If you're bald, weight 285 lbs. and have one arm in a cast, you're not exactly inconspicuous. So how was it that that such a hefty man was to infiltrate a VIP area of Planet Hollywood and bust into Peepshow headliner Kelly Monaco's suite? It gets weirder: Merrill Wetter was a long-term denizen of Planet Ho and had been 86'd last month for following a money cart around. And yet his reappearance on the 50th floor didn't raise any alarms, literally or otherwise. This new information suggests a serious lapse of security at Planet Ho, something that the Nevada Gaming Control Board might want to investigate.

April in Atlantic City. The numbers are out and they suck. Again. Unless you're Borgata, which was basically flat with April '08 -- a veritable triumph in this context. The Showboat didn't do too badly (-7%), pushing ahead of the larger Tropicana Atlantic City (-21%). However, another Harrah's Entertainment property, Bally's Atlantic City is way off last year's pace (-19% YTD) and risks joining the Dead Man Walking quartet of Trump Marina, Trump Plaza, the Hilton and Resorts.

The partial reinvention of Trump Taj Mahal continues to pay off, with gaming win down less than 1% through the first four months of the year. Don't you wish we had this kind of reporting transparency in Nevada?

Reid's smooth ride: Would-be GOP challengers to Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) are not only thin on the ground they're probably hearing casino-industry check books slam shut after the Senate Majority Leader jawboned banks on behalf of CityCenter and Fontainebleau. (It was a futile effort but, at this particular moment, that says more about the lending-averse banking industry than Reid.)

Party leaders say a "highly motivated" "strong GOP challenger" is out there and will emerge ... in five months or so. The only person shaking the money tree so far is former state legislator Sharron Angle. She'd rough Reid up, to be sure, but has an Achilles heel or two. To date she's been a single-plank candidate -- property taxes; not what you'd call a senatorial issue. Also, state GOP chairwoman Sue Lowden doesn't want a divisive primary ... and Angle was very divisive when she ran against Dean Heller (R-NV) three years ago for the congressional seat Heller now holds. She even tried to have the primary results overturned in court. But for now she's the only game in town.

Double duty: For the unforeseen future, I'll be spelling the estimable Dave Surratt as CityLife's theatre critic. First up is a show directed by Zumanity emcee Christopher Kenney. Called The Facts of Life: The Lost Episode it's ... it's ... well, it's different.