While the last vestiges of Donald Trump‘s ownership of Trump Taj Mahal were liquidated when Carl Icahn took over, it retained the name and continued to buy Trump Water. (The taste of douchebaggery?) What concerns politicians in Trenton is the 
prospect that the Taj could reopen with a new name and a non-union workforce. “What I don’t want to see him do is shut it down and then reopen it up and fire all the union workers. It’s called union-busting,“ said state Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D), perceived frontrunner to be the next governor of New Jersey. And, after all, Icahn has yet to surrender the Taj’s casino license to the Division of Gaming Enforcement and is under no time constraint to do so. Casino workers willing to cross a picket line would have a crack at as many as 2,500 jobs in the mammoth casino, if it is reopened. Icahn’s promised $100 million reinvestment would probably be spent on diversifying the property’s appeal beyond gaming, pundits say.
A proposed law that would prevent Icahn from “warehousing” the Taj license until he can reopen it as a scab casino is gaining traction in Trenton. Said Sweeney, “casino owners shouldn’t be able to misuse bankruptcy laws and gaming regulations in order to warehouse a license or take money out of the pockets of casino workers and strip them of benefits simply because they refuse to come to a labor agreement with their employees.” (Icahn’s [unionized] Tropicana Atlantic City would be grandfathered under the bill, which would be retroactive to Jan. 1, 2016.) Then again, Sweeney himself was in favor of a ballot initiative that would have clotheslined Atlantic City by opening megaresorts in north New Jersey, so his solicitude for the Taj workforce comes a bit late in the game, at a minimum, and reeks more than a bit of hypocrisy.
* In one of its trademark scoops, Vital Vegas has sussed out an insidious new game at Venelazzo: triple-zero roulette. By adding a “000” position, the house advantage goes from 5%-plus to almost 8%. The triple-zero is disguised with an “S” as in “Sands” (or 
“Sheldon”). “While a 2.5% increase in the house edge may not seem like a lot at first glance, it amounts to a huge windfall for the casino over the course of thousands, or hundreds of thousands, of spins,” writes Scott Roeben, adding that he heard a Las Vegas Sands staffer say, “Tourists and conventioneers don’t really care.” (And, indeed, they apparently didn’t, judging from the amount of play witnessed.) Since Sands will only remove the game if it bombs with players, the most effective pushback is to take your roulette action elsewhere … before Sheldon Adelson‘s latest money-grab catches on. And by the time triple-zero roulette has made it to, say, Caesars Palace, Venelazzo will be on to quadruple-zero roulette. And, no, I’m not kidding.
* Cirque du Soleil‘s reinvention continues. Its newest iteration is a venture into the theme-park business. Amazingly, Las Vegas missed out on this extravaganza, which is 
being built in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico. There will be a resident Cirque show, of course, along with something called a “hydrotherapy circuit,” plus three hotels. Why three? Cirque is expecting 2.5 million visitors a year once the park is fully ramped. One writer who has studied the Vidanta renderings describes it as “Mayan ruins interspersed with water features and ADA-approved walkways. And maybe some psychedelic tea.” And, if Cirque is true to its traditions, the tour guides will be fey clowns who address you in gibberish. Why change now?
* Vegas shows continue to fall by the wayside. Following the big autumn shakeout that claimed Million Dollar Quartet, among other casualties, Gordie Brown is being put out of his misery at the Golden Nugget and Rock of Ages will play its last performance on Jan. 1, we are reliably told. Actually, we have to admire Brown’s ability to stick it out for so many years, given his deeply mediocre impersonations. His staying power at the Nugget may well commend him to another casino: After all, several are going to be hard up for entertainment soon.
* Also closing is the Harley Davidson Cafe on the Las Vegas Strip. Perhaps this means new life for “Project Jackpot,” a proposed megaresort redevelopment that so far has gone begging.
* Kudos to Affinity Gaming for contributing $25,000 to the Alzheimer’s Association at the Walk to End Alzheimer’s, bringing Affinity’s donation to the cause in 2016 to $136,000 — far in excess of the $100,000 goal. In a moving, personal touch, Affinity CEO Michael Silberling planted a flower in the Promise Gallery in memory of his mother, lost to Alzheimer’s. The disease is a sad story but, with the participation of companies like Affinity, perhaps a happy ending can be written soon.
