Cosmopolitan Archives

Best Cheap Blackjack On The Vegas Strip

There are about as many good cheap blackjack games on the Vegas Strip as you might have expected. In other words, there aren’t many. Where you do find good cheap blackjack you should expect that there are only one or two of these tables at most of the casinos listed below. They should be easy to spot since you’ll probably see a large crowd at these tables so you might have to wait for a seat.

For simplicity, I’m using $15 as the cut off for cheap blackjack and just listing the house edge of the games. I’m also listing the casinos alphabetically, and not by the smallest house edge. You can see the full survey here. The list is great and has information on all blackjack at every casino in Las Vegas.

Bally’s – House Edge: 0.57
Caesars Palace – House Edge: 0.57
The Cromwell – House Edge: 0.57
Excalibur – House Edge: 0.66
Flamingo (and Margaritaville) – House Edge: 0.57
The Linq – House Edge: 0.57
Harrah’s – House Edge: 0.55
New York – New York – House Edge: 0.48
Paris – House Edge: 0.57
Planet Hollywood – House Edge: 0.57
SLS Las Vegas – House Edge: 0.48
Treasure Island – House Edge: 0.46 and 0.48
Tropicana – House Edge: 0.57

Updated: March 10, 2017

Cosmopolitan Sports Book Photos

Cosmopolitan Sports Book Photo Gallery

Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas Cosmopolitan Sports Book — Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas At Dusk

Here are some photos of the recently renovated Cosmopolitan sports book. You can read about the details of the new CG Technology sports book at the Cosmopolitan at Covers.com.

The sports book includes a full bar, blackjack, video poker and bar games like foosball and shuffleboard. If you want to keep up with new photos and news from Vegas you should follow the EDGeVegas Facebook page or my twitter.

New Cosmopolitan Sports Book Set To Open By Super Bowl

Big news for sports fans on the Vegas Strip. The new Cosmopolitan sports book will open in February just in time for the Super Bowl.

In December, the Cosmopolitan celebrated its 5 year anniversary with a slew of news. Even though the property is finally turning a profit they aren’t resting on their laurels.

There are major changes at the Cosmopolitan (see complete details at Front Desk Tip). I wouldn’t call the changes a facelift or an overhaul but there is a lot happening at the Cosmopolitan.

The most exciting change to the casino will take place with their sports book.

The least profitable slot machines in the southeast corner of the property have been removed and a brand new sports book is under construction. The 8,000 square foot sports book will include 23 video poker machines which McBeath tells the Las Vegas Review-Journal should make more money than the 120 slot machines that once occupied the space.

The new sports book will be more than twice the size as the current CG Technology sports book on the second floor. CG will continue to operate the sports book at the Cosmopolitan.

Everything I’ve heard is that this sports book will be similar to a smaller version of The Venetian sports book. It’s easy to think that between the bar with video poker and typically great CG Technology TV screens.

A security breach by Vital Vegas last week showed that there’s still a lot of work to do. I can’t wait to see the finished product. I expect to have more information on the sports book soon.

Pic: VitalVegas.com

UPDATE: 1/28

It looks like Cosmopolitan is backing off the Super Bowl opening. Here are more details from a recent email.

NEW CASINO RACE & SPORTS BOOK

OPENING FEBRUARY 2016, LEVEL 1, EASTSIDE

A new Race & Sports Book will open in early February 2016 on the casino floor. It will be more than double the size of our existing sports book and will offer a significantly upgraded experience, featuring:
State of the art LED video walls for both sports and race
Dozens of hi-definition television screens
The latest in mobile wagering technology and a combination of lounge style seating areas
Traditional betting stations and VIP areas where guests can view their own 90-inch high-definition television.
The race and sports bar will anchor the space, featuring video poker and multiple hi-definition televisions showing sporting events.

Additionally, a new sports themed table games area will be immediately adjacent to the new book, also featuring hi-definition televisions and direct views of the main LED walls.

Marriott To Buy Starwood and Invades the Vegas Strip

Marriott announced that they will be buying Starwood Hotels this morning. This comes on the heels of Starwood announcing that SLS Las Vegas will be a part of their Tribute Collection last week (see article on Travel Zork). Part of the SLS connection is that Starwood would be changing the Lux tower at SLS into W Las Vegas.

A Starwood sale wasn’t a secret but Hyatt was becoming the favorite to buy them (see article on Travel Zork). This deal was made because most of Marriott’s rooms before the purchase were in the United States. About 2/3rds of Starwood hotel rooms are outside of the United States. Marriott now has 1.1 million hotel rooms around the world.

