Bill Maher moves his Vegas gigs from the Orleans to the Palms in 2013

HBO star Bill Maher is moving his Vegas residency from the Orleans Showroom to the Palms Pearl this year — giving him a bigger venue and more performance weekends as before.

The star of “Real Time with Bill Maher” has been playing the Orleans several weekends a year.

But the new Pearl gigs give Maher four 2013 weekends in a larger theater — a bump up from the Orleans Showroom’s 850 seats to the Pearl’s 1,100 to 2,500-seat configurations (plus two video screens spanning 14-by-16 feet).

Maher is scheduled to play the Pearl at 8 p.m. on March 23-24, June 8-9, Sept. 6-7 and Nov. 2-3. Tickets, $45, go on sale at noon Friday for the March dates. Tickets go on sale later for the summer and fall gigs.

I will have an interview with Maher in my Tuesday column here in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.