Playboy photograher Richard Fegley discovered Nancie Li Brandi working a blackjack table at Harrah's at Lake Tahoe. Lady Luck never looked so good. He immediately asked her to pose for the centerfold, responding to her beauty the way a gambler reacts when a pair of aces, split and hit, both turn up blackjack. Maybe he needed an excuse to write off his Nevada vacation as a business trip? No matter. The Internal Revenue Service's loss is our gain.
It soon became apparent that Miss December has the soul of a gypsy, even though she uses cards to determine people's fortunes in a somewhat different way. After spending a quiet childhood in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania, Nancie teamed up with an old friend for a bit of cross-country rambling. "We're both free spirits," she says, "we'd just decided to go our separate ways together for a while." First stop for the pair was a mountain resort near Williamstown, Massachusetts, where Nancie learned to maneuver on skis. "Actually, ...