Give Them a Hand, Then Play a Hand?

You don’t need to wait for the Rolling Stones tour this fall to hear tumbling dice at Staples Center.

Craps, blackjack and roulette tables are now fixtures in the lobby of Staples and four other major Southern California concert venues and, while no cash changes hands, the gaming sites are all about big money. They are the result of a multimillion-dollar promotional deal by Vegas.com to remind music fans that the desert city is a short trip away.

The tables will be set up at most shows at Staples, Universal Amphitheatre, Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion and also at Coors Amphitheatre in San Diego. The tables are also in play at sporting events in the venues, including Los Angeles Laker and King games.

The “for-fun” gambling tables made their concert debut with the Alanis Morissette shows on May 3-4 at Universal Amphitheatre and drew curious stares and plenty of players at Paul McCartney’s high-profile visit to Staples on May 4.

The tables will be spreading to venues in other states late this summer, said Howard Lefkowitz, president of Vegas.com, which is a travel and entertainment guide to Las Vegas and is part of Greenspun Media Group. Vegas.com wants to become the online hub for tourists heading to the Nevada city and plans to pay millions more to concert industry powers for the opportunity to woo their audiences with Las Vegas imagery.

Southern California was a logical opening bet for Vegas.com. Surveys show that one in four visitors to Las Vegas hails from the Los Angeles area. “It’s a natural,” Lefkowitz said.

Not everyone is thrilled, including Tom Tucker, the executive director of the California Council on Problem Gambling, a Palm Springs-based nonprofit group.

“The first image comes to my mind is a crack dealer giving out drugs for free to school kids hoping they’ll get hooked,” Tucker said. “We’re not anti-gambling, but the more people that get exposed, the more it gets to people who have a problem. For most people it’s fun but we also have 2 million people in California who are problem gamblers. For them, things like this just get the juices flowing.”

But Lefkowitz presents the promotion as no more sinister than a poker game at a friend’s house. He said players must verify they are 21 or older and tables will be closed at shows aimed at children, such as “Sesame Street” musicals. They will, however, be open for teen-skewing acts, such as ‘N Sync or Britney Spears, where they might serve what Lefkowitz suggests is a somewhat captive audience.

“As a parent who has been to a lot of those shows, believe me, I would to have love to have been outside catching some cards,” Lefkowitz said.

Actually, the tables do not operate when performers are on stage. They also are sites for promoting the Web site and its special offers, which include giveaways and live entertainment access locally and in Las Vegas.

The promotion has caused some fans to think they’re already in the gambling oasis.

“There was this guy who walked up to one of the craps tables at Universal and threw down $1,000 in hundred-dollar bills out on the table,” said Lefkowitz. “We gave it right back to him.”