It was loud. It was liquored up. It was a little bit sad. Kind of like O’Sheas casino itself, come to think of it.

At noon on April 30, 2012, O’Sheas casino on the Las Vegas Strip closed its doors, and boisterous fans showed up in droves to knock back one last shot, to place one last bet and to express their appreciation to Brian Thomas (below), the casino’s shot-dispensing mascot, Lucky the Leprechaun.

One last time around the bar for Lucky.

As the clock ticked down on O’Sheas closing, customers and staff said their farewells, and spontaneous chants along the lines of “O’Sheas! O’Sheas! O’Sheas!” broke out throughout the casino. Hey, O’Sheas has always been about fun, not about rhyming. And, technically, “O’Sheas” rhymes with “O’Sheas,” so let’s move on.

The last hand of poker to be played at O'Sheas.

It was a bittersweet gathering for the most ardent fans of O’Sheas, as well as for its diminutive mascot. The closing of O’Sheas marks the end of a 23-year run for the beloved watering hole known for its low table minimums, cheap hooch, quirky entertainment, cheap hooch, beer pong and, oh yeah, the occasional hooch.

Roulette chips are counted and boxed up.

A new O’Sheas will open as part of The Linq in 2013, of course, but that didn’t seem to matter to those who turned up for the original’s last fling. O’Sheas T-shirts and shot glasses were distributed liberally, and die-hard players wagered until the bitter end.

This was the last spin of the roulette wheel at O'Sheas. We kind of don't want it to stop, and thanks to animated .gif technology, it doesn't have to.

Everywhere one turned, there was a last something. A last spin of the roulette wheel. A last hand of blackjack. A last hand of Strip Poker. (Because it’s played near The Strip. Why, what were you thinking?) A last game of beer pong. A last roll of the dice. (It was a seven. Isn’t it always?)

This blog is going to miss you most, O'Sheas craps table.

Fans also signed a memory wall. This blog feared it would be ruined because some nimrod scrawled his name across it during the casino’s final weekend, but there were so many more signatures that followed it, the new ones obscured the irksome one almost entirely. A photo of the wall will be installed in the new O’Sheas, a wink to the past and all the guests that has made O’Sheas so utterly unforgettable.

That's a lot of O'Sheas love.

It was gratifying to see such a genuine outpouring of love for O’Sheas during its waning moments. At one point, we calculated Lucky was being hugged at a rate of eight times per minute.

This blog is a big fan, Lucky.

Lucky got a little weepy right about the time this blog did, just before the doors closed and the “Caution” tape went up.

"Remodeling" should probably be in quotation marks.

That’s because O’Sheas was more than a casino. It had heart and character and an energy you can’t manufacture. And did we mention the cheap hooch?

Lucky will be fine! We just did this in black in white for dramatic effect.

Sure, change is good. But we get to grieve a little for a lost friend, too, right?

Here’s to the good times, the crazy times, the times we’re sort of glad we can’t quite remember. Here’s to O’Sheas.

The game of poker lost a legend, “Amarillo Slim” Preston, on April 29, 2012, at the age of 83.

The five-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner was one of the pioneers of modern-day poker, including raising the game’s visibility through media appearances (including 11 guest spots on “The Tonight Show”) and his colorful personality.

Amarillo Slim once bet someone that a cat could pick up a Coke bottle, and once beat daredevil Evel Knievel in golf using a carpenter's hammer.

Among his many accomplishments, Preston won the World Series of Poker Main Event in 1972. He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1992.

There was even a song written in his honor.

Read more about this WSOP champ and pop culture icon on the official World Series of Poker site, and listen to a radio interview with “Amarillo Slim.”

They just don’t make ‘em like Slim anymore.

You just never know when Lady Luck’s going to slip into something more comfortable and give up the goods.

She was in an especially generous mood on March 21, 2003. That was the day the largest Las Vegas slot machine jackpot ever was paid, on a Megabucks machine at Excalibur, for $39,713,982.25.

The 25-year-old who won, for a $100 investment, will get  a cool $1.5 million a year until he’s 50.

This blog actually does have dreams about slot machine jackpots sometimes. We should probably have that looked at.

Here’s another interesting Vegas slot jackpot story you may not have heard before.

