Big-time gamblers, primarily from Asia, are flocking to Las Vegas to play baccarat and providing a big lift to the overall bottom line of the city’s casinos.

Baccarat has easily surpassed blackjack in terms of casino revenue in Las Vegas and now represents nearly 60 percent of the MGM Grand’s table games revenue over the past year. It’s especially popular this week with tens of thousands of tourists from Asia in town to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

“For us to make money in gaming today without baccarat is almost impossible,” said Debra Nutton, senior vice president of casino operations at the MGM Grand hotel-casino. “We need the big whales to make money.”

In Las Vegas parlance, a “whale” is a big-time gambler who easily wagers more in one night at the tables than most American families make in a year. Casinos cater to them with plush, secluded gambling salons inside the top casinos — with baccarat games that often start out at a minimum $10,000 per hand.

The whales typically favor baccarat — a game romanticized in James Bond flicks and highly popular in Macau and Singapore.

The game is built on a simple premise: Who will end up with a better hand, the player or the banker? Gamblers are dealt two cards and predict whether they will beat the banker, typically a position that rotates among the players at the table. Smaller tables, known as midi-baccarat, start at $100 limits and look more like large blackjack tables, skipping the rotating banker and leaving that role to the dealer. Even smaller-limit tables are called mini-baccarat.

Nevada figures show that during the 12 months ending Nov. 30, casinos statewide won $1.27 billion from baccarat players, with the game offered at 258 total tables in 24 casinos. Blackjack, meanwhile, pulled in just $1.03 billion — even though it was offered across 2,810 tables in 151 casinos.

While casinos hope to pocket 12 percent of the money wagered on baccarat, the large amounts played in fewer bets mean big swings in revenue quarter to quarter, depending on how lucky the gamblers are.

Slots are still the most popular and lucrative form of gambling in Nevada, with nearly 165,000 machines over 330 locations including supermarket, gas stations and airports.

Baccarat has been the most lucrative table game since 2009, and has been increasing its share since then, according to an analysis of gambling revenues by Dave Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Officials said the showcase follows the successful launch of the Made in America Pavilion in the Suites at Market Square during the fall High Point Market.

In Las Vegas, the 5,000-square-foot pavilion on the second floor of World Market Center Building B will showcase distinctive American-made furniture and home décor products and collections. The market runs Jan. 30-Feb. 3.

Brandi first tweeted some pictures of herself and her new husband, Darin Harvey. Then, after her Twitter exploded with her fans wanting to know more, she tweeted, “Yes we are man and wife!”

But don’t worry, the drunken Twitter fun doesn’t end there.

“Say what you will, but I think drugs, alcohol and strippers are super underrated! These bitches all work over time!” she tweeted, revealing at least some insight into her frame of mind at the time of her marriage. “Um, he is my best friend but after some beer and strippers he is now my husband, no joke!” Or, in fewer words: “I’m married again–suuuuuuck it!”

Brandi’s new hubby Darin is not only apparently a longtime friend, but is also a talent manager for Mixed Martial Arts fighters. Although Brandi seemed to experience no immediate remorse for the drunken decision made on a whim, she did address some of her critics yesterday on, you guessed it, Twitter.

“It’s a new day and I’ve been reading all my replies and just wanna say I’m taking all your comments seriously!” she tweeted. “Ringing in the New Year in Vegas with my gals and BFF of many years, Darin Harvey, was SO much fun and we got carried away by getting married! I didn’t realize what we did would affect others so seriously! In my head I was just having fun with my best friend who I adore and has been there for me during all my tough times! I didn’t mean to offend anyone! I believe everyone should be able to get married and maybe even embarrass themselves in Vegas.”

And what does new house husband Darin have to say about this?

“Getting annulled, still BFFs,” he tweeted, adding, “At least she’s hot and sane.” Isn’t that all anyone can hope for?

Sinead O’Connor

The 45-year-old singer tied the knot with Barry Herridge, 38, on her birthday at Las Vegas’ Little White Wedding Chapel Thursday. The venue is the same spot where Britney Spears and Jason Alexandertied the knot in 2004.

It’s the fourth marriage for the “Nothing Compares 2 U” singer, whose ex-husbands include music producer John Reynolds, journalist Nicholas Sommerlad and musician Steve Cooney.

O’Connor wore a pale pink dress for the drive-thru ceremony; Herridge wore a matching button-up shirt. An eyewitness tells Us Weekly the bride chose the locale because she “wanted a rock n’ roll style wedding.”

After the couple exchanged vows, “the staff at the chapel sang her ‘Happy Birthday’ and she started to tear-up a little,” the eyewitness adds. “They were on their own and did not have any family or friends.”

In her official blog, the singer — who once claimed to be a lesbian — said the wedding was “too glorious for words.”

The Irish singer promised to give fans a full update on Sunday, because “for now. . .it’s a bit of a ‘Can’t. Talk. C-ck. In. Mouth.’ situation.”

The Los Angeles-based, multiplatinum band known for a 30-year trail of debauchery and grinding riffs will be the first hard rock band to establish a residency in Sin City, and are in the planning stages of a production that singer Vince Neil compared this week to Cirque du Soleil.

