Where’s Sheldo?; Stiffed by Aliante?

That’s the question posed today by Esquire‘s Jason Whited, who tries to find the Blofeld-like mastermind. “Anyplace other than Las Vegas,” seems to be the answer. “Political types here and across the country speak of him in almost hushed tones,” writes Whited, “trading rumors and tidbits of his last known whereabouts.” None of the Venelazzo employees he interviews can recall actually seeing Sheldon Adelson on property in recent memory. (By contrast, Steve Wynn is a frequent, almost commonplace sight at Wynncore.) “It’s like he’s a ghost,” says one. But Adelson and his wife just put in a $85 million offer on the White House, and will be back tonight in Sheldon’s early stomping grounds, Boston, to see whether or not the presidency is about to become a wholly owned subsidiary of Las Vegas Sands. Would the race be this close had not Adelson thrown his toupée into the ring? (Hey, I knew Sheldon before he had hair: How much longer are we going to delicately ignore the schmatte in the middle of the room?)

Earlier this week, a self-pitying apologia pro vita Adelson went out over the mogul’s signature, gracing the op-ed page of the Wall Street Journal. It was mostly the same old same-old, including Sheldon’s stale and dubious claim to be “liberal on several social issues.” Adelson didn’t leave the Democratic Party, he writes, rhetorically wringing his hands — it left him. (As do so many close Adelson associates, come to think.) Judging by A) his enthusiasm for authoritarian regimes, B) efforts to intimidate free speech and freedom of assembly, C) sporadic war against the free press, particularly in Las Vegas and D) abhorrence of labor unions, I’d reckon that if the Democratic Party left him, it was sometime back in the 19th century, when he was still in knee britches, storing up pennies and grudges, plotting eventual world conquest. And he’s not done too badly at it — you have to give him that.

Recently, S&G reported — passing along information disseminated by the former Aliante Station — that new management would match the point balance on customers’ Boarding Pass accounts. However, a frequent player known to S&G takes issue with Aliante, saying “There’s no point match, everyone starts from zero.” There is something called a “tier match,” along with “comp carryovers.” We’ll find out how “george” the latter are when our player friend tries to cash in his Boarding Pass points for free play.