In 1987, a Vegas visitor from Arkansas, Kirk Erickson, hit a jackpot for $1,061,812 on a “Million Dollar Baby” machine at Caesars Palace. Unfortunately, he was just 19 at the time, and because he was underage (the legal age to gamble in Las Vegas is 21), the jackpot was invalid. He sued, but the court ruled against him in 1989.

This is it. The last hurrah for O’Sheas. The bawdy, boisterous casino closes at noon April 30, 2012.

In honor of O’Sheas closing, this blog thinks its mascot, Lucky the Leprechaun, deserves his own meme.

We’ll get things started.

We're just floating an idea here.

Here’s the original version of the photo in case you’d like to muck with it. Not sure what a meme is? Immediately exit your cave and read this.

Yes, we know this isn’t how memes start. We don’t care. Just have some fun and play along.

Fact.

To help with your meme image, visit Quickmeme.com. Choose “Make a Meme,” then “Upload New Meme.” Upload the photo of Lucky, then just add the funny. Post it somewhere (on Facebook, Twitter, wherever) and let us know where it is so we can check it out.

The longer you wait to join this meme, the more dumb jokes this blog's going to make.

Show Lucky some love!

Bust out your Impact font and do your worst (or best). Keep it clean! Oh, wait, it’s O’Sheas. Nevermind. Do whatever you want.

Share a link to your altered photo in the Comments section and if you make the cut, we’ll share your work with the world. It’ll be like fame, just without the groupies.

Cee Lo Green, singer of one of this blog’s favorite songs of all time, “F**k You” (but without the asterisks), took part in a news conference at Caesars Palace today (Apr. 27, 2012) where something was announced. Probably.

Charisma, Cee Lo's got.

We think it had something to do with the Billboard Music Awards, but honestly, we were distracted by the “Jubilee!” showgirls from Bally’s Las Vegas.

See? Not our fault.

We kind of remember a mention of the fact Cee Lo Green will perform at the upcoming Billboard Music Awards. The star-studded ceremony will take place in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 20, for broadcast on ABC.

Green kind of stole the show when he appeared in 2011.

During the whole news conference, we couldn’t seem to get “F**k You” out of our head. Which certainly doesn’t help, remembering-wise.

We do have a vague memory of Green working the crowd a little.

We’re fairly sure Green mentioned something about his upcoming residency at Planet Hollywood. He must have said something about that.

News conferences can be draining. They can also lead to serious HR violations.

We don’t recall him saying he’s on “The Voice,” but he is. He might have mentioned his gig at 1OAK (“One of a Kind”) nightclub at the Mirage (Apr. 27), but we don’t think so.

Again, we blame the showgirls.

Would you rather we have taken notes or this photograph? Exactly.

The former mayor of Las Vegas, Oscar Goodman, also kind of distracted us at the news conference, mainly because he was drinking a martini at 10:00 a.m. It’s kind of his thing.

We love the guy. We can't help it.

Anyway, that’ll have to suffice for now.

Find out more about the Billboard Music Awards on the official site, and mark your calendar for Cee Lo Green’s stint at Planet Hollywood starting Aug. 29, 2012.

They’re like a swift kick to the groin. But, you know, in a good way.

The Bloody Marys at Mon Ami Gabi restaurant at Paris Las Vegas are infamously fabulous.

If you haven't tried one, you might be doing Vegas wrong.

Mon Ami Gabi is so serious about Bloody Marys, in fact, they even have the only Bloody Mary Bar we know of on the Las Vegas Strip.

Told you they're serious.

Mon Ami Gabi, by the way, translates as “My friend talks a lot.” Or, alternatively, we just made that up. We are a Las Vegas blog, not a Francophile. Whatever that might be.

Great drinks, photogenic food and some of the best people-watching in town.

What’s not to love about Mon Ami Gabi at Paris?

Here’s today’s random photo of Las Vegas. Recognize this spot?

It's not a contest. The answer is below.

This shot was taken at the fountain next to Trevi restaurant in the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace.

“Trevi,” by the way, means “three ways,” which seems oddly appropriate for Sin City, if you know what we’re saying. However, “Trevi” in this case refers to the fountain the restaurant was named after, which was built in Rome at the intersection of three streets.

The fountain outside Trevi restaurant isn’t a replica of the Trevi fountain, by the way. It’s the Fountain of the Gods. The Trevi fountain replica can be seen outside the Forum Shops on its east-facing, or Las Vegas Boulevard side (see below).

