SouthFlorida.com | City Link Magazine

State Road 7 and Stirling Road, Hollywood, 954/327-7625, www.seminolehardrockhollywood.com

You won't find many gamblers pining for the days when they used to try their luck on a SunCruz Casino boat. That offshore gamer has suspended operations locally and may as well be dead in the water in the wake of last year's opening of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. Instead of getting seasick over being dealt too many bad hands, bettors now play the house in a 130,000-square-foot, smoker-friendly room that offers nonstop poker, including seven-card stud and Texas hold 'em, and more than 2,100 gaming machines. And they get a museum's worth of rock-star memorabilia to go with it.

By its own count, the Seminole Hard Rock pays out an average of $5.9 million a day, and like any casino worth its weight in chips, this one gives the winners plenty of places to recycle the loot. Start with drinks at the Center Bar and its tower of plasma televisions. There, the imagery changes at about 4 a.m., when strippers from area clubs often stop by for cocktails. The casino features several other bars and restaurants, but money is better spent at the outdoor complex Seminole Paradise.

The complex's roughly two dozen nightclub, restaurant and entertainment venues offer plenty of attractions to lure spenders of all sizes. The biggest one -- literally -- is the mechanical bull at the Mexican restaurant and nightclub Tequila Ranch, which starts kicking at about 9 p.m. and continues until patrons are too drunk to ride. Other temptations are less likely to cause bodily harm. At the Asian fusion grill and lounge Tatu, customers can sip martinis, eat sushi and Chinese food, and watch Godzilla movies on side-by-side plasma TVs. The dance and hip-hop club Passion Nightclub has three rooms that house live acts and DJs, but the weekly all-male revue at the adjoining Tabu Theater sets it apart. Knight Time Billiards Trick Shot and Champagne Bar is a one-stop party room that offers pool tables, chess boards, a champagne bar and a dance floor.

Gamblers who score really big at the casino can make a dent in their earnings at the European-style nightclubs Pangaea and Gryphon, where bottles of Grey Goose vodka sell for $275, mixers included. If you want to talk to your date over dinner or dig some live jazz, visit Jazziz Bistro and Live Music, which has sidewalk seating and a 70-bottle-plus wine list. The Improv Comedy Club and Dinner Theatre (our winner for Best Comedy Club) includes an outdoor magic bar where customers may have a chance to mingle with that night's headliner. People who prefer to be part of the show can head to 88's Dueling Piano Bar to sing along to tunes by Snoop Dogg, Elton John and Billy Joel. If you just want to drink beer, the casual Murphy's Law Irish Pub is home to 14 beers on tap and 15 in bottles.

Then again, with its outdoor setting and pedestrian-only traffic, Seminole Paradise can also entice visitors who just want to people-watch over an ice-cream cone at Ben and Jerry's. There are also the water shows at the man-made lake that faces State Road 7, where so-called "liquid videos" about the history of rock 'n' roll and Native American culture begin at 9 p.m. and run every half-hour until 2 a.m. Unlike everything else at Paradise, the water show is free.