Here’s today’s thing you might not know about Las Vegas: The Stardust was the first hotel in Sin City to add a sports book to its casino.

We found this photo in our personal photo album. We loved the Stardust.

In a spectacularly bone-headed move (at least in retrospect), the Stardust was imploded on March 13, 2007.

The college basketball championships are right around the corner, so it’s time for this blog to do some skillful trademark dodging!

Get ready for the “College Men’s Basketball Division Championships Hoops Frenzy Extravaganza” in Las Vegas. Or something! Look, we already spend enough time in the company of lawyers, so just go with it.

Whatever you call it, it’s all happening March 15-18, 2012 and the Vegas Strip is always bursting with basketball fever during the “Giant Waltz” (not trademarked, yet, phew).

This blog is currently in the process of trademarking the color orange.

Several Las Vegas hotels in the Caesars Entertainment family have conveniently slapped together a number of basketball-related party packages perfect for hoops fans. Take a look.

Rest assured, there will be 1) hooch, 2) grub, and 3) viewing of college basketball games on screens larger than the average Las Vegas self-parking garage.

Don’t wait until the last minute to make your college hoops championship plans. Because that’s not like you. At all. Ever. Ahem.

Some of the biggest names in NASCAR shut down the Las Vegas Strip on Dec. 1, 2011 to show off their flashy rides in conjuntion with Champions Week, an annual race ritual that calls Sin City home.

NASCAR fans got to see their heroes up close. And, you know, briefly.

Drivers taking part in a celebratory “Victory Lap” down the Strip were: Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Brad Keselwoski and Denny Hamlin.

Today's free brain teaser: Where's Woody?

The drivers started their “victory lap” outside The Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood, made their way north to Spring Mountain Road, then returned along the same route, stopping for some donuts along the way. (Hint: Not the glazed kind. Although, speaking of donuts…)

Sorry, this blog just likes horsies.

During the Las Vegas Boulevard loop made by the thundering race cars, driver Ryan Newman set his car aflame during a “burn-out” and had to be given a push by fellow driver, Kyle Busch (see below).

Awk-ward.

After the victory lap event, fans were treated to The Stewie Awards representing the best, boldest and funniest moments of the NASCAR season. The awards were given out by 2011 Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart. Read more.

Nice product placement, Planet Hollywood!

Get all the blistering, hammer down, downforce, clipping, hairpin (and other terms we don’t know the meaning of) details about NASCAR’s Champions Week here.

Here’s our exclusive photo gallery of the NASCAR Victory Lap event. Note: Our photos would be much better if these NASCAR drivers didn’t insist on “moving” all the time.

Just because we have no idea what language these guys are speaking doesn’t mean we can’t share this video. We think it might be sports-related.

We do know one of these guys, Todd Fuhrman, is the Senior Race and Sports Book Analyst for Caesars Palace.

Todd's the one on the left who keeps saying, "When the worm turns."

Our second favorite phrase from this video: “Fluctuating their unit size.”

See? There. We blog about sports sometimes. Probably.

We tend to know everything about Las Vegas. (Actual results may vary.)

But the other day, wandering aimlessly around the Imperial Palace, we discovered something we’d never seen before: The hotel’s Race & Sports Book. We figured there must be one, somewhere. But we had no idea whatsoever it would be like this.

We never expected this. Did you?

To put it in technical terms, our brain nearly exploded. It’s massive. How does all that Race & Sports Book fit inside the Imperial Palace?

The seats seem to go on forever, like a (wait for it) sports stadium.

Holy sweet mother of Zenyatta, this is unexpectedly awesome.

The IP’s Race & Sports Book has more than 240 televisions in the race book area alone. Yes, we counted every single one of them. Probably.

So, the next time you’re in the Imperial Palace, check out this hidden Las Vegas gem.

If you don't love that carpeting, you don't love Las Vegas, plain and simple.

It’s not all shiny and new-fangled like some other Race & Sports Books, but you can bet it’ll be a pleasant, unpretentious surprise.

See what we did there? “You can bet.” Because you place bets. It’s a casino. That, dear friends, is how you win blogger awards.

Boxing great Sugar Ray Leonard schmoozed with fans at a book signing inside Caesars Palace on Sep. 17.