If you can't find a statue to love at Caesars Palace, you've lost your marbles. Or, technically, marble.

What’s the best thing about Trevi restaurant according to this blog? The gelato stand right outside. Simply not optional during a Vegas visit. Trust us, your uvula will thank you. Or something.

The hours until the closing of O’Sheas may be growing fewer (the beloved casino closes at noon on April 30, 2012), but if you move quickly, even if O’Sheas is gone, it won’t be forgotten.

We just learned O’Sheas has issued limited-edition (just 3,000 were produced) gaming chips commemorating the end of an era on the Strip.

Chip collectors, like this blog, lose their gourd over stuff like this.

The $5 chips, “Celebrating 23 Great Years,” haven’t been put into circulation, so you’ll need to visit the casino’s cashier cage to get one. Collectible chips like this don’t tend to last long at face value, so you’d better move it!

In other news, the entirely awesome Lucky the Leprechaun (real name: Brian Thomas), the mascot of O’Sheas, had a live online chat with his fans today, and we were there!

O'Sheas fans love them some Lucky.

Lucky assured his legions of fans that he’s not going anywhere. The next iteration of O’Sheas will be part of the $550 million dollar Linq project, an entertainment, retail and dining corridor set to open in 2013. Read more.

When asked by a chat participant how you close a casino like O’Sheas, Lucky responded, “With lots of police.” Nice!

Of course, all work and no play makes Lucky a dull boy, so he took advantage of the Flamingo Go Room (O’Sheas doesn’t have rooms) where the online chat was held.

Please note: This blog is not liable for injuries sustained while jumping on Las Vegas hotel beds.

Lucky’s going to be busy as the final days of O’Sheas tick by. He’s going to be working noon to midnight each day during the casino’s final weekend.

The “Final Countdown” celebration begins in earnest on April 28, starting at noon. Guests will be able to get discounted memorabilia and drink specials galore, and live entertainment will also be on tap.

Guests can be a part of O’Sheas history by signing a memory wall which will be photographed with Lucky and placed in the new O’Sheas inside the Linq.

Construction on the Linq is in full swing, a fact we confirmed by grabbing this pic from atop the monorail platform behind Imperial Palace. Yes, we had to purchase a monorail ticket, so, technically, this photo cost us $5. You’re welcome.

Vegas doesn't do anything on a small scale. Except Lucky. Wait, that didn't come out right.

There is so much going on with the Linq project, we can’t even keep up!

For example, an entire poker room at Imperial Palace is gone as of today. Well, not gone, moved (to near the hotel’s sports book). Nevertheless, the new wall pictured below seemed to go up overnight.

What just happened? The site of the former Imperial Palace poker room. Linq, you'd better be awesome, because you're creating some havoc on the Strip.

We couldn’t resist strolling through O’Sheas again. Especially because April 26 is National Pretzel Day. And the food court at O’Sheas, you know, sells pretzels. Don’t try to make sense of it. We’re very emotional about O’Sheas closing at the moment.

Yes, we'll even miss you, giant, dusty pretzel replica.

We’re also going to miss the lack of pretense at O’Sheas.

Which, given the photo below, may be the understatement of the last 23 years.

We're going to miss you, too, craps table duct tape.

So, yes, we have some mixed feelings about the demise of O’Sheas. If we can pull ourselves away from our gaming chip collection long enough, maybe we’ll add to our list of Things We’ll Miss When O’Sheas Closes.

Is this blog going to miss taking photos of little people in bath tubs? Oh, hell, yes.

Share your O’Sheas memories on the casino’s official Facebook page, and we’ll see you at O’Sheas. Actually, we’ll probably see three of you, but you know what we mean. It’s O’Sheas.

Here’s today’s random Sin City photo we don’t exactly remember taking from atop the Eiffel Tower at Paris Las Vegas.

This blog wants to lick you, Las Vegas, plain and simple.

Such a dinky little photo really doesn’t do the south half of the Las Vegas Strip justice, so this blog is donating a larger version of the image to your computer for possible use as one of those desktop background image thingys. Click here for the 1600×1200 pixel version.