“This show is going to be more towards the Cirque-type, over-the-top, full-production thing,” Neil said in a conference call to announce the series. “We’re really not interested in just going out there and playing songs. We want to make a full-blown interactive [show].”

A Vegas residency is a growing rock tradition established in recent years by the likes of Elton John, Santana and Rod Stewart, and is something Motley has discussed for years, said drummer Tommy Lee. Band members were excited by the possibilities whenever watching a big Vegas show, including the Beatles-themed “Love” by Cirque du Soleil.

“We all have talked about it many times going, “God, could you imagine if we could only get our hands on this kind of an opportunity, what we could do?” said Lee.

For the drummer, the possibilities include expanding on the daring acrobatics of the band’s current tour, which has Lee’s drum kit attached to a 360-degree rollercoaster that sends him spinning around and upside down during a wild drum solo. At the Hard Rock, Lee predicted “something even more crazy.”

“We love putting on an incredible show and when it doesn’t have to move around from city to city, day by day, the options become incredible,” said Lee. “Who wouldn’t jump at the chance to design a show that people want to come to?”

Neil, who lives in Vegas, added: “We’re a band about visuals. We’ve always put a huge show together, you know, since the beginning of our careers.”

On recent tour stops at the Hollywood Bowl and the Sunset Strip Music Festival, the band brought a high-octane stagecraft to their material, from “Girls, Girls, Girls” to “Saints of Los Angeles.” Details on the Vegas show were still vague, and the band members were openly considering the possibilities as they spoke with media on the conference call.

“This is Vegas and it sure would be fun to, really do it full Vegas style and have there be, some — nudity or almost nude,” said Neil. “It would be great to do things Vegas-style where you couldn’t do some of those things in a normal arena in Ohio.”

Luckily, arriving in Sin City is a fool’s task.

World landmarks like the Eiffel Tower stand a camera’s zoom away from a downsized Statue Of Liberty. In this suspended reality, you’re allowed to legally drink on the streets and clothing seems optional. It is not uncommon to find toddlers fast asleep in prams besides the slot machines, while their parents give it one last go, trying unsuccessfully to beat the system.

While the night brings out a seedier specimen, even during the day you’ll be accosted by groups of people, handing out business cards. But the mergers they’re proposing involve tanned women in various states of undress, often pictured with nothing more than super-imposed stars protecting their modesty. If you take the cards — hey, no one’s judging — you’ll find that Candi sometimes goes by her alias, Amber, and blonde-haired Kitty bears a striking resemblance to a brunette Bambi. Just as promised, Vegas can guarantee more reinventions than Madonna.

As for the scenic landscape, each hotel, from Trump Tower to Caesar’s Palace, has an exterior more decadent than the other. They also all share a common predilection to golden-hued windows, which can’t be opened. These luxury properties also host free shows at a specified time for the public. Consider it Vegas’ way of giving back. Treasure Island, for example, plays to the theme and stages a rollicking battle on the high seas. The daily special at The Mirage is an erupting volcano, complete with hot lava spewing to a dramatic drumbeat.

Anybody can stroll into a hotel off the street, with no limit on the number of people sharing a room. You’ll often spot at least 10 exiting a suite meant for two. But the hotels aren’t worried — they’ll get even at the poker tables.

If you’d rather go for Russian salad over Russian roulette, the food options won’t disappoint. Every hotel has at least one restaurant run by the overachieving Wolfgang Puck, among other star chefs, and the $10 street steak tastes just as good as the $100 Kobe tenderloin. Cocktails are sold like MacDonald’s burgers — quick and dirty right on the side of the road. And you can carry your booze with you through the night, even while casino-hopping.

The clubs here rank among the best in the world, and keeping with the ‘less is more’ dress code usually guarantees an entry. Though, if you want to avoid the usual $50 and upward entry charge, just use the free tickets your hotel will give you to their own nightclub.

Once you’ve wined, dined and danced yourself into a catatonic state, recover quickly, then continue the madness at the nearest strip club, which stays open until 7 am. Or let years of parental conditioning kick in and head you back home. Either way, Las Vegas won’t miss you. She knows you’ll be coming back soon.

Jordin Sparks, who used to shroud herself in loose-fitting dresses, showed of her sensational body in Las Vegas last night after undergoing an image overhaul.

The former American Idol champion is sporting a leaner figure after embarking on a new fitness regime over the last year, and is definitely showing off the benefits.

Wearing a tight black dress, the ‘Battlefield’ singer looked proud and at ease with her new figure, as she performed at the Winter In Venice Festival at the Venetian Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

At 21 years old, Jordin was ALL woman as she performed four tracks and cut the official ribbon for the outdoor ice rink on the Las Vegas Strip.

Clad in a white curve-hugging number with sheer panels, the Keeping Up with the Kardashians star joined her mom Kris Jenner, sister Khloe and her husband Lamar Odom and Kim’s friend (and former Dancing with the Stars partner) Mark Ballas in Sin City on Saturday.

First the group sat for a quick dinner at LAVO, where they dined on a spread of the Italian restaurant’s specialties including their Kobe meatballs with tomato sauce, chicken parmigiana, veal, steak and Ceasar salad. They toasted the birthday girl with Midori Sour cocktails and champagne.

Next they headed to Marquee Nightclub inside The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, where Kim and her group sat at a VIP table surrounded by a packed house.