Atlantic City Casino Offers Plastic Surgery Prize

Times Colonist: Rolling the dice and playing the slots at one Atlantic City casino may have gamblers in New Jersey cashing in on an unexpected jackpot: botox, cheek implants or liposuction.

One winner of the Trump Taj Mahal Nip, Tuck and Lift Sweepstakes could walk away with $25,000 toward an array of plastic surgery procedures, according to the casino.

Players earn chances to win the lucrative makeover throughout the month of October, with a drawing for the winner held on Oct. 29 at the casino.

"We wanted to change the face of a typical casino promotion and with this one we are literally doing it," Trump Entertainment resorts senior vice-president of marketing Kathleen McSweeney said.

"Many people have something they want to change; a nip and tuck here, a lift there, but these procedures can be quite costly," she said in a statement.

The estimated cost of a breast augmentation is between $5,000 and $8,000 with an upper and lower eyelid tuck costing roughly $5,000, according to infoplasticsurgery.com pricing cited by the casino.

Botox injections run a couple hundred dollars while liposuction could cost anywhere between $2,500 and $10,000, according to the estimates.

The sweepstakes are open to Trump One Card holders who earn a certain number of points and then must be playing at the time of the drawing for a chance to win, the casino said.

The prize money will be awarded in cash, it said.

Trump Entertainment Losing Presence in Atlantic City

Press of Atlantic City: Atlantic City is being de-Trumped.

Trump Marina Hotel Casino has been sold off and rebranded as the Golden Nugget Atlantic City. Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino is on the market. The Trump-owned Steel Pier amusement park was unloaded in August for $4.25 million. Trump’s former corporate office and a Trump warehouse are up for sale, too.

The corporate bondholders who took control of the Trump gaming empire last year in a $225 million bankruptcy buyout are acting more like real estate agents than casino owners, selling off the Atlantic City holdings piece by piece.

This monumental shift is occurring at a time when Donald Trump himself says he may be too busy with other investments around the world and his reality TV show “The Apprentice” to focus on Atlantic City.

Donald Trump has been synonymous with the Atlantic City market since the 1980s. For the time being, his famous name is emblazoned on two casinos. However, Trump was rendered only a 10-percent owner of the restructured Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. in a bankruptcy deal with bondholders led by billionaire hedge fund manager Marc Lasry of New York-based Avenue Capital Group.

“I think it’s being run very properly,” Trump said, giving his approval of the company’s new management and ownership. “Marc is a good friend of mine.”

Lasry, who also serves as chairman of the Trump Entertainment board, explained that the company is concentrating on paying down its debt and has no interest in owning noncasino assets such as the Steel Pier, offices or warehouses.

Trump Entertainment ultimately decided that one core asset, Trump Marina, was not worth the investment, so the money-losing casino was sold in May to Golden Nugget’s Houston-based parent company, Landry’s Inc., for $38 million.

Next up is Trump Plaza, which is struggling to wring out a profit in Atlantic City’s slumping market. The company is considering two options: selling the Plaza or sinking millions into the aging property to make it more competitive with its rivals. No final decision has been made, Lasry said.

The Plaza’s strength is its location in the heart of the Boardwalk, at the foot of the Atlantic City Expressway entrance. Next door is Boardwalk Hall, the city’s main sports and entertainment venue. Major events at Boardwalk Hall usually mean that Trump Plaza benefits by having sports fans and concertgoers stop in for some gambling action after seeing a show.

“I think the Plaza has the best location on the strip. But I think with the Plaza, you’d rather there was a different layout,”Lasry said of the need to modernize the 1980s-era casino.

Lasry estimated the sales price for Trump Plaza is in the $50 million to $75 million range. He said the company continues to talk to prospective buyers, but no deadline has been set for selling the casino if Trump Entertainment goes that route.

At the same time that the company is thinking of selling the Plaza, it also may consider buying property next door that would provide more room for the casino’s expansion if renovations are done.

The family of longtime Trump nemesis Vera Coking has put the elderly widow’s former boarding home up for sale for nearly $5 million. The building is the last piece of property not owned by Trump Plaza on the block of Columbia Place and Pacific Avenue. For years, Coking steadfastly held out while Donald Trump tried to buy her property.

“We’re the best buyer,” Lasry said. “We’d love to buy it, but not at the price she wants.”

Stephen N. Frankel, a Ventnor real estate agent who is handling the property sale, said the Coking family has instructed him not to talk to the media.

One possibility is for Trump to bring in a joint development partner to invest in renovations. If Trump Entertainment decides to spruce up the Plaza, the Trump name may not stay on the building. Lasry said no decision has been made.

