Автор: genom

There are few more improbable places from which to start a revolution than the Casino de Paris, a late 19th-century music-hall where Maurice Chevalier, Josephine Baker and Zizi Jeanmaire once strutted their stuff. Thanks to a popular campaign led by a French-Italian actress, Annie Girardot, it narrowly escaped the developers’ wrecking ball, to be reinvented as an edgy-ish concert venue at the turn of the 21st century.
Perhaps it is hoped that the newly revamped Casino will serve as a clever metaphor for Nicolas Sarkozy’s political career: at any rate, the appearance of France’s former president there, last Friday, upstaged his very willing wife, Carla Bruni, for the first of her three shows. Slipping, supposedly inconspicuously, into a stall seat after everyone else had sat down, but before the lights went out and the music started, Sarkozy drew a roaring blast of applause, renewed at the intermission and during those songs Carla wrote just for him. “Nicolas, reviens!” his fans screamed in the hall, while a tanned, relaxed Sarkozy signed autographs smiling a lot and saying very little.
The feeling, said concert-goers, was that of his 2007 victorious campaign, rather than a defeated politician’s private outing. “His arrival was timed to perfection – at every show. And the entourage was watching out for him,” one said. “Well, you don’t expect Carla’s audience to be anti-Sarkozy anyway.”
Coming, as it did, two weeks after a flattering television documentary on his 2012 campaign, in which he appeared as a loving husband, doting father and all-round domestic paragon, this was a second testing of the public waters by a very cagey Sarkozy, intent on toning down the personal image that cost him his job a year and a half ago. The personal has always been political, in France as elsewhere; but never more than for the most polarising president of the Fifth Republic.
A series of costly mistakes, starting the very evening of his election with a VIP dinner organised at Le Fouquet’s, a luxury restaurant on the Champs-Elysées, which was amplified by a short cruise on a billionaire friend’s yacht before his inauguration, stamped Sarkozy indelibly as “the bling president”, “friend to the rich”. Cellphone cameras did the rest, unhelpfully capturing his brusque, demotic style (“Get lost, you sad b—————d”, he famously told a heckler at the Paris Agricultural Fair) . When Sarkozy lost to the bland François Hollande last year, the feeling was that most of the 565,534 voters he lacked to win had been turned off by his personality, or their perception of it.

Two lucky Cincinnati residents each won $1million because they have the same name.
Kevin Lewis, both of them, were awarded a $1million prize after the Horseshoe Casino, in Cincinnati, OH., Saturday called their name as the winners of a promotion and failed to immediately realize the wrong Kevin Lewis' life was changed .
After realizing the wrong Kevin Lewis had claimed the prize, the casino decided to ‘do the right thing’ and pay both men.

And the winner is...: Kevin Lewis! Just, not this one, the other one

The real Kevin Lewis: This Kevin Lewis is the real winner, but the casino paid both men the prize
‘This was our blunder,’ Kevin Kline, casino senior vice president and general manager said in a statement. ‘So, consistent with our commitment to do the right thing for our guests, Horseshoe awarded a $1 million prize to each of the men.’
Awarded as part of a $3million Summer Giveaway promotion, when Kevin Lewis’ name was called and he appeared on-stage, he was awarded a giant check and took a picture with casino staff.

Manny Pacquiao is preparing for a visit to the typhoon-devastated city of Tacloban in the coming days, returning to the Philippines with his boxing career back on the upswing after an impressive victory over Brandon Rios.

Pacquiao said after his win at The Venetian casino in Macau on Sunday that he planned to travel to the epicenter of this month's Typhoon Haiyan, which killed more than 5,000 people and displaced an estimated 3 million.

"I promised them that after the fight I would go to Tacloban to visit them," Pacquiao said. "As soon as possible we will finalize the date, what day."

Despite the devastation, big screens were set up in the city's plaza to allow fans to watch Sunday's fight, and their spirits received a much-needed boost from the victory for the Filipino star.

When the storm hit, Pacquiao was already in a training camp at the southern city of General Santos, and while the boxer and lawmaker's first instinct was to go to the affected areas to help, he was talked out of it by trainer Freddie Roach and others who advised him that the best thing he could do for the nation's spirits was to win the fight.

"It was very difficult for me, I felt so bad for what happened," Pacquiao said after Sunday's fight. "I wanted to visit there but because of my training I could not, so I was just praying for them and sent my staff to bring them help.

"This fight is for the families and the people affected by the typhoon — I am just happy that God answered my prayer."

While Pacquiao dedicated the victory to his country, it also was a vitally important victory for personal reasons, restoring a career that appeared on the wane after consecutive losses and almost a year out of the ring.

The brutal nature of his knockout loss to veteran Juan Manuel Marquez last December had many questioning whether Pacquiao could get back to the status he enjoyed as one of the world's best fighters around the turn of the decade. He turns 35 next month.

Even trainer Freddie Roach had doubts, saying Pacquiao should retire if he did not win and win convincingly against Rios.

