If we need a workplace consultant, we certainly won’t hire the Seyfarth Shaw at Work firm. (Seyfarth Shaw? Wasn’t he a character in Game of Thrones?) It’s offering its services to come up with strategies that will deter your employees from engaging in sports betting while on the job. Among several bad suggestions—like spying on your employees—comes this whopper: a managerial pep talk running thusly, “One thing that I am willing to ‘bet’ is that if we do not fast break back to our desks, we will all miss that customer deadline.” Wah wah wah.
* MGM Resorts International doesn’t like us to call them “robots.” They are “automated beverage servers” and they’re an active threat to Culinary Union jobs. And that’s just the leading edge of automation of the customer-service 
industry. Gaming is an interesting in that produces nothing tangible, just experiences, making customer service a top priority (or it should be). It remains very much to be seen how that experience will change if floor staffs are thinned out. MGM says the human/automation interactions won’t happen at the point of service. As Director of Corporate Media Relations Brian Ahern told USA Today, “We are focused on supporting employees and ensuring this transition is as smooth as possible.”
“Show me a car … built on an assembly line that isn’t populated with robots and humans together,” added Robert Rippee, of the International Gaming Institution of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Since the machines are being calibrated to mix cocktails uniformly does this they can be pre-set to water down the drinks? As for affected workers, Culinary Union mouthpiece Bethany Khan offered bland reassurances. “Jobs are never going to be eliminated,” she purred. “There are endless opportunities for retraining. We see technology as assistive and supportive.”
Even if you’re interacting with a human bartender at an MGM casino, that’s no longer a guarantee of free drinks. As part of MGM 2020, the company will 
only be comping booze to Mlife members. If you splurged $20 on video poker and forgot your membership card, tough shit. After that drink, you’ve got to rack up 10 session points to earn another ‘freebie.’ According to Scott Roeben, it was originally 25 additional points but MGM retracted its claws when customers reacted badly. At most, Roeben estimates, you can order three drinks an hour and MGM’s innovation should slow that still further—not necessarily a bad thing, as anybody who’s ever dealt with a drunk can tell you.
In a related development, Caesars Entertainment is winnowing the ranks of pit bosses at its Atlantic City properties. As observed recently by a member of Vegas Message Board, Caesars has gotten down to one boss per as many as 12 tables. How is this possible? Technology, my friends. When you buy in, the dealer swipes your Total Rewards card, then punches in the size of your chip buy and your table position. Tiny sensors and cameras within the table do the rest. For instance, a red light comes on to indicate a progressive bet. The system is described as “frighteningly accurate,” which probably means it’s here to stay.
* If ever there were strange bedfellows it would be Willie Nelson and Sheldon Adelson. The wandering minstrel is known for his love of wacky tebaccy and Adelson has been trying to stamp it out, pouring his millions into anti-weed campaigning. These natural adversaries, however, are going to make beautiful music when Venelezzo hosts Nelson’s Vegas on My Mind, a six-night limited engagement, Oct. 18-26. (Live Nation played matchmaker.) Tickets start at $59.95 … plus fees. Get ’em quick as they’re sure not to last.
* We’ve never anything good to say about Le Reve—until now. The Wynn Resorts production is giving away tickets to people who adopt homeless pets. Having taken in three adoptees in the last year and a half ourselves (Spike, Tom and Cupid), we wholeheartedly applaud Le Reve‘s move.
* Since he’s building Circa partly on the sight of the demolished Vegas Club Casino, we’d think Derek Stevens wouldn’t have any license worries. But if you’re Stevens you can’t be too safe. He held a “Trailer Station” on the spot where Mermaids used to be. Hey, he may be in the gambling business but it doesn’t pay to take chances.
Speaking of Stevens, as we speculated last week, he’s bringing the signature shrimp cocktail back to the Golden Gate. We like that he’s restoring a classic amenity, without which the Golden Gate really isn’t itself.
* Attempting to compete with Wynncore, the Stratosphere, now known as simply The Strat (Why?) is launching an aerialist show, Celestia, which has been in previews since May 11. The show was long since supposed to have been open but creative problems meant ‘fixations,’ the sacking of the original creative team and a pushback from a January debut. That’s showbiz on the Strip, where the bigger the show, the more painful the birthing process.