Interestingly, it was the perceived value of the Trump name that was the deciding factor in the bankruptcy battle for control of the Trump casinos. The bondholders backed by Donald Trump fought it out with corporate takeover specialist Carl Icahn. Unlike the bondholders, Icahn did not have an agreement with Trump to continue using the Trump name on the casinos.

In a 121-page ruling made in April 2010, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Judith H. Wizmur concluded that the Trump brand was worth millions of dollars to the casinos and helped to “tilt the balance”in favor of the bondholders over Icahn.

Now, a year and a half later, the Trump name is fading from the Atlantic City skyline.

Trump Marina was the first to go. Next, the Steel Pier was sold to an investment group that includes acclaimed Las Vegas architect Paul Steelman and brothers Anthony, William and Charles Catanoso, who operated the Boardwalk amusement park for 20 years under a Trump lease.

Trump Entertainment is asking $4.7 million for the corporate office building, a 1920s-era firehouse on Pennsylvania Avenue. The Trump warehouse, located in Egg Harbor Township, is on the market for $3.3 million.

The only Trump asset that seems safe from a sale is the flagship Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort. One gaming analyst suggested that Trump Entertainment devote its energy and resources to the Taj Mahal instead of diluting the Trump brand with too many casino properties.

“A decade ago, we raised a very legitimate question: Is it good to have the Trump name on so many projects in one market?” said Michael Pollock, managing director of Spectrum Gaming Group, a casino consulting firm based in Linwood.

“With one asset they can focus on, there is a silver lining here,” Pollock said of the Taj Mahal.

Longer-range plans may include spreading the Trump casino brand outside Atlantic City. Lasry said Trump Entertainment hopes to diversify by buying distressed casinos in other markets, although he declined to divulge where.

But the Atlantic City market is looking less and less like a candidate for the company’s expansion. Since the bondholders took over and made Bob Griffin the new chief executive officer, the company has slashed its work force and been frugal with its investments.

Employment figures for July compiled by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission show the Taj Mahal and Trump Plaza’s combined work force has been reduced 20 percent over the past year, from 6,630 to 5,285.

Entertainment also is being scaled back. The Taj’s 5,000-seat concert and sports venue, the Etess Arena, has been dark most of the summer. Cuts in the Taj’s entertainment lineup in the past 18 months have meant less work for members of Local 917 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, the union said.

Entertainment is considered a key part of the mix of nongaming attractions expected to boost Atlantic City as it fights for customers.

“Atlantic City is a different place but is still a place with a wonderful future,” Trump said. “But they have to get their act together because they don’t have competition like in the old days. They didn’t have competition then. Las Vegas was our competition. Now, the competition is all over.”

Lasry said the bondholders recognized the risks of the Atlantic City market and knew it would be a tough investment when they bought the company. But even they were stunned by the severity of the downturn, he added.

“I think we mistimed it,” he said. “It would have been better to come in six months later. We thought we would be able to generate money and turn things around because we had a successful management team. I think the part that caught us by surprise is how hard Atlantic City has been hit.”

Still, the investors will be patient and have no plans to unload the entire company in a panic sale, Lasry said. The company will continue to pay down its $305 million debt as part of its strategy moving forward.

“I think that when we did the deal, we thought it would be a three- to five-year play. Now, a year and a half later, it’s still a three- to five-year play,” Lasry said.

Governor Renews Pledge to Revitalize Atlantic City

NewJersey Online: On the final day of his Shore Tour yesterday, Gov. Chris Christie got a quick look at how the state’s $250 million was being spent in Atlantic City.

Standing 114 feet above the Atlantic Ocean in what will be the "sky garden" of Atlantic City’s soon-to-be newest hotel and casino, Christie said the state’s investment into the stalled Revel project — as well as its pledge to help revitalize the city — is starting to bear fruit.

"This administration has a big investment in it and we’re starting to see the fruits of that investment all across Atlantic City. Make no mistake about it, Atlantic City is very important to New Jersey’s future," Christie said.

Christie’s three-day whirlwind Shore Tour, which ended in Ocean City yesterday, included no announcements of new initiatives or programs, but gave him much face time with the public.

At Revel, which is expected to open May 15, Christie walked a path lined by construction workers who he said would not have jobs had it not been for the state’s partnership with Revel’s executives to get the stalled $2.4 billion project restarted. Christie in February announced the state’s $250 million investment in Revel in return for a 20 percent share of the revenues.

Absent from the entourage of politicians standing beside Christie was Atlantic City Mayor Lorenzo Langford, who has lambasted Christie’s plan to have the state run a district carved out of the city’s casino and entertainment areas.

Christie, who was accompanied by his daughter Bridget, later told reporters he and Langford will work out their differences.

In Ocean City, Christie’s appearance was more of a meet-and-greet for tourists on the boardwalk.