The doubts and the fears quickly subsided as Pacquiao started strongly against Rios in the opening couple of rounds, throwing his trademark combination punches from all angles at a speed that was as quick as ever.

Rios rallied in the third round, and landed some good blows that had the pro-Pacquiao crowd at a sold-out 13,000-seat Cotai Arena groaning and shrieking in anxiety.

Pacquiao reasserted his dominance and went on to a unanimous points victory, with the judges scoring it 120-108, 119-109, 118-110. The Associated Press scored it 119-109.

Roach said "there were no signs of him slowing down whatsoever" even though Pacquiao did not press home his dominance and still has not stopped an opponent since 2009.

Pacquiao said memories of the Marquez knockout were in his mind and he was cautious in the closing rounds, while Roach chalked it up to the "compassion" in his deeply Christian fighter.

"Manny let him off the hook, I wanted the knockout and it was there, but I was very happy with the way he performed," Roach said.

Promoter Bob Arum said Pacquiao's next fight was tentatively scheduled for April 12, likely in the United States. The options include a rematch with Timothy Bradley, who took a contentious points decision against the Filipino last year, another clash with Marquez although the Mexican's camp was setting a high price on a rematch, or Russian Ruslan Provodnikov.

The fight the boxing world wants to see is a clash with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Arum said it was still possible.

"I know it's a fight that should happen and where there is a will there is a way," Arum said, expressing his frustration that the fighters' conflicting affiliations continued to be an impediment. "If all sides cut out the crap, it can be done."

Even though Jeffrey Wright has won a Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe, and appeared in more than 35 films as one of the most versatile actors of his generation, he's far from a household name.

But he could care less.

Portraying painter Jean-Michel Basquiat in Julian Schnabel's 1996 biopic set the stage for other distinct performances for the 47-year-old Wright, like playing Colin Powell in "W," Muddy Waters in "Cadillac Records" and operative Felix Leiter in "Casino Royale."

And his varied dramatic skills prompted the makers of HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" to cast the Washington, D.C. native in the role of sinister Dr. Valentin Narcisse this season.

With his latest film, "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," setting box office records worldwide, Wright examined his career choices in a recent interview with The Associated Press.

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AP: How was it joining the established "Hunger Games" cast?

Wright: It's easier for me because I didn't have to take the risk on the first one. I didn't have to do the hard work of winning over this intensely passionate fan base. I got a chance to come in and surf their success. But that is a little concerning too because you want to come into a situation and add to the recipe. You don't want to be the guy who puts too much salt in this really wonderful dish.

AP: Some feel you are underrated and underexposed. What's your response?

Wright: I don't mind that I am not necessarily a household name because I think my characters have outshined me. That was by design. And I'm not wanting for appreciation. But for the past 10 years or so I kind of pumped the breaks on acting and have been intentionally doing smaller roles that didn't take me away from home for three months because I wanted to be with my son and daughter (Elijah, 12, and TK, 8, with wife Carmen Ejogo). Over the last couple of years I've started to go away and work a bit more.

AP: Do you feel people are re-discovering you through your character on "Boardwalk Empire?"

Wright: Yeah. They started writing one of the most interesting stories for me that I've ever been a part of. Then they started tailoring this madman to suit what I could bring to it. It's awesome, and we shoot most of it about five blocks away from my house in Brooklyn.

AP: What struggles do you face as an African-American man in Hollywood?

Wright: I don't really consider myself a black man in Hollywood. I live in Brooklyn ... and on purpose. At the most base level, what an actor represents to the film industry is an investment. Depending on the risk profile, an investor needs 1,000 reasons to commit and one reason not to. That means you've got to do more work on your own and that the machine is not going to necessarily do the blocking for you. The machine rarely accepted my code. That can be frustrating, but you just have to be aware.

AP: Out of all of the characters you've played, which is most like you?

Wright: I would probably say, although I am older now and I hope this doesn't sound pretentious, but Basquiat because I was that wild child in the city at one point who was trying to tell my story too.

AP: The bright orange socks you're wearing show you've still got edge.

Wright: I try to keep it lively! I consider Basquiat a kindred spirit, which is part of the reason I wanted to share some part of his story with a larger audience ... even though Jay-Z likes to say that he is the new Jean-Michel, we were telling that story 20 years ago. But I'm glad that he and folks who might not otherwise have taken a look at his work are now doing it.

When it comes to luck at the card table, 29-year-old David Hayes has it, hands down.

By day, he's a jewelry maker in Columbus, Ohio, earning a modest salary. By night, he's Fortune's favored son.

Watch the full story on "20/20: Got Luck?" TONIGHT at 10 p.m. ET.

His game: blackjack. His winning percentage: freakishly good. When he goes to casinos, he wins thousands.

"We're talking five, six figures generally when I play," Hayes said in an interview with "20/20" correspondent Deborah Roberts. "I walk out with ten or twenty [thousand]."

