counting number of records in a MySQL table; how do I get the result?

Hi, I need to do either an insert or update into a MySQL table. Insert if there are 0 records or update if one record exist: This is my code snippet: if (mysql_query("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM AuthNum") == 0) { mysql_query("INSERT into AuthNum (FirstNum, LastNum, NextNum) VALUES (1,2,3)",$dblink); } else { mysql_query("Update AuthNum Set FirstNum = 1, LastNum = 2, NextNum = 3",$dbLink); } My problem is, a record never gets inserted because the SELECT COUNT query is returning a resource ID of 2. How can I get the actual number of records in the table? Thanks, Don