Lori Hartley, a social worker from Mount Laurel, asked Christie what policy beliefs make him a Republican. He gave her the short answer: less government, less regulation and fewer taxes. Those policies, Hartley said out of his earshot, are hurting the lower class.

"I believe there needs to be a safety net. That safety net is being dismantled," Hartley said after talking to Christie. "It’s alarming what’s happening with the lower class. I have an issue with the millionaires not paying their fair share."

Connie Blood, a former New Jerseyan who moved to Williamsburg, Va., three decades ago, said she thinks Christie is "great" and urged her 9-year-old grandson Ricky Wynne of Virginia Beach to meet him.

She told her grandson: "He might be president some day."

For Sale: Atlantic City's Steel Pier

Wall Street Journal: Just a few months after selling the Trump Marina casino, Trump Entertainment Resorts is putting Atlantic City's storied Steel Pier amusement park on the block. The New Jersey beachfront landmark, which dates back to 1898 and is often compared to New York's Coney Island, has been known for showcasing attractions like the Diving Horse and the Human Cannonball, along with thrill rides and other entertainment.

But in the latest move by Trump Entertainment to sell assets, the company has hired CB Richard Ellis, a real-estate services firm, to auction the 9.7-acre home to 24 rides, games and prize wheels. The minimum bid for the historic pier will be $2.5 million, according to CB Richard Ellis.

"We believe selling the Pier through auction is the best course of action for the company to increase the equity value for our shareholders," said Brian Cahill, a spokesman for Trump Entertainment. "We are a gaming company, and Steel Pier is not part of the casino." Steel Pier is operated by Atlantic Pier Amusements Inc., whose lease will expire in 2016.

At one point, Trump Entertainment was planning to transform the pier, possibly by adding a hotel, casino, spa and luxury condominiums. The development permits that the company has obtained wouldn't be transferable to the winning bidder, according to Douglas Johnson, a managing director of CBRE Auction Services.

The potential sale comes as Atlantic City is struggling with a poor economy and increased competition from new casinos that have cropped up in surrounding states. As a result, property values have been falling.

Donald Trump's name used to be synonymous with Atlantic City, but over recent years he has faded from the scene. In the late 1980s, he developed three casinos there. But as the fortunes of Atlantic City declined, they went in and out of bankruptcy three times, and Mr. Trump's stake diminished.

Today, Mr. Trump owns a 5% to 10% stake in Trump Entertainment Resorts, which owns the Steel Pier as well as the Trump Taj Mahal and Trump Plaza. The rest of the company is owned by former creditors. In February, the company sold Trump Marina for $38 million to Landry's Inc., the company that operates Golden Nugget in Las Vegas.

Trump Entertainment has no direct ties with Trump Organization, Mr. Trump's company that is involved in a wide range of real-estate developments throughout the world.

In past years, Steel Pier showcased some of the biggest names in show business, including Guy Lombardo, Benny Goodman, Mae West, Charlie Chaplin, the Three Stooges and Frank Sinatra. But it also has had its share of trouble. In 1904, a storm washed away part of it and fires in 1969 and 1982 destroyed what was left of the original structure. The current structure was built in 1993 by Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts, a predecessor to Trump Entertainment.

Atlantic City Paves Way for Smaller Casinos

Business Week: "Smaller is friendlier" was the longtime motto of the former tiny Claridge casino in Atlantic City. But now the nation's second-largest gambling resort is embracing smaller casinos as a way to jump-start its struggling business.

The state Casino Control Commission on Wednesday approved a process for companies to apply for a license to build two new smaller casinos. One could have as few as 200 rooms, while the other would eventually have to expand to 500 rooms within five years.

Previously, New Jersey law required at least 500 rooms. The most successful of the city's 11 casinos have 2,000 rooms or more. It's designed as a lower-cost way for new companies to enter the market and bring fresh ideas -- and investment -- to a market that has been reeling from fierce competition in neighboring states and the continued poor economy.

"This is an exciting development on an exciting day," said Commissioner Sharon Harrington.

The Seminole Indians, through their Hard Rock franchise, have expressed interest in building one of the new smaller casinos in Atlantic City. Hard Rock Chairman Jim Allen did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Wednesday morning. Linda Kassekert, chairwoman of the casino commission, said no other company so far has publicly expressed interest in building one of the two new casinos.

Kassekert said the new guidelines, following approval of a law earlier this year by the state Legislature permitting the smaller casinos, are "intended to promote the construction of new, first-class casino facilities along the Boardwalk containing first-class restaurants, high-quality entertainment venues, special amenities as well as much-needed hotel rooms."

She said the new law gives Atlantic City "the unique opportunity to grow through the introduction of innovative, one-of-a-kind themed concepts and attractions to add to the traditional gaming environment." The guidelines set an Aug. 19 deadline for applications to participate in the pilot program to build one or both of the new casinos, although that deadline can be extended if not enough applicants come forward by then.

