1. The Golden Nugget Hotel/Casino was opened in Las Vegas in 1946.

2. The initial cost to build the Golden Nugget was $1,000,000.

3. In the 1980s, the Golden Nugget was purchased by Steve Wynn and given a major renovation.

4. Tim Breitling and Tom Poster, a pair of dot-com millionaires, recently purchased and rebranded the Golden Nugget. This included the filming of the TV series, The Casino.

5. Guy McAfee was the original proprietor of The Golden Nugget.

6. The Golden Nugget is located 6 miles from Las Vegas's international airport.

7. The hotel contains the largest gold nugget on public display. It is named "The Hand of Faith," and weighs over 61 pounds.

8. The hotel has a 3 story swimming pool, which includes a live shark aquarium.

9. The Golden Nugget has won the AAA 4 diamond award every year since 1977.

10. The Golden Nugget's casino is 45,000 square feet.

11. The hotel consists of 22 floors.

12. The front door of the casino is canopied beneath The Fremont Street Experience.

13. "The Hand of Faith" is located in the hotel's lobby.

15. Kenny Rogers was The Golden Nugget's first director of entertainment.

16. The hotel and casino occupy approximately 7.5 acres.

17. The hotel contains 1,907 guest rooms.

18. The casino contains approximately 1,260 slot machines.

19. The Golden Nugget was the first Steve Wynn ever owned.

20. In December 2007, The Golden Nugget opened the doors of its first sushi restaurant, called "Red Sushi."

21. The design scheme of this hotel/casino is based around grecian marble, crystal, and white with gold trim.

22. The casino contains 50 game tables.

23. The convention space in the hotel consists of 5 meeting rooms.

24. The swimming pool is outdoor and heated.

25. Free validated parking is available in the hotel parking lot.

All knowledge is power. Read enough factoids when you eat, and you will have a power lunch.

After reading the seventh entry on the "Hand of Faith," my overactive imagination immediately jumped to an outrageous, slightly copyright-infringing fantasy in which Zack and I hire nine other people to knock off this hotel and steal this chunk of gold. However, after a few quick Google entries, we determined that said chunk is only worth a grand total of............$788,400.00 in Canadian Dollars(we couldn't find the U.S. exchange rate).

Check for yourself:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_of_Faith

http://www.goldprice.org/gold-price.html

Anybody know some cheap thieves-for-hire?

First, not to bag on you Loki , the USD exchange rate is at the top of the page.
Second, as of 19:47 on 08.14.2008, it is worth 696,437.52 USD.
Third, it would most likely fit in a large coat pocket. Yet it would be like carrying a 10 year old in that large coat pocket.
Fourth, it just goes to show you how pathetic the value of the USD is, when CAD is converting with ¢7 more, and generating more capital in gold. If it were stolen and sold, I would definitely take it to Canada before trying to get rid of it here. The person would profit nearly $50,000.

(Hmmm... need to investigate casino security...)

So, does that mean you're in on the heist? Zack and I still need eight other people.......do you know any Chinese acrobats?

As for selling it in Canada, that would be perfect! You just earned yourself another 5%.

With the falling price of gold, the Hand of Faith is now worth only $640,953.84 . . . just in case you wanted to know.

What is a "AAA 4 diamond award"? Can I win one? Do I have to be a member?

Why are there so many lines discussing "illumination" and "floor coverings"?