Even more frustrating for the casinos, he never cheats or counts cards, he said.

"It's just pure luck," he said.

"20/20" tested Hayes' luck during a recent trip to New York.

After half an hour playing a mock blackjack game, Roberts was bust and Hayes was up $5,000.

In another quick test of his luck, Hayes bought two scratch-off lotto tickets. He won $10 on a $5 ticket.

Last October, Hayes visited Hollywood Casino Columbus with Nick, his gambling buddy (who asked that his last name not be used).

After a five-hour run of luck, Hayes was riding high.

"People were all around me cheering, seeing me bet their whole month's salary in one thirty-second move," Hayes said. "I had stacks of thousand-dollar chips.... I didn't realize how much I had actually won until I cashed out."

He'd won $35,800. Then his luck turned.

Hayes said that when he went to the cashier's cage to claim his winnings, the cashier wouldn't give him a check, which is customary for large winnings.

"That's when I knew that something quite wasn't right," Hayes said. "I asked her three times about getting a check. ... I was forced to take cash."

The cashier put 358 hundred-dollar bills into a manila envelope, stapled it up the sides and wrote "EMPLOYEE FILE" on it, Hayes said.

Then something else struck him as odd.

"The management asked me, 'Do you feel comfortable taking this much money home?'" Hayes said. Security video exclusively obtained by "20/20" shows a security guard approach and speak to him. "I said, No, but -- I [didn't] have a choice. But my brother's home, and I'm sure he's got his gun, so I'm not really worried."

A security guard escorted Hayes to his car, and Hayes drove home nervously.

By 6 a.m., Hayes was home. His brother was not there.

"I took the money out, you know, just holding it, thinking, That's my year's salary right there."

As he dozed off, three men entered the house through an unlocked back door and headed up the stairs.

"The next thing I know, I see people," Hayes said. "All fully masked, [dressed] in black. Ski masks, gloves, everything. The only thing I could really see was around the eyes. One was a thinner white gentleman, one was kind of a well-built black gentleman, and he was the one with the gun."

"It took a good three to four seconds to realize this isn't a joke," he continued. "I immediately saw the revolver, he took his other hand and pushed me back into the bed, put the gun to my head. And that's when he started asking me about my brother, and that's when I realized this is real."

After ransacking the room, they took the brick of cash from the nightstand.

"I actually had to point it out to them, because they were getting pretty insistent on where the money was. I think they were actually looking for the envelope, 'cause they had probably seen me with the envelope."

"They ran out, or at least I thought they did," Hayes went on. "And then about maybe 15 to 20 seconds later ... I feel the gun pressed up against my head again. He goes, 'I'm still here.'"

A Florida psychic has put a nasty new spin on the phrase "gambling with fate."

Stephanie Thompson, 23, of Lighthouse Point, Fla., was arrested after she was accused of taking $115,000 from a woman to remove a "curse" -- but instead gambled away some of the money, police said.

Thompson was taken into custody Tuesday and charged with grand theft and organized fraud, more than a year after police first questioned her for swindling a Boca Raton, Fla., woman's money.

The 30-year-old victim told Boca Raton police in September 2012 that Thompson, who has also used the name Stephanie Lee, convinced her to hand over $115,000, of which she would return $90,000, so that she could take a "curse" off of the victim and also off the money. The victim said Thompson told her she had to give her the money, which she had received from her mother, "so she could clean it," according to police.

The victim told police that from May to August last year, she would go with Thompson to various bank branches to withdraw the cash in small amounts, so as not to raise suspicion, police said. Thompson allegedly told the victim that if she told anyone about the scheme, all of Thompson's work would be "erased," according to police.

"Thompson told her that she could get the same cancer that her mother had if she did not go through with this and [the victim] stated she believed her," Officer Karl Leonard wrote in a Boca Raton police report.

As the victim was telling a police officer her story last year, she received a call from a woman who said she was Thompson, according to the report. The two agreed to meet, and the officer came along, where he confronted Thompson, the report said.

In a CVS parking lot, Thompson told the officer she had gambled away some of the money at a casino, according to the report. In all, the victim said she lost $109,700, police said.

Thompson's attorney, Alison Gilman, told police after an October 2012 meeting with them that "she was unable to resolve this issue," the report states. A warrant was then put out for Thompson's arrest, Officer Sandra Boonenberg, of the Boca Raton Police Department, told ABC News.

Thompson posted $40,000 bond early Wednesday morning, authorities said. A date for her next court hearing had not yet been set, Kathy Burstein, a spokeswoman for the Palm Beach County Clerk and Controller's Office, told ABC News.

Attempts to reach Thompson were unsuccessful. Gilman did not return a message seeking comment.

A message left at a number listed for The Psychic Tea Room, where police said Thompson met the victim, was not returned. The victim did not return a call seeking comment.

"We've had some other reported incidents with psychics and stuff like this, but we don't have any other cases against this particular defendant," Boonenberg said. "I don't believe we have any other psychic-related cases at this point."