That’s the sound of one hand clapping you hear, with regard to Ameristar Casinos‘ $675 million purchase of Resorts East Chicago, which Colony Capital had picked up from Harrah’s Entertainment in the fire sale that followed Harrah’s engorgement of Caesars Entertainment.

While not openly criticizing the move, Deutsche Bank’s Bill Lerner pointed out, in a note to investors, that Ameristar would pay 10.4 times cash flow (high for a non-Vegas casino, in my experience) for a property that Colony had picked up for 8.5 times cash flow, three years back. He also pointed out that Ameristar is stepping right into the path of a ramped-up Horseshoe Casino Hammond, on which Harrah’s is lavishing $550 million.

Bear Stearns’ Joe Greff was not quite so circumspect. Indeed, ASCA shares lost almost 6 percent over the day’s trading. While it’s certainly understandable that late Ameristar CEO Craig Neilson’s heirs would want to spend down the mountain of cash their fallen leader accrued, thereby lowering Ameristar’s attractiveness as a takeover target, it still looks as though they may have overpaid to get into the greater Chicago market. Also, with Harrah’s and possibly Station Casinos on the verge of yet another clearance sale, to help finance their private equity buyouts, a bit more patience might have yielded some real bargains.

Jeff Hwang, of The Motley Fool, lays out a plausible growth strategy for Ameristar, although Casino Aztar Evansville has since been taken off the board, after Columbia Sussex sold it to ailing Isle of Capri Casinos. ("And here’s our water feature: Isle style.") Hwang correctly predicts Resorts Each Chicago as an acquisition target.

Also, a casino industry source pegs Ameristar’s purchase price of the Chicagoland riverboat at twice the casino’s annual revenues, describing it as unheard-of in any deal of his acquaintance. The source adds that, while tribal casinos are a cinch to do twice as much revenue as cost in a year, private-sector casinos are lucky to hit a 1:1 ratio.

So is Ameristar overeager to get into new markets? That remains to be seen. Still, now that Phil Ruffin has driven asking prices along the Strip to prohibitive levels, I very much doubt we’ll see Ameristar sniffing around the Riviera or New Frontier. And if, as rumor has it, Station is going to unload some of its lower-end properties, like Fiesta Henderson (once Ameristar’s The Reserve) that’s equally as unlikely to lure Ameristar back into the Vegas market, unless I’m very much wrong … not like that hasn’t happened lately.