performs Saturday at Studio 54 for the birthday of UFC's Wanderlei Silva. ... Kelly Rowland is at Caesars' club Pure on Saturday. ... Big Boi is at Luxor club LAX on Saturday, then at Caesars' Venus Pool Club on Sunday.

BILL COSBY ON ... HIMSELF

"I have been a writer of my own material for 48 years. And I've always had a feeling that I am more important than the piece I wrote." -- Cosby says in an interview with me in today's Neon section. He performs tonight at Treasure Island.

Doug Elfman's column appears Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. E-mail him at delfman@ reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.