Back to Vegas.

Starwood’s biggest connection with Vegas is through its current affiliation with Caesars Entertainment. The SLS program will begin in December and W Las Vegas will open mid-late 2016. Marriott’s current Vegas Strip affiliation is with the Cosmopolitan. Since the Cosmo was sold last year it’s been rumored that they will eventually join Hilton in some way.

Might the Cosmopolitan become a Starwood hotel? I know at least one person that will lose his mind if that happens.

Details on the merger of the programs haven’t been released yet. The press release is more financially driven. It’s possible, but unlikely, that Starwood and Marriott will remain separate brands that would keep their individual loyalty programs.

The deal isn’t expected to be completed until sometime in 2016. Unless relationships change these are the hotels on the Vegas Strip that will become Marriott hotels:

Bally’s
Caesars Palace
Cosmopolitan
The Cromwell
Flamingo
Harrah’s
The Linq
Paris
Planet Hollywood
Rio
SLS Las Vegas
W Las Vegas

Marriott would be the hotel partner for almost half of the hotels on the Vegas Strip (12 of 26 or so). That’s kind of a big deal. Look forward to more information to follow next year.

PS: Starwood Hotels and Starwood Capital are not the same company. This old rumor is probably just be a coincidence.

Rumor: The Mirage And Marriott To Partner

By now you’ve probably read the rumors and analyst discussion about MGM Resorts selling The Mirage. Today MGM Resorts CEO Jim Murren said that The Mirage isn’t on the market. Well, if the rumors about The Mirage already being sold are true than he’s not lying. It’s not on the market.

My source that says the The Mirage has been sold also says that they will have a new hotel partner once they’re no longer be a part of M Life, MGM Resorts’ players club.

It’s rumored that Marriott will be the hotel partner for The Mirage once the sale goes through.

It’s difficult to be an independent hotel-casino operator on the Vegas Strip so Starwood Capital Group is taking steps to bring in a partner to help fill the hotel. Marriott was just voted the #1 national hotel chain rewards program by US News and World Report.

Starwood is also rumored to bringing in Paragon Gaming to operate the casino. Paragon currently operates the Westgate casino and used to operate the Riviera casino.

Marriott is currently the hotel partner for Cosmopolitan but it’s been rumor for while that the relationship will end soon since Blackstone, owners of Cosmo, also owns Hilton.

You can see the press release for MGM Resorts’ quarterly earnings here.

Rumors: Cosmopolitan And Monte Carlo Sportsbook Moving

Rumors are all over the place with Monte Carlo heading deep into construction of The Park. This park-like area will be located between Monte Carlo and New York-New York leading to the new arena that’s scheduled to open next year.

Monte Carlo has undergone some major changes with its Vegas Strip frontage and now they’re moving to the side leading to the arena. Similarly (but not the same) the Cosmo is renovating its casino floor. Here’s the juice I’m hearing:

Monte Carlo Rumors

Vegas Eater says that the Blue Man Group Theater will be closing and becoming a larger theater to be used as a concert hall. Now comes rumor (on the Five Hundy By Midnight Podcast) that the Monte Carlo sportsbook will be closing and moving into The Pub. This would make The Pub more of a sports lounge and closer to what you see at Bellagio and The Mirage.

If this rumor is true it wouldn’t be surprising to see the poker room also close and move. The sportsbook and poker room occupy the same side of the casino so it might make sense to see both shuttered to make way for the planned restaurants and bars.

Possibility: Both make sense and sound logical.

Cosmopolitan Rumors

Last month I wrote about the rumor that Cosmopolitan may be getting a poker room on Vegas Chatter. That still hasn’t come to fruition but there’s another rumor about their tiny CG Technology sportsbook.

Word is that the sportsbook will be moving from the second floor to the first floor with the other casino gaming. I reached out to a CG Technology rep on twitter and didn’t receive a response like I have every other question I’ve asked.

Possibility: Not sure the majority of customers would care about either. I could make a case for both but I can also see bean counters not caring about such a small piece of gaming revenue (about 2%-3% total).

Closing

Rumors are a hit and miss proposition. Sometimes they’re true and sometimes they’re not. The success rate I’ve had with rumors that make sense is about 50%. If that holds true here then we should see two of the rumors mentioned above come true. Time will tell as construction is progressing at Monte Carlo and Cosmo is quietly making changes to their property.

Speculation Games: SLS Las Vegas To Become Cosmopolitan Jr.

SLS Las Vegas Blackjack Table — SLS Blackjack Table

Speculating on the future of Vegas is fun. This isn’t rumor or anything I’ve heard elsewhere. Just speculation on current news.

Subject: Blackstone may acquire more property in Las Vegas

On February 20th Vegas Inc. had an article the reiterated many of the big changes in store at the Cosmopolitan that were revealed the middle of December. Sort of hidden towards the end of the article is the following quote:

Blackstone will hold onto the Cosmopolitan for a while, and possibly acquire more property in Las Vegas

Speculation: Blackstone will purchase SLS Las Vegas.

SLS Las Vegas is off to a rocky start with employees being let go and restaurants being closed or rebranded. Their business model is similar to the Cosmopolitan where the casino generates 20-30% of the revenue and the rest comes from clubs, restaurants, bars, hotel rooms, etc.

If the financial woes continue at SLS Las Vegas throughout the year their owner, Stockbridge (90% owners of SLS), may look to cut their losses. If Blackstone can turn around the Cosmo’s financial woes to become profitable they may look to target SLS Las Vegas. The property is new and business model is similar to the Cosmo that it might be a perfect addition.

The two hotels are already linked through Blackstone. Blackstone owns Hilton and SLS Las Vegas is already a part of the Hilton Curio collection of hotels. Cosmopolitan is without an outside hotel partner for the time being but a Vegas Curio combo could help the collection.

Hotel room rates are rising rapidly and capacity is shrinking with the Riviera closing. Adding a second property to their Las Vegas portfolio makes sense to create more value for when Blackstone decides to sell. SLS Las Vegas might be the quickest property to turn around and sell again for a larger profit.

I see this potentially as a 1+1=3 scenario if A) Blackstone can create positive revenue at the Cosmo B) Stockbridge decides to sell SLS Las Vegas C) Blackstone can repeat a turnaround at Cosmo at SLS.

XS, Hakkasan, Marquee, Tao Top Nightclubs In America

Steve Aoki At Hakkasan Las Vegas top nightclubs in Las Vegas — Steve Aoki At Hakkasan

XS, Hakkasan, Marquee and Tao were the top 4 nightclubs in America in terms of gross revenue in 2014. In fact, 7 of the top 10 grossing nightclubs and bars were in Vegas and 15 of the top 100. Not too shabby.

If you’ve ever wondered where to party in Vegas then here’s a good place to start. Below is a breakdown of all of the Vegas nightclubs and bars on the Top 100 list from Nightclub.com.

1. XS Nightclub, Encore
2. Hakkasan, MGM Grand
3. Marquee Nightclub, Cosmopolitan
4. Tao Nightclub, Venetian
6. Surrender Nightclub, Encore
9. Hyde, Bellagio
10. Lavo, Palazzo
17. Chandelier Bar, Cosmopolitan
18. Tryst Nightclub, Wynn
28. Chateau Nightclub & Rooftop, Paris Las Vegas
48. Ghostbar, Palms
55. Lagasse’s Stadium, Palazzo
66. Bond Bar, Cosmopolitan
67. Vesper Bar, Cosmopolitan
68. The Bourbon Room, Venetian

4 of the top 100 bars and nightclubs in America are at the Cosmopolitan. That’s not surprising because the Cosmo is my favorite bar on the Vegas Strip. Chandelier Bar (floor level) is one of my favorite bars to sip on a drink and hang out in all of Vegas. Last year they added video poker to this beautiful bar so you can get excellent comp drinks while you gamble. WIN!

What is surprising is that Chateau at Paris, Lagasse’s Stadium at Palazzo and The Bourbon Room at Venetian are in this list generating between $5 million and $15 million in 2014. To be honest I didn’t know Chateau was still open, I thought Lagasse’s Stadium was considered a restaurant and had no idea people went to The Bourbon Room en masse.

Live and learn!

Tap That Cask Party At D.O.C.G. At Cosmopolitan

This party at D.O.C.G. looks fun and relatively inexpensive ($50 for food and beer) for a party at the Cosmopolitan. I’ve been a little under the weather so I’m not sure I’ll make the party this Thursday (January 22) but I’m hoping to. Here are the details:

D.O.C.G. Cask Party at Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas — D.O.C.G. Cask Party

Follow D.O.C.G. on Facebook

Cosmopolitan Sports Book Photo Gallery

NEW CASINO RACE & SPORTS BOOK

OPENING FEBRUARY 2016, LEVEL 1, EASTSIDE

Happy New Year!