He posed for photos and autographed his new book, “The Big Fight: My Life In and Out of the Ring.”

It takes years of experience to convincingly pretend to sign a book for a photo op.

Thanks to David Becker for the pic.

More than 200 guests took part in the meet-and-greet at the resort’s famed Race and Sports Book. Ironic, since Sugar Ray Leonard was signing a book. Unless that’s not technically ironic. But it’s something, trust us.

Bonus sports book fact: There are about 150 licensed sports books in the United States. All of them are in Nevada casinos.

Bonus boxing fact: Yes, it’s called a boxing “ring” even though it’s square. That’s because in the early days of the sport, boxers fought in a circle drawn on the floor. Now you know.

Specifically, what the hell just happened?

Yeah, we should have put "in-depth" in quotation marks.

Thanks to Tom Donoghue for the great pic.

Legendary boxer Sugar Ray Leonard is set to square off with fans at a book-signing in the Caesars Palace Race & Sports Book (next to Pure Nightclub) on Sep. 17, noon to 2:00 p.m.

We could take him.

Leonard will sign his new autobiography, “The Big Fight: My Life In and Out of the Ring.”

Bonus Sugar Ray Leonard trivia: His real name is Ray Charles Leonard. Bonus bonus trivia: He was the first boxer to earn more than $100 million in purses.

Learn more about the famed Caesars Palace Race & Sports Book.

There are a good many things this Las Vegas blog does not know.

It does not know what an IBA is. It does not know what a “cruiserweight” is. It also isn’t sure it knows what a “haymaker” is.

But one thing this blog knows is a good deal when it sees one!

With our super-secret code (CB241) you can get 2-for-1 tickets to a boxing extravaganza at the pavilion ballrooms inside Rio Las Vegas on Apr. 1. That’s two tickets for $53.50 to the IBA Main Event Cruiserweight Championship of the Americas. Find out more.

Wait for it.

Again, use code CB241 for the hook-up.

Oh, and we don’t entirely know where the pavilion ballrooms are at Rio Las Vegas. But for a sweet $25 in savings, you’ll probably figure it out.

Las Vegas isn’t just the best place to play your favorite casino games, it’s also the place where new games are born!

Just a few days ago, a new table game, 3 Dice Football, hit the casino floor at O’Sheas on the Strip. O’Sheas is the only casino in the world that has this fun new game.

There's something great about a new felt layout. Thanks, 3 Dice Football.

The new 3 Dice Football at O’Sheas is a mix of three very popular things in Las Vegas: 1) Craps. 2) Sports. 3) Liquor. Granted, that last item is less related to 3 Dice Football than the game’s being at O’Sheas, but let’s not get bogged down by details.

Football fans will feel right at home.

Because this blog has so much Vegas mojo, we actually bumped into the game’s inventor, Jamie Abrahamson, at O’Sheas, so we cajoled him (translation: asked politely) into giving us his thoughts on the new game.

“I’ve always felt there should be a football-themed game in the casino,” says Abrahamson. “I think football partners itself perfectly with dice. 3 Dice Football a simple game to learn, so it’s accessible. Players can identify with the football theme, and in Vegas, football is a huge draw. People like to throw dice but are sometimes intimidated by craps.”

Security nearly tackled us trying to get this photo. See what we did there?

You don’t have to know football to enjoy 3 Dice Football, but it doesn’t hurt.

The basic bet is either for or against a touchdown, much like Pass and Don’t Pass in craps.

Three dice are used in the game, which is a fun twist for craps players, since tossing three dice in craps is often frowned upon by security. Two of the dice are green (representing positive yardage) and one red (negative yardage). Dice rolls advance the “football” down the field toward a touchdown. The green dice are added up and the red is deducted.

Adds the inventor, “There’s quite a bit of math involved in developing a game like this. I wanted to create a format that wouldn’t take too many rolls for an outcome. The average expected rolls per ‘game’ [before a result] is just under four, much like the downs in football. I also wanted to make sure the main bets come up as close to 50% as possible.”

There are tons of side (or proposition) bets to keep things interesting.

