str_replace help

[pdent1]

Alright I show ads on my website and the user gets points for viewing...If they add 0 infront of the number they can cheat and keep viewing..I currently use

$ad2 = str_replace("0", "", $ad);

Where $ad is the ID# of the ad. The problem with this is if the ID is 510 it becomes 51 so I have to edit the ID# throughout the database which is quite time consuming. Is there anyway to remove the 0's from the front of $ad rather than anywhere in it, like I currently do?

[rhodesa]

$ad2 = preg_replace('/^0+/, '', $ad);

[pdent1]

wow that was quick thank you and it works fine

[sasa]

$ad2=(int)$ad;
//or
$ad2=$ad+0;
//or
$ad2=ltrim($ad,'0');