Kenny Rogers' charm steals the show (photos)

Dan Aikens had the time of his life last night at Kewadin Casino in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

He walked out with a pocket full of cash.

But gambling had nothing to do with it.

It was, however, a gift from The Gambler himself.

Kenny Rogers played a near-sold out DreamMakers Theatre as the fist stop on a tour that will take him from coast to coast.

The 69-year-old country music legend chose one front-row fan to pick on for the evening.

That lucky guy was Dan Aikens.

"For every song I play that you recognize, just raise your hand Dan and I'll give you ten dollars," Rogers told Aikens. "There's at least three you'll know, so here's thirty dollars right now."

Sure enough, three ten dollar bills drifted from Rogers' pocket to Aikens' hands.

And so this continued throughout the show until Alkens has a total of 100 smackers.

But that wasn't all.

"Not only did Kenny give my hubby $100.00 in $10.00 bills," wrote Aikens' wife Joelle to SooToday.com last night. "But he also handed him the only signed tour t-shirt given away by Kenny."

She concluded with: "All in all we had a awsome time. And no, we are not selling the shirt or the what we now call the 'Kenny Bucks' :-)"

The couple plan on framing the t-shirt along with the money and concert tickets as a keepsake.

Selections that coaxed Rogers to toss money Aikens' way included Lucille, She Believes In Me, You Decorated My Life, Through The Years, The Gambler and two First Edition tunes, Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In) and Ruby Don't Take Your Love To Town.

The rest of the audience left empty-handed but no less thrilled at seeing the living legend perform live.

It didn't matter that Rogers' voice has seen better days, or that he completely omitted two full verses from Coward of the County.

He more than made up for these and other foibles with his nimble sense of humour.

Rogers almost seemed more interested in chatting and joking with the audience than singing.

Even poked fun at himself, threatening to screen all five made-for-TV Gambler movies.

His charm was definitely the highlight of the entire evening.