I wrote yesterday about how secretive the late Australian whale Kerry Packer was when it came to his gambling sprees in Las Vegas. Norm, author of the Vegas Confidential column, today recounts some stories he gathered on Packer over the years that surprised even me. Particularly, Norm's tale of Packer in 2001 requiring Bellagio employees to sign a non-disclosure agreement about his playing. It didn't help. Norm notes that on that trip Packer wound up stuck in Vegas after the airports were closed following the September 11 attack, and he had one of the all time greatest losing streaks in Vegas history. At the time Norm reported Packer lost $29 million, saying several sources had put the loss at that number, and though the casino disputed that amount as too high they never did disclose how much exactly Packer lost.

(photo by Will Burgess/Reuters)