And then there was one

Scarcely had Steve Wynn and Victor Drai parted company than Wynn Resorts issued this curt declaration at 10 a.m. today: Cy Waits has been separated from the company and is free to pursue other interests. Wynn [Resorts] has no further comment on this matter.

That leaves Cy’s brother Jesse Waits as the only remaining head of the Cerberus that ran Wynn’s nightclub operations at XS and Tryst. In less than a weekend, Cy went from Wynn’s main man to Mr. Expendable, having been nabbed in a drug bust alongside a well-known lowlife. Even though Hilton Hotels no longer wields the clout in Las Vegas it once did, the prospective Mrs. Waits was released without bail. So it looks like Cy’s gonna be the fall guy here, but that’s how the game is played and I’m sure he knows it. Nor is Steve Wynn the man we think he is if he didn’t realize beforehand that getting into the big-money/big-risk nightclub scene would require him to periodically take out the trash.

If Cy Waits or his squeeze wind up doing any time, they might consider that the road of XS has not, in their case, led to the palace of wisdom.

Never say “die.” Either from recklessness or arrogance (does it matter which?), Las Vegas Sands never made any financial provision for losing its lawsuit with Richard Suen. It’s going to cost Sheldon Adelson‘s shareholders at lot more than the $58.6 million at stake by the time Sands gets done litigating this matter to the Nevada Supreme Court and beyond, if possible. Adelson’s newest line of argument is that jurors somehow had it in for him. More likely it was his and then-sidekick William Weidner‘s catastrophic witness-stand performances (“All Chinese look alike”) that sank the S.S. Adelson.

A hot August. Although gambling revenue in Macao last month didn’t increase as much as Wall Street expected,  40% gain ain’t chopped liver. The $200 million haul made for Macao’s third-best month ever. It was particularly kind to Melco Crown Entertainment and Galaxy Entertainment. As forecast, both increased their market share — from 13% and 11%, respectively, to 18% and 15%. That puts Melco neck and neck with Sands China, and leapfrogs Galaxy ahead of Wynn Macau. One can’t help but feel that, for the amount of time and product Sands has put into Macao it ought not to be losing market share to relative newcomer Melco. At least the Americans can take comfort in the thought that their pie slices may be growing thinner but it’s still a bigger pie.

I can’t Dance, don’t ask me. My lack of excitement over the fall season of Dancing with the Stars was not ameliorated when Wynn Las Vegas Director of Race & Sports Book Operations Johnny Avello posted his odds. Perhaps due to the Cheryl Burke Factor, former Los Angeles Laker Rick Fox is favored to win (4:1). Being paired by trophy-magnet Derek Hough didn’t hurt Dirty Dancing star Jennifer Grey, who weighed in at 5:1. Biggest longshot (35:1) is Bristol Palin. Being lumbered with Kate Gosselin wasn’t punishment enough for Tony Dovolani, who now gets stuck with Audrina Patridge (20:1). Likewise, you have to wonder who Anna Trebunskaya and Lacey Schwimmer pissed off in order to draw Kurt Warner (16:1) and somebody named Kyle Massey (30:1).

Worst of all, we’re to get a return of the mega-annoying Corky Ballas, presumably because somebody thought Florence Henderson (15:1) needed an age-appropriate partner. Poor Mrs. Brady; she’ll probably suffer an early exit simply because so many people want Papa Ballas off their TV screens. The most prospective entertainment value lies in seeing how adorable Kym Johnson copes with David Hasselhoff (6:1) and his sea-to-shining-sea ego.