It was just a small mention, but follows is some text from Jeff Haney's sports betting column, which appears Wednesdays in the Las Vegas Sun.

GAMBLERS GATHERING: It was primarily a card-playing crowd Saturday night at Richard MacDonald's penthouse residence at Turnberry Place, so conversations centered on blackjack, barrings -- and where on the Strip the lavender chips would be flying later in the evening, considering the big Jones-Tarver fight was in town.

The event marked the release of the new, third edition of "Blackjack Attack: Playing the Pros' Way -- The Ultimate Weapon" (RGE Publishing, Las Vegas, $39.99), by the New York-based blackjack expert Don Schlesinger.

Although the card-counting muscle in the room was enough to make an army of pit bosses quiver, there was some sports talk as well.

It continues, but who cares?

Bettie