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With stories in both the LAT and on the AP wire about his reportedly heavy financial involvement in the new Las Ramblas casino development in Vegas, George Clooney and his flacks are doing their best to prove that he's not some Hollywood dilettante jerking off at the craps tables. He loves classy, Brat-Packy Old Vegas! He eschews the Mardi-Gras-parade-on-the-ceiling tackiness that attracts Jack and Marion Midwest! And did they mention he's put in a lot of money? But how does a George Clooney decide to get into the gambling business? The same way you might, by pausing in the middle of a bender to ask a buddy how cool it would be to have your own place:

The idea of actually owning a casino came out of conversations between Clooney and [nightlife impresario Rande] Gerber when the actor was staying at the Bellagio filming "Ocean's Eleven," which came out in 2001. Clooney said the friends thought it would be "cool" to own something like the Bellagio, although much smaller and tailored to their own tastes.

Of course, like bedding struggling actresses and making macho guy-guy chemistry seem not so gay, it's never as effortless as Clooney makes it appear. His buddy's a connected multimillionaire nightclub owner who porks Cindy Crawford. After you and your pal finishing sighing into free vodka tonics and start brainstorming plans for a Playboy Mansion-themed casino, you hit on 17, lose the last of this month's rent money, then go home to pleasure yourselves to an escort handbill. (Not the same one, we hope.)