The commission said it wants potential builders to file a "notice of interest" by July 8. Upon being accepted into the pilot program, an applicant has 120 days to pay $1 million to the state treasury that would be forfeited if the project is not completed by established deadlines. That payment will be used to make infrastructure improvements in the neighborhood surrounding the project.

The guidelines also lay out how state regulators would choose applicants if more than two compete to build the new gambling halls. They include evaluating how many jobs the projects would create, how quickly they could get started, how much financing is available, the companies' experience in building similar projects elsewhere and the level of neighborhood benefits, like infrastructure improvements, that would be included in the plans.

Atlantic City's existing casinos are split on the concept of allowing smaller casinos into the market. They say it is unfair to those companies that have invested billions to allow newcomers to enter the market more cheaply.

Yet that is precisely what the bill aimed to do. To compensate for the lower price newcomers like Hard Rock will have to pay, the new casinos will be taxed at a higher rate than the existing casinos. Any new casino would have to be new construction, and not a renovation or conversion of an existing building into a casino-hotel.

The Taking of Atlantic City

New York Post: He set them up perfectly. As if sitting in a basement poker game, Don Johnson played the pigeon, hoping to lull his competitor into a false confidence and a bad beat. But he wasn't playing his buddy from down the block, and this was no $5-ante Texas hold 'em game. He was up against a billion-dollar Atlantic City casino. The game was blackjack. And the stakes were huge.  

Wearing his humble hoodie and a baseball cap, the Bensalem, Pa., player rolled into the Tropicana Resort & Casino. He had called ahead to make sure they would reserve a table just for him. Johnson arranged to play in the high-roller pit, where minimum bets start at $100 a hand and the table limit is usually $50,000 per hand. Only months ago, desperate to lure high rollers, the casino had upped the betting cap from $5,000.  

Over the course of 12 hours, he took advantage of all the freebies the casinos ply their gamblers with, especially alcohol. When the cocktail waitresses made their rounds -- clad in sleek, black bustier-like outfits, dark stockings and high heels -- Johnson drank, and did it liberally, insiders said. He played alone, surrounded by casino guards. Gawkers were shooed away.

Johnson faced off against the black-vested dealer, who shuffled from a shoe of eight decks. As the table's only gambler, he could play multiple hands. He had from one to three running most of the time, depending on the flow of the cards. Fortified with a massive bankroll, which proved unbreakable, Johnson bet as high as he could when the cards were with him, and went small when they weren't.  

He also knew that if he wound up in the red when he finally called it quits, the casino would knock 20 percent off his losses -- an astounding perk he had negotiated with the Tropicana before making the trip there. He also asked for, and received, a $100,000-per-hand table limit -- a sum unheard of except for the biggest whales. With three hands going at once, the higher limit allowed him to bet up to $300,000 a deal. 

Johnson had set the hook. And he was about to slowly reel in his $5.8 million catch.  

The marathon session lasted 12 hours and contained all the ebb and flow of a typical blackjack game. Until, that is, Johnson was able to string together a streak of astronomical odds -- taking more than 40 hands in row, according to a source. The chance of winning that many consecutive blackjack hands are 1 in 47,217,280,736,393,700, said Michael Shackleford, a Las Vegas gaming expert who runs the Wizard of Odds Web site.

In the wake of Johnson's massive payout, the Tropicana fired CEO Mark Giannantonio, who had authorized the $100,000 table limit. But the damage was done -- that month, April, the casino posted a loss in its blackjack earnings. In the 33 years that gambling has been legal in Atlantic City, it was only the sixth time any hotel reported a monthly blackjack loss.  

The Tropicana should have known to be wary of Johnson. He had already divested Caesar's Atlantic City of $4.23 million in December, and the nearby Borgata of $5 million in March and April. "There's no magic to this. I'm beating them with my own skills," Johnson told The Press of Atlantic City.  

"A smart player could gain an advantage with even a 10 percent rebate in blackjack. It's just a mathematical fact that [20 percent] was very generous and very foolish," Shackleford said. A beginner blackjack player has only a 46 percent chance of winning any given hand, Shackleford said. Someone who plays "basic strategy" -- a statistics-driven guide to splitting cards, doubling down and playing every hand -- can boost those odds to slightly more than 49 percent.  

In other words, a gambler playing perfect basic strategy will lose only about 50 cents for every $100 bet, according to Josh Axelrad, professional blackjack gambler and author of "Repeat Until Rich." But card counters -- gamblers who have a system for knowing which cards have been played and which remain in the deck -- can push their advantage up to 67 percent at times, according to the book. Johnson is adamant that he didn't count cards, but that doesn't mean he didn't have a system. 

"Very