The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • 604

ooo ooo Rom Showtown, U.S.A. LOS ANGELES TIMES SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1980 SPECIAL ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT Vegas Hilton expansion to begin by year's end Blackjack tourney on tap Dec. 11-14 at 3 Sahara hotels More than 3,000 blackjack enthusiasts are expected to vie for the title of 1980 World Champion of Blackjack, to be crowned Dec. 14 at the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas, at the conclusion of the $250,000 Sahara World Championship of Blackjack. The tournament will kick off Dec.

11 at the three Sahara Hotels, in Las Vegas, Reno and Lake Tahoe. Since the first Sahara blackjack contest in December, 1978, the concept of tournament blackjack has grown to include four annual tournaments, which will have drawn more than 10,000 players by the end of this year. Sahara Hotel officials established in September a special pit for tournament play in the hotel's Space Center convention complex. This made room for media coverage of the $150,000 Sahara Fall Blackjack Classic. In December, the Sahara will again install a tournament pit in the center and erect viewing stands for spectators.

Blackjack fans will watch as contestants in the championship vie for the $75,000 first place prize, the largest cash award to date for a blackjack tournament. The tournament blackjack concept, developed by the three hotels and World Championship of Blackjack Inc. of Tarzana, has brought the experience of competing to a wide range of people from across America. Winners have diversely described themselves as "novice players" and seasoned blackjack fans. The Sahara Fall Blackjack Classic saw Strawberry Point, Iowa, petroleum distributor Jim Seedorf battle down to the final three hands of play with Jack Feingold of North Carolina and Ron Goddard of Illinois, before winning the first prize of $55,000.

Santa Monica office machine company owner Avery Waisbren played down to the final bell during the Sahara Please Turn to Page 7, Col. 1 jj COMING SOON Dotted lines outline location of 391-room addition to the Las Vegas Hilton to begin by the end of the year. The addition will make the hotel the world's largest, with a total room count of 3,174. Construction of a 391-room addition to the Las Vegas Hilton will begin before the end of the year. Already the largest resort and convention hotel in the world, the addition, when completed in late 1981, will increase the Las Vegas Hilton's total room count to 3,174 and will give Hilton a total of 4,930 in the city.

The corporation also owns the Flamingo Hilton, which was expanded this year to 1,756 rooms. The latest addition to the Las Vegas Hilton is the third phase of an extensive expansion program begun in 1972. The first phase, a 620 -room addition to the east side of the existing hotel, was completed in 1975. The hotel's north tower, containing 644 rooms, was completed in 1979. The new $21-million addition will connect directly to the north tower and will feature a number of specialty shops as well as a glass-en closed exterior elevator that will afford guests a panoramic view.

The continuing growth of the Las Vegas Hilton coincides with the additions being made to the adjacent Las Vegas Convention Center. Already the largest single-level convention facility in the world, the county -owned Convention Center will soon increase from its present 785,000 square feet to more than one million square feet in 1981. Four top performers signed under Sahara Hotel's new split-bill policy The Sahara Hotel is presenting four top performing on one marquee, thanks to the hotel's split-bill entertainment policy. Dinner show patrons are enjoying comedian Jerry Lewis and singer Jack Jones, while midnight cocktail show audiences are seeing comedian Flip Wilson and singer Mel Torme. The four will appear in the Sahara's Congo Room through Nov.

13. Returning to the Congo Room Nov. 14 for a three -day engagement will be Johnny Carson, with the 18 Sahara Girls. Flip Wilson Mel Torme Jack (ones Jerry Lewis.