And just in case you have one of those new-fangled third generation iPads, this 2048×1536 pixel version might test whether these gadgets are “retinalutionary” after all. Let us know how it looks! Remember, we are not a professional photographer. We are a blog. We still think it’s pretty.

The fetching cast of Flamingo’s X Burlesque show celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the saucy show in Las Vegas with a party at Pure inside Caesars Palace on April 24, 2012.

This is how people in Las Vegas nightclubs look. Exactly like this. Every single one. All the time. We swear.

Thanks to Al Powers for the pic.

This anniversary marks the topless revue’s fifth year at Flamingo Las Vegas. It began its Vegas run at the Aladdin, now called Planet Hollywood.

When “X Burlesque” opened in 2002, it was called just “X.” Producers felt a clearer name was needed after several unfortunate incidents involving pirates looking for buried treasure. (We may have made that last part up.)

Yes, we forced ourselves to see this show. For research purposes. The things we do for you.

Among the props used during the show’s fantasy sequences: Bathtubs, guitars, lollipops and feather boas. So, yeah, pretty much a typical night in Vegas.

Just click on this photo to view the topless version. Really. That's totally possible. Just keep clicking. We'll wait.

Read more about the history of “X Burlesque” at the Las Vegas Sun, or if you’re like this Las Vegas blog, and not a fan of “reading,” just look at our exclusive photo gallery we’ve been dying to find an excuse to share again.

There’s definitely been one degree of separation between Las Vegas and the TV juggernaut “Dancing With the Stars” lately.

On the April 23, 2012 episode, Imperial Palace headliners Human Nature joined the popular show for a Motown-themed blow-out.

Yes, this blog takes photos of its TV. Why, what do you do with your spare time?

The four freaky-talented members of Human Nature, Andrew Tierney, Toby Allen, Michael Tierney and Phil Burton, performed Motown-era hits throughout the show. They also took the opportunity to promote their new album, appropriately called, The Motown Album.

We want to get lighting like this for our cube at work.

Also featured in the Motown episode of “Dancing With the Stars” were music legends Smokey Robinson, Martha Reeves and The Temptations.

But mostly Human Nature, because they have a Las Vegas show.

The “Dancing With the Stars” connection to Las Vegas doesn’t stop there, of course. “Dancing With the Stars: Live in Las Vegas” is in the middle of a 12-week run at the Tropicana. Read more.

Las Vegas is also home to a genuine “Dancing With the Stars” champion, Donny Osmond. Donny Osmond’s disco ball trophy is actually on display in the lobby of Flamingo Las Vegas. Yes, we took a photo. This blog rocks it like that.

Las Vegas even has bling inside its bling.

Here’s some video of Donny Osmond just after he snagged his prize in Season 9.

Congrats to Human Nature for stepping it up and representing Las Vegas on “Dancing With the Stars.” Catch Human Nature live at Imperial Palace, in all their synchronized, harmonized glory.

No Las Vegas casino would be complete without playing cards. They’re used in blackjack and poker and a variety of other games, including Pai Gow poker, which in Chinese translates as “that card game this blog doesn’t understand because it may involve math.”

So, here’s a question about playing cards: Why are there 52 cards in a deck?

It's good to be the king.

Come to find out, many believe our modern decks of cards can be tied to astrology. The four suits, for example, are said to represent the four seasons. Not The Jersey Boys, the other four seasons. Please try and stay focused.

The 13 cards of each suit represent 13 months of the lunar new year. A lunar month (“sidereal lunar month” to be precise) has 28 days, so if you multiply 13 months by 28 days, you get 364, which is the number of days in a year in something called the positivist calendar. (It’s actually 364 plus a festival day commemorating the dead, for a total of 365.)

You may have already figured out that our 52-card decks are related to the fact a year has 52 weeks.

For the record, this blog still hates math.

The weight of an average playing card is 0.063 of an ounce. You'll win a bar bet with that one some day.

Here’s a bonus trivia item about playing cards.

Ever wonder why the ace of spades gets special treatment in terms of its design?

The ace of spades is also known as the "spadille."

The fancy design got its start under the reign of James I of England.

He created a law requiring that an insignia (usually hand-stamped) appear on the ace of spades to prove payment of a tax by card manufacturers. That special tax existed in the U.K. until 1960, and the practice of putting an ornate spade symbol on the ace of spades stuck around.

Now you know!

