DOUG ELFMAN: World Series of Poker shows Vegas at its best
Las Vegas has been beset by weird, bad news this year. There's the mortgage foreclosure crisis, plus a hepatitis outbreak. And you could drown away such troubles with a night on the town, but then you might deal with long lines at expensive, celebrity-owned 
nightclubs that are, alas, under investigation by the feds.
So it was a relief this weekend to see the focus of Vegas rooting into what it does best: poker. Specifically, taking people's money away from them for their own good, or at least Las Vegas' good.
The World Series of Poker was a magnet for many hundreds of action junkies from around the world. They chipped in up to $10,000 each to play the tables. A swarm of international media buzzed around them.
And some poker players and spectators did their part to help alleviate our housing crisis. Quite a few told me they just moved to Las Vegas within the past month, either to get closer to tournaments here, or to prey as poker pros on tourists in hotels.
The most prominent gaming duo was actress Jennifer Tilly and her poker champ boyfriend Phil Laak. They just moved here a few weeks ago. And they were hard to miss at the Rio, since he's known as "The Unabomber" for hiding his poker face behind dark glasses and a hoodie. And she's appropriately called "The Unabombshell."
