Las Vegas Weekly

December 14, 2008 · 11:34 AM

Photo Gallery: Carmen Electra makes her debut as a Playboy Club blackjack dealer

By Robin Leach

Carmen Electra as a guest Playboy Bunny at The Playboy Club at the Palms.

Photo: Scott Doctor/www.greatscottstudios.com

Three-time Playboy cover girl Carmen Electra’s biggest fear as she dealt blackjack last night at George Maloof’s Playboy Club at the Palms was that she’d “spill” out of her waist-cinching bunny costume.

“I won’t spill drinks,” she told me, “ because I’ve learned how to do the Bunny Dip. I won’t fall down because I’ve learned how to do the Bunny Perch. But this is so tight around my waist, I am worried about my boobs spilling out!

“It’s such a sexy costume, so cinched around the middle to emphasize my cleavage, that I had to refuse dinner before going to work. If I’d eaten a celery stick, I couldn’t have squeezed into it -- so I’ll wait on dinner until afterwards! It’s so tight, I couldn’t zip myself into it -- I had to get one of the other Bunnies up to my room to help me.”

Carmen told me she’d spent a full day of on-duty dealer training to get her certification with the Nevada Gaming Commission after a weeklong study session. “I’m not a gambler, but I can count and I do want everybody to win and have a good time,” she added while lined up with all the other Bunny dealers for inspection before going out on the floor.

In fact, fans and players were lined up 10 deep waiting to sit at her blackjack table for the two hours of celebrity Bunny dealing. The only other actress to have previously donned the rabbit ears and the cottontail is Jenny McCarthy.

The 36-year-old beauty’s promotional game playing was tied into the January release of the 55th anniversary Playboy magazine, in which she’s featured on the cover and inside with an eight-page, top-to-toe nude pictorial. It’s her fifth shoot inside the pages and her third appearance on the cover. The pint-size, Cincinnati-born sex goddess first appeared in Playboy in May 1996 when she arrived in Hollywood as a 23-year-old to seek stardom!

Fiance Rob Patterson, former Korn guitarist, gave his approval of Carmen’s outrageously sexy outfit -- and so did Palms owner George Maloof! They both posed for our exclusive Playboy Club photos with Carmen as a Playboy photographer and video camera crew hovered nearby.

Photo: Scott Doctor/www.greatscottstudios.com

Carmen Electra with fiance Rob Patterson, former Korn guitarist, at The Playboy Club at the Palms.

Previously, Carmen has been married to or romantically linked to basketball bad boy Dennis Rodman, drummer Tommy Lee and guitar rocker Dave Navarro!

“This is a really fun night!” she exclaimed. “I think every girl has a healthy, fun stripper fantasy within her. This brings it out. Over the decades, Playboy has given women the permission to celebrate their sexuality. I’m proud to be a part of this legacy of beauty and power. They made it possible to be completely comfortable and confident in all aspects of being a woman.”

Carmen demonstrated both the Bunny Dip and the Bunny Perch for me. She nested on the arm of my fireside chair there for our exclusive Vegas DeLuxe interview:

“I learned how to do the dip -- when Bunnies were serving cocktails, you wouldn’t want to spill the drinks or the goodies -- so we learn how to turn and dip. I had to get the Bunny Perch down, too, in case I have to sit down from standing so long in the heels. To be honest, I prefer to stay up.

Photo: Scott Doctor/www.greatscottstudios.com

Carmen Electra and Palms honcho George Maloof.

“It took a lot of help to get into this costume. The ears and the tail were the easy part. There’s no way you can zip yourself into this tiny little thing. It really is made to tighten around the waist and put the boobs out there. Certainly did for me! It’s hard to breathe, and I can feel it wrapped right around my ribs!

“I also learned how to be a blackjack dealer. I did the course, and for me it was more about the steady flow of the cards and dealing them. Luckily, I have a few of the other girls with me to help because I know the players take their gambling very seriously. I want everybody to win tonight. I’m walking into a totally new situation for me, so I want the players to win and have a good time.

“I feel so privileged to be on the cover of the 55th anniversary issue of Playboy and celebrating that here at the Palms. I don’t look at it dispelling the myth of being over 30 or being petite yet powerful. Playboy has supported me since my first pictorial, and I was honored when I received the call to be on this special-edition cover.

“To me it was more about the excitement of being here and having a Bunny costume and being a part of the 55th year. Playboy is fun and lighthearted and playful, and that’s what I like about it. It’s all very freeing to take your clothes off. I started my career taking my clothes off. For a while, there was too much cleavage, and I had to start covering up. Now it was time again to take it all off and show it off again!

“I have no worries or embarrassment about being bareback naked. I’ve done that already. I’ve posed many times. At first you think about it, but you reach a comfort level about going nude for photos. I just have fun with it, so I’m very proud to be naked in the hands of 8 million men!

Photo: Scott Doctor/www.greatscottstudios.com

Carmen Electra as a guest Playboy Bunny at The Playboy Club at the Palms.

“My boyfriend is thrilled for me, too. We’re engaged, but we don’t have a set date to get married. There’s no plotting or planning a specific date in mind. We’re just happy being engaged. We’ll enjoy that process and make a ton of plans at some point, but not now.

“I got married in Vegas once before so, we won’t be doing that here. I’m a believer we have to try and do different things, so we’ll do that a different way when the time comes. That way one of the marriages will work out! When you get engaged, a lot of people try to pressure you into getting married. We don’t see it that way of doing it right away.”

I asked Carmen to sum up the entire experience, and she said: “It’s not about the power or the control. It’s about the excitement. I’m excited about it all -- excited to wear the costume, excited to deal hands of blackjack and hang out with everybody, excited to be on the cover. It’s all perfect, and I’m loving every minute!”

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