Where does a Playmate play when she turns 21? Vegas!

You want to commend Claire Sinclair for her maturity, grace and articulation. Then, at that very moment, she uncorks the following: “I’m not sure how mature I am, really. I still feel like I have a crap load of growing up to do.”

Ah, out of the mouths of babes.

I kid, of course. The 2011 Playboy Playmate of the Year, Sinclair turned 21 over the past few days in Las Vegas, a place she relishes and, not long ago, wanted to make her home. Months ago, Sinclair sought to parlay her Playboy affiliation into an entertainment career, similar to how Holly Madison made a life of it here after her stint as a girlfriend of Hugh Hefner and cast member on the reality TV show “The Girls Next Door.”

It seems ages ago that Madison was not yet a Las Vegas resident, so effectively has she ascended to such exalted status as to pose for the updated Miss Atomic Bomb photo. She came here to become Miss Las Vegas, and it’s difficult to dispute that she doesn’t deserve that title.

That will not be the path forged by Sinclair, who is hunting for new homes in Los Angeles after doing some looky-loo investigation of the Las Vegas real-estate market. She will be doing a lot of work here over the next few months, making appearances at nightclubs and pool parties, essentially working as a model for events up and down the Strip. She also is a spokeswoman for Bettie Page Clothing.

“I’ll be doing a lot of club promotions, going back and forth at least once every two weeks,” Sinclair said. “I’ll be out there a lot.”

During her recent trip, she sampled a lot of nightlife. She hit the Frankie Moreno show at the Stratosphere last Thursday (in what has since become known as “Bat Night”), dined with Madison at Golden Steer Steak House (feeding meat-eating customers on West Sahara Avenue and San Francisco Street since 1958) and hosting her officially sanctioned birthday party at Crazy Horse III late Saturday night and into early Sunday morning.

Sinclair is unspecific about how she’ll spring from Playboy Playmate status to something a little more sustainable. Her link to the Playboy brand is waning, and her tumultuous relationship with Marston Hefner, Hugh Hefner's son, ended acrimoniously when Marston pleaded Tuesday to corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant after an altercation at the couple's Pasadena, Calif., apartment in February.

Speaking of her professional relationship with Playboy, Sinclair says, “It’s just becoming more blatantly obvious that it’s time to take things in a different direction. You can’t ride that train forever. It’s very much that you have that month, that year, and that’s it. You’re done for that period of time, and you have to go on to something else.”

Whatever that is, Las Vegas will play a significant role. Get used to seeing even more of Claire Sinclair.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWithTheDish.