I have lived in Las Vegas for 15 years, yet I have never seen myself as a piece of the action. Last Saturday, that all changed. I arrived at the Golden Nugget at 6 a.m. with 51 other models who were ready to be body-painted as a deck of playing cards. The process took a long five hours, but the result was amazing. It was divided into different sections. The first section was the sticky glaze that allowed the silver glitter to stick to your body. The second stage was having your lower arms painted the opposite color of your card. I was red, so my lower arms were painted black to look almost as if we were wearing long gloves. The third stage was to have your number and design painted on your upper torso. I was the ace of diamonds, so let's just say there wasn't much to it. Last our backs were sprayed green and it was finished off with a white pokerroom.com logo stenciled on the top of our backs.
The kings, jacks, and queens took the longest to paint. Each model took at least an hour and a half. Their bodies were covered with a lot of different colors and designs to give each one a unique look. There was a lot of waiting and a lot of flesh. Each model had their picture taken, which is going to be made into a deck of playing cards available to the public.
As the ace of diamonds, I was front and center and able to lead the march through the Fremont Street Experience. It was an interesting experience. There was a lot of stares and a few whistles. It drew a huge crowd and many cameras. My only concern was making sure everything stayed in place when walking in the heat.
After the parade, we were all taken to the famous "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign, where we posed and took photographs. Then it was on to Ice nightclub, where we took photographs with the world-famous DJ Tall Paul. He seemed very comfortable in front of 52 body-painted people, and was amazed at the overall effect.
By the end of the day, the paint looked as tired as we did. But we had makeup artists following us around doing touch-ups, so no one would be exposed. I soon found out that taking the paint off was much easier then having it put on. The day was long but interesting. It was an experience I will never forget.