Mirage sold?; Cosmo post-mortem; Ivey counterattacks

Our crackerjack research department at LVA is hot on the trail of a report that MGM Resorts International is going to shuck one of its signature properties, The Mirage, lock, stock and volcano. A sale of the megaresort that changed Las Vegas irrevocably has been bruited about for years and MGM CEO Jim Murren has been on an asset-selling freny of late. Starwood Capital Group, fresh from selling the Riviera, is the mooted buyer. Fast-rising Paragon Gaming would be jobbed in to run the hotel-casino with which Steve Wynn changed the template of Vegas resorts forever, spurring countless imitations — and in the face of rampant skepticism, it should be remembered.

It may not remain “The Mirage,” though, as “a major hotel” brand has been mentioned as part of the deal (“Courtyard Volcano by Marriott”?) This move will further isolate MGM’s north-Strip properties, including Circus Circus, which has seen its revenues wither but also enjoys a loyal Latino following. And, after one duff year, would MGM jettison its Rock in Rio venue, which is umbilically connected to Circus Circus? MGM is selling an awful lot of real estate to be repositioning itself as a REIT, especially when it has several East Coast expansions on the front burner and $13 billion in long-term debt to retire.

* Those fake palm trees that burnt like Roman candles during Saturday’s Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas fire slipped through a loophole in Clark County regulations, one that the county may move to close. “As long as typically they maintain the exit provisions, our concerns, or our ability to deal with them, is limited,” Department of Building & Fire Prevention Director Ron Lynn told the Las Vegas Sun. The department is widening its investigation into the cause of the blaze, saying their may been multiple causes. As for the Cosmo, it’s hiding behind a facade of ‘No comment.’

* Idaho‘s Coeur d’Alene Tribe tried to deal with an adverse law by simply ignoring it. It was dealing Texas Hold ‘Em in its casinos, on the grounds that the Idaho constitution permits games of skill. Selfsame constitution, however, outlaws poker. Texas Hold ‘Em is a game of skill but that doesn’t make it any less poker. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals nixed the Coeur d’Alene’s games. Next stop, the Supreme Court?

* Poker pro Phil Ivey isn’t taking being branded a cheater by the Borgata lying down. He’s countersuing the casino for, among other things, destroying the card decks whose telltale markings enabled him to win via a technique known as “edge sorting.” Ivey, who’s tried this argument in Great Britain and lost, was able to track the value of certain cards by reading the backs of cards and keeping tabs on ones which weren’t cut symmetrically.

Considering that card maker Gemaco was responsible for the manufacturing screwup and Borgata put the cards in its shoes, it’s difficult to see why Ivey did that was cheating, as opposed to deploying a rare skill. “The Borgata lawsuit claims that Ivey and his companion instructed a dealer to flip cards in particular ways, depending on whether it was a desirable card in baccarat,” reports CNBC. Again, it sounds like the casino is at fault and, for the life of me, I can’t see how what Ivey did could be construed as cheating, seeing as he made no bones about his tactics.

* Electronic poker was a dismal flop on the Las Vegas Strip and in Atlantic City. However, that’s not preventing Aliante Casino from trying to bring it back, having ditched live poker two and a half years ago. The only other casino in the Vegas area to ‘deal’ e-poker is low-roller joint Plaza Hotel. Aliante isn’t joining very auspicious company and its extremely isolated location makes me wonder if anybody is going to seek its tables out or whether it will just get casual players lured by the e-poker novelty.