Just because we don’t condone something doesn’t mean this blog isn’t going to share it!

Check out this clever Las Vegas keepsake.

No, we did not make this in Photoshop.

What makes this a Las Vegas keepsake, you ask? Do you always ask such impertinent questions?

Well, for your information, we found this item while roaming the Urban Outfitters store at The Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood.

Which is in Las Vegas.

You’re forgiven for your insolence.

If you still have “The Celebrity Apprentice” sitting on your Tivo, don’t read this blog post.

Spoiler: Rio Las Vegas headliner Penn Jillette was robbed! The taller half of “Penn & Teller” was fired from the popular reality show based largely upon the reaction to a slogan he proposed for a new Donald Trump cologne: “You earned it.” The slogan, which was approved by Project Manager Clay Aiken, was deemed “too pompous.”

Oh, please! “Too pompous” for Donald Trump?

Penn handled his firing with aplomb. This blog, less so.

Penn Jillette got the boot before former Miss Universe Dayana Mendoza, the most called-into-the-Boardroom contestant in the show’s history? Are they trying to make this blog’s head explode? Before Arsenio Hall? Teresa Giudice? Seriously? Penn Jillette is a creativity machine. (Need more proof? Go here.) You’re going to fire someone for brainstorming?

See a post-boot interview with Jillette on The Wendy Williams Show.

Just when this blog was ready to get all ranty up in here, we heard the Caesars Foundation, the charitable arm of Caesars Entertainment, has donated $250,000 (what Jillette would’ve won if he’d prevailed in “The Celebrity Apprentice”) to Jillette’s charity of choice on the show, Opportunity Village. This kind of calmed us down. For a minute, anyway.

It's hard to rant when you're smiling about good news.

Opportunity Village serves people with intellectual disabilities, and we’re a big fan. The donation from the Caesars Foundation will be used to support the programs of Opportunity Village, like vocational training and recreational services.

Jillette’s appearance on the show had already resulted in a $40,000 donation to the nonprofit.

So, all’s well that ends well. But, for the record, that don’t make it right, “The Donald.” In fact, this blog is no longer going to watch “The Celebrity Apprentice.” Until next week, anyway.

“Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding,” the interactive dinner theater show, is making a move from the V Theater at The Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood to Bally’s Las Vegas.

The show, which has been in Las Vegas since 2001, will open at Bally’s on June 1, 2012.

The wedding cake tradition comes from Roman times. Breaking a loaf of bread over a bride's head was believed to help with fertility. Seriously.

The last performance of “Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding” at the V Theater is May 26.

The always-unpredictable “Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding” will take up residence in the space formerly occupied by the Bally’s buffet, on the hotel’s second floor. (There’s still a buffet elsewhere at Bally’s, of course, the Sterling Brunch in the Bally’s Steakhouse.)

“Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding” is unique in that unlike traditional theatrical productions, it doesn’t take place on a stage. The show provides a wacky spin on Italian weddings, from the ceremony to the reception, and performers mingle with audience members throughout the evening. Cast members have a lot of leeway to improvise, which means audiences never get the same show twice.

Only remotely related: We love this cake topper you can get next door at Paris Las Vegas.

The show includes a full Italian dinner, which makes the former Bally’s buffet space especially convenient, as there’s a kitchen adjoining the room. The performance space will now be called the “Tony and Tina Room” in honor of the show. The new “Tony and Tina Room” has a great view of the Strip, by the way.

“Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding,” which we’re fairly sure should have an apostrophe in front of the “n,” too, has played in more than 40 American cities during its run.

Some facts we found interesting: Since opening in its original Las Vegas home at Rio Las Vegas (Feb. 14, 2001), “Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding” has served up 2.9 million glasses of champagne and 450,000 pounds of spaghetti. No, we did not do the math. We prefer to just parrot what publicists say. It frees up a lot of our time.

Thanks for giving us an excuse to share our awesome photo of Bally's Las Vegas again, Tony and/or Tina.

Brides and grooms may also want to note that couples who get married at any Caesars Entertainment hotel in Vegas get free admission to the show.

Now, that’s amore. Although we can’t be sure we used that word correctly. We are a Las Vegas blog, not an ethnologist.

We look forward to seeing this show again when it opens at Bally’s! We love us some Vegas newness. Oh, and wedding cake, of course.