Category: Info Pics

As we see here from this photograph of Marilyn Monroe, there is a glamour and iconic aspect to casinos that goes back decades. From the likes of Frank Sinatra in the 60s to the likes of Matt Damon today, there is a draw, appeal and intertwining of these two worlds. Poker tournaments featuring celebrity figures are fascinating in their own right, and even the pure ‘splash the cash’ celebrities like Flloyd Mayweather, buy in to the tradition and image that being a high roller offers.

Well, this certainly isn’t what you expect when you’re living the high life and waiting for your number to come up on the roulette wheel, I’m not sure if he was doing building work, an attempted heist, or just someone to whom doors are an irrelevance but it was nice of this gentleman to ‘drop by’ never the less.

Though on the subject of Las Vegas crime, one of the most ‘interesting’ heists was the Circus Circus theft of 1993. $3 million dollars and an armoured truck had disappeared without trace. Surely all’s well that ends well for the thieves then, right? Well no, a decade on, Heather Tallchief, wracked with guilty about how role in the theft handed herself in to the authorities. The money however remains missing, said to be in the hands of her still at large boyfriend.

 

So many memorable images come out of Vegas. The glitz, glamour and $$$ are a huge draw for joe public, but also celebrities, as these images attest to. Elvis was Vegas through and through, and the Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin were iconic in their time. The photograph of Sean Connery here just oozes ‘cool’, and courtesy of the boxing connection to Vegas, we’re spoiled with this characterful photograph of Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard and Muhammad Ali pretending to duke it out.

A humorous depiction of dogs playing cards. I’m sure you’ll have noticed that there is quite some history to such comedic imagery involving cards playing cards, or poker or pool and the like. The original Dogs Playing Poker series of paintings were painted by American Artist Cassius Marcellus Coolidge over 100 ago, the first painting in 1894, followed by a series of 16 oil paintings in 1903, and one final 1910 paintings. 11 of the pictures featured dogs sat around a card table and these have very much become ubiquitous within households. Some see the images as someone kitsch, others, part of US culture.

The very first painting, Coolidge’s 1894 Poker Game, sold for $658,000 at a Sotheby’s sale in November 2015. To be honest, considering what art pieces often sell for, it’s doesn’t sound overly expensive!