Of course, there are a good number of side (or “prop,” short for “proposition”) bets for variety and more action, called “Single Play Bets” in the game. Single play bets include things like “Trips TD” (all three dice match), which pays 33-to-1, or “No Gain” (if zero yards are gained), which pays 5-to-1 and the monster prop bet “Turnover,” which pays 66-to-1. A turnover occurs when a red 6 is rolled with either a green 1-1 or a green 1-2. Get more details.

From what we witnessed during our O’Sheas visit, 3 Dice Football is already winning over lots of die-hard fans. One player confided, “I love it. I played eight hours yesterday.” Some unsolicited love is always nice when you’re trying to launch a new casino game!

If you'd like to try 3 Dice Football, look for the schnazzy video monitor.

“We’re thrilled to see people are enjoying it so much,” says Abrahamson. “They’re really getting into it. As the inventor, it’s everything I could have hoped for.”

The game, “six years in the making,” according to Abrahamson, is a joint effort between FremantleMedia Enterprises (the “American Idol” and Price is Right Live folks), gaming specialists TCS John Huxley and Abrahamson.

Yes, actually, popcorn and hot dogs are available in the O'Sheas food court. It's a sports thing.

Read more about 3 Dice Football, a new game exclusively at O’Sheas Las Vegas.

British singer Matt Goss, currently wooing audiences at Caesars Palace, will host a World Cup soccer viewing party on Jun. 12. It’s free and open to the public.

Fans will gather to watch their favorite teams go head-to-head. The event will also include Matt Goss show ticket giveaways, drink specials and a chance to win a grand prize private party in a Caesars Palace or Planet Hollywood luxury suite.

Doors open at 9:00 a.m., with the featured game at 11:30 a.m., England vs. USA.

Read more about the viewing party. Here’s some video of Matt Goss on local TV.

We roam sometimes. Into casinos. Into lounges. Into restaurants. The other day, we wandered into the Playing Field Race & Sports Book at Planet Hollywood.

It’s like walking into your living room. Well, the living room you’d have if you had dozens of mammoth TV screens and non-stop beverage delivery.

The unassuming Monique is one of the Beverage Facilitation Specialists (not a real title) at Planet Hollywood's understated sports book.

If you haven’t dropped by this intimate little bastion of sports and libation, uh, what’s the hold up? Playoff season ain’t gonna last forever.

In honor of the college hoops mayhem sweeping through Las Vegas (and the country, come to think of it), NBA legends James Worthy and Clyde Drexler will be signing autographs, schmoozing fans and giving away some cash on the Strip this weekend.

Several lucky Total Rewards (the Harrah’s Entertainment player loyalty program) and Planet Hollywood A-List guests (the loyalty program of Planet Hollywood, until Apr. 1, when Planet Hollywood will become a Total Rewards destination), will be chosen to compete at a Flamingo’s Tailgate party for a share of $5,000 in cash.

A hoops-themed decorative touch outside the Sports Book at Bally's. Because we needed a photo for this post.

Guests who sign up for a Total Rewards Card or A-List Card through March 20, 2010 will receive one entry into the “Hoops with the Stars” drawing. In addition, existing Total Rewards members who earn 50 Base Reward Credits in one day will receive an additional drawing ticket. All drawing tickets can be picked up from Total Rewards prior to 3:00 p.m. on Mar. 20. 

Autograph sessions are open to the public, and scheduled (Mar. 20) with James Worthy and Clyde Drexler at Planet Hollywood (The Mezz Level), 1-2:00 p.m.; and 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. at Flamingo (Showroom entrance).

Also on Saturday, the “Hoops With the Stars” event happens at 3-4:00 p.m. in the street between Flamingo and O’Sheas, then the drawing takes place 4-5:00 p.m., including games with Worthy and Drexler.

Get into the game! It’s your chance to play “Hoops With the Stars” and maybe even take home some moolah.

Don’t get us started about why we can’t call this weekend’s football-championship-extravaganza-event-spectacular by its actual name. It’s a lawyer thing!

Anyway, we found this pretty comprehensive list of “Big Game” parties. Enjoy.

In the realm of sports betting, a 3-to-1 odds bet is called a “carpet” bet (or “tres” bet). Now you know.