So it goes when you take the alcohol out of the topless club.

Hours before Mike Signorelli officially lost his liquor license for the club, the Crazy Horse Too had gone dry, apparently voluntarily.

The women kept pole-dancing while their patrons sipped $8 bottles of water (Crazy Horse Too brand) and $7.50 Cokes.

At almost exactly the stroke of midnight, city of Las Vegas business licensing director Jim DiFiore and a handful of city staff members walked in the back entrance and officially revoked the liquor license.

DiFiore's take on it, conveyed through a city spokeswoman, was: "The suspension process went smoothly with no problems. They were very cooperative."

By the time DiFiore and his team walked in, the liquor already had been cleared from behind the bars, bartenders had cleaned all the glasses and most of the dancers lolled about talking to each other between lap-dance pitches to the patrons.

Signorelli had until midnight Saturday either to buy the club or have the liquor license pulled.

The sale's failure to go through has intensified the long-standing allegation that Signorelli was nothing more than a straw man for felon and club owner Rick Rizzolo.

Rizzolo's attorneys said Friday that they still were working with the federal government to sell the club and might bring in an interim manager until it is sold.

Liquor can't be sold in the club until the next potential owner or interim operator obtains a liquor license from the Las Vegas City Council.

When the club lost its authorization to serve alcohol in the past, attendance dwindled and it shut down until it got a new liquor license.

But as of Sunday night, the club remained open as a juice and soda topless bar.

It was unclear why the Crazy Horse Too went dry about three hours earlier than was required Saturday night.

The pre-emptive move deprived Rizzolo's nemesis, former City Councilman Steve Miller, of drama that he would have trumpeted via the Internet.

Miller was at the club for Saturday's deadline, along with a photographer and "Buffalo" Jim Barrier, who owns an auto repair business next to the club.

They spent their time shooting pictures of hypodermic needles and a pregnancy test (positive) in the club's parking lot.

Outside the club, a limousine driver spotted a Review-Journal photographer.

"You taking pictures of the Crazy Horse?" he said. "It's closed."

Informed that the club was open but without liquor, he shouted, "Who'd want to go to a strip club with no liquor?"

Attorneys for Signorelli, Rizzolo and industry experts all have said that pulling a topless club's liquor license is tantamount to forcing it to close.

Signorelli and the club's management did not return repeated calls from the Review-Journal seeking comment over the weekend.