Customer counts are calculated and potential earnings are compared side-by-side with marketing and operations budgets.

Refinements are made from one weekend to the next in the quest to fine-tune a major local industry designed to deliver a good time.

Now, just two short weeks from New Year's Eve, the stakes have never been higher.

Last year, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, 309,000 people flocked to Las Vegas to celebrate the start of 2011, creating a nongaming economic impact of $189.6 million.

Out to rake in their fair share, and maybe a little more, every club owner in town is looking for a competitive edge.

"For us, it's the biggest night of the whole year,' said Jesse Waits, co-owner and managing partner of XS and Tryst.

On a typical weekend, admission at most Las Vegas clubs runs $10 for women; $20 for men. But on New Year's Eve, they roll up those rate cards and blow them sky high with the fireworks over the Strip. The average cover this year will be $150, though in most venues that includes at least a two-hour open bar and a midnight champagne toast.

With that kind of money at stake, club operators leave little to chance. Waits said he's already planning for New Year's Eve -- 2013.

The newest nightclubs in prime locations draw huge crowds with ease on New Year's, Waits said.

But clubs that have seen a few seasons need help packing the party.

That's when they call in the biggest celebrity their money can buy.   슬롯머신

THE STAKES

Choosing a celebrity host or musical act to headline your New Year's Eve party can be like falling in love at first sight, though sometimes you might have to sift through the frogs before finding a prince.

For The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, it was mostly the former.

Two months ago, a group of six to 12 Cosmopolitan employees started debating which musician would be best to headline New Year's Eve in the strip hotel's 3,200-seat venue, The Chelsea.

"It's such a big night, you want a huge headliner," said Lisa Marchese, The Cosmopolitan's chief marketing officer.

It was a tough decision, and Marchese said they even waited a little longer than was comfortable to choose.

But then she saw him one night at Austin City Limits. She knew she had to have him.

"It was profound," she remembered.

Thus Stevie Wonder was chosen -- the right amount of star power for the biggest night of the year.

"It's a relatively high bar to achieve, and Stevie gets us there," Marchese said.

Tickets for the concert run $250.

The preparation and calculation is no less intense on the nightclub scene, where artistry and talent take a backseat to raw, unadulterated fame. How else can anyone explain Kim Kardashian's reported $100,000 payday for spending just one night at Tao?

"A lot of tourists want their brush with celebrity. They want their 15 minutes of fame," said Sean Evans, contributing editor for Nightclub & Bar Magazine.

At Tao those 15 minutes on Dec. 31 will cost you $200. Each.

KNOWING YOUR AUDIENCE

"We know our customer pretty well," said Anthony Olheiser, MGM Grand Las Vegas's director of nightlife. "It is key to focus on your core demographic."

At MGM Grand's Studio 54, selecting a New Year's Eve host starts with the understanding that the club's target demographic is 21- to 35-year-olds.

When the planning begins, Olheiser said, teams of nightlife operators, public relations specialists and talent management experts draft lists of available celebrities. Next, they debate whether the celebrity's price fits the budget, and whether the celebrity fits the club.

"A lot of people are hirable, but at the end of the day, do people want to see them?" Olheiser asked.

Studio 54's key demographic is too young to ever have visited the famous namesake New York City disco, except perhaps at the point of conception. But MGM Grand bills the club as "a wilder version of the legendary ' 70s club,' so who better to host a crowd looking for that vibe than actress Pamela Anderson, who might be described as a wilder version of most women.

"New Year's Eve is a sexy weekend, and Pam is a sexy lady," Olheiser said.

He wouldn't say how much Anderson will be paid, but tickets for the night run $150, nearly four times the cover on the previous night.

Richard Wilk, a 17-year veteran of the Las Vegas nightlife industry, said it can be hard to choose and book a celebrity host, and that personal relationships often play a part in landing one.

"It's all who you know," said Wilk, the vice president of nightlife marketing and operations at Tropicana Las Vegas.

That was the case when Waits booked his friend, a lesser Kardashian named Rob, to host at Tryst.

For the all-new RPM nightclub at Tropicana Las Vegas, Wilk and company wanted a bigger name.

"This club needs to make a statement," Wilk said. "That's not something to mess with."

That's why the renovated venue formerly known as Club Nikki booked R&B superstar Mary J. Blige for its New Year's Eve grand opening, with tickets going for as much as $125.

"Mary J. Blige doesn't do club appearances in town," Wilk said. "This is probably one of the only times you're going to be up close and personal with Mary J. Blige. That's a big deal."

THE PRICE OF FAME

Because New Years Eve is such a competitive night and so much work is put into planning these events, the glitterati know they can charge a premium for appearances. Olheiser said celebrities generally double or triple their price on New Year's, and suggested that a name disc jockey or a B- or C-list celebrity may charge $10,000 on up, while an A-list celeb can expect six figures, "for sure."

Tyler Feldman, president of eMerge Sports & Entertainment, which represents celebrities and books appearances, said celebrity fees range from $5,000 to $150,000.

Word on the street is that Kim, the alpha Kardashian, will pull down $100,000 for her night at Tao, Feldman said. He speculated that the collapse of her 72-day marriage to Kris Humphries factors into her six-figure payday because clubs think people are intrigued by her and her recent personal drama is a draw.