We put this one to David Stiffs & Georges McKee, who responds:
So one would. There are several reasons. One is that the Cosmopolitan is a stand-alone property that lacks the kind of brand name or hotel affiliation that brings people to MGM Resorts International and (especially) Caesars Entertainment. As LVA reader "DoubleDownNow" addresses it, "The problem for the Cosmo is that gamblers won’t gamble at a one-property joint knowing it’s harder to get room comps there than with the bigger boys like MGM and Caesars with tens of thousands of rooms to give away."
Another is the Cosmo’s insistently twee advertising campaign. From its "Right Amount of Wrong" and "Bohemian Rhapsody" TV ads, one would never know that The Cosmopolitan has a casino, just that it’s an upscale hotel. (Our favorite was a promotional video that touted The Cosmopolitan as a place to pick up "hot chics [sic].")
Design also plays a role. Whether you enter it at the skyway level or go up to the second or third floors via elevator, it is easy to bypass the gambling altogether. The Cosmo has tried to force the issue by putting additional gaming product on the second floor, but the property’s "stacked" design works against it. As for the casino floor itself, customer Howard Park says, the whole place, while beautiful, feels like a glorified hallway. One doesn’t linger, one moves, at Cosmo."
We asked Stiffs & Georges readership for their takes on the problems at The Cosmo and received a flood of responses. While the beauty of the place is often complimented, its gambling product and marketing are not. For instance, player "fwt" shared the following experience: "Me and a buddy stayed at Cosmo a while back. He is a $10 to $100 slot player. I am a solid $1 to $5 [video poker] player. After that we both got offered a free room for two nights, two- for-one buffet ... and $5 free play!" (Sweating the comps is a Cosmo complaint we’ve heard more than once, although we’re told that it is now improving.) Adds Park, "Twice I played a lot of video poker at Cosmo. I’ve stopped playing there because they eliminated their decent pay schedules."
Reader "Dan" (no last name given) roasts The Cosmopolitan for high minimums at its table games. He points out that "I walked across the road to Planet [Hollywood] to play some table games and played on a $5 Flushes game which is unique to the Strip. I also could have played $5 Five-Card with a six-card bonus or $5 Texas Hold ’Em. Neither of these games [is] offered at the Cosmo. All of the Cosmo tables are at least $10 and no game is unique. The tables are generally empty. From what I could see, no one is playing the higher-return table games and if the only successful ones are blackjack and other player-friendly games, then their table hold will be poor." Dan adds that the Cosmo slots are "quite good."
A big part of the problem is the game mix as it applies to lower-stakes gamblers. It’s not that the Cosmopolitan is completely devoid of good games. In fact, it has excellent video poker schedules returning above 99% and blackjack games with a house advantage as low as .26% against basic strategy, but not for the masses. The good video poker schedules are all in denoms of $5 or higher, leaving 7/5 Bonus Poker (98.01% return) as the best game for quarters or dollars. In blackjack, the skinny .26% game has a $100 minimum, while the edge on the best $10 games (usually the lowest minimum dealt) is more than twice as high at .63%. Single and double decks with low minimums all pay the oppressive 6-5 on naturals. If you want players, offering better games across the board is a good place to start, and Cosmo isn’t doing that.
"jdmlv1" chimes in to put his/her finger on a root Cosmopolitan problem: "Cosmo set out to be the top young hip destination in Las Vegas. For the most part, it achieved that. Walk through any weekend and it is packed with twentysomethings who are there to party. The problem for the Cosmo is they are not there for the gaming."
As you noted in your question, The Cosmopolitan is owned by a bank, which may explain the institutionalized obtuseness that some players have experienced. The marketing is reportedly improving and, as Anthony Curtis points out, "One thing the Cosmopolitan does have is an excellent $100 rebate program for new Identity Card members: Join the club and you can get up to $100 in losses refunded, while you keep whatever you win if you get lucky, which alone is worth going in and playing for." However, when what’s supposed to be your #1 revenue driver is actually in third place (outgrossed by restaurants and room revenues), you’ve got a very upside-down operation and gaming revenues took a dive in the second quarter this year, so The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas still has a lot of work to do.
