Cosmo woe; MGM lurves Ameristar

As new casino boss Thomas McCartney tries to stabilize the sinking ship that is The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, he’s tossed overboard some human ballast in the form of casino employees. (Thirty full-time dealers are alleged to have been pink-slipped.) This could be a case where Cosmo had too many dealers on the floor at any given time. That’s one of the business mistakes that London Clubs International made while trying to run the Aladdin: overstaffing the gaming floor. It’s a bit of lore that McCartney might have absorbed when he was running the Aladdin’s Planet Hollywood reincarnation. In the last two quarters, the Cosmo has spent almost as much in promotional allowances (hard to believe, I know) as it has grossed in its casino. Ergo, if you’re looking to cut costs, why not start with your least remunerative department? Still, old-time Vegas casino execs must be rolling in their graves.

Follow the ‘Star. Although Caesars Entertainment‘s answer to lacking a player-capturing presence in regions like New England, Ohio and the Mid-Atlantic states has been to commit itself to new bricks-and-mortar casinos, MGM Resorts International may be inventing a better mousetrap. For a pittance, it’s getting to steer Dan Lee‘s in-progress Mojito Pointe casino, in the premier Louisiana market, Lake Charles. Now comes a reciprocal player-incentive alliance with Ameristar Casinos, thereby extending MGM’s corporate tendrils into Iowa, Indiana, Missouri and Colorado. There are more goodies in the deal for Ameristar Star Awards and Plateau Players Club members than there are for M Life enlistees (although “targeted” members of the latter will be receiving Ameristar comps).

That’s only logical; for all the M Life participants who live in the Midwest, far from an MGM property, there are surely many more Ameristar players who’d leap at the chance to accrue some Vegas-based incentives. Where this agreement might get sticky is Massachusetts, where Ameristar has purchased land for a casino and MGM has hired a design firm to conceptualize a “green” resort in a different part of the state. (Since fiscal health is a criteria for getting a license, Ameristar’s chances currently better MGM’s — which may have been a consideration behind this pact.) But if MGM’s half-interest in Chicago-area Grand Victoria (left) can now coexist with Ameristar’s East Chicago vessel, just over the Indiana state line, the two companies can probably get along in the Bay State as well.

Down Memory Lane: … also known as Lake Tahoe the Las Vegas Strip. $3.70 for lobster tail? Those were the days.

On the verge of being jilted by sugar daddy Sheldon Adelson, one of El Bombastico’s court favorites is tacking toward the Religious Right (not a historically casino-friendly crowd). It’s newsworthy mainly for having inspired the following bon mot from Chris Moody: “Still, just to make sure we’re clear: Chuck Norris doesn’t join faith coalitions. Faith coalitions join Chuck Norris.”