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Les Miles’ poker face

Les Miles has earned a reputation as quite the gambler, opting for some daring fourth-down calls. 225 has learned his risk-taking skills aren’t confined to the gridiron. Long before the season at a casino in Shreveport, he reportedly sat down at a table to play Texas Hold ‘Em with a stack of close to $1,000. How good was he? Good enough to hang at the table for several hours, not to mention going unrecognized for most of that time. You can bet opposing coaches expect him to gamble now…

Show me the sushi!

Oscar-winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr. was in Baton Rouge last month shooting his latest film, Way of War. The high-energy star has been spotted all over town, including Tsunami, where 225 sources say the popular actor dined on Chilean sea bass with grilled green beans and shitake mushrooms.

Living it up at Galatoire’s

Southern Living spent four hours shooting pictures inside Galatoire’s. The magazine photographed Executive Chef Brian Landry, some signature dishes and the famous white tile floor. The crew then drove to Angola to get the low-down on the Angola Rodeo. The scoop is the magazine plans to run a story on New Orleans and its surrounding areas.

Waiting for tables

Taking a break from playing a 16-year-old femme fatale on Showtime’s Californication, former child actress Madeline Zima, most recognized for her role as in 1990s hit sitcom The Nanny, was in Baton Rouge recently filming Trance, a new-age zombie movie co-starring Dominique Swain and Jeremy London. She was spotted in front of The Chimes waiting for a table with the rest of Baton Rouge. Our guess is the whole “don’t you know who I am” line didn’t go over that day.

Term limits

Last month Michael Tackney of Baton Rouge and a fellow U.S. Naval Academy graduate filed suit against the school’s alumni association over claims that the chairman of the group is unresponsive to its members and has no right to a second term of office. The case is pending, but association spokesman Skid Heyworth says the complaint is coming from a small group of members upset that their own choice for chairman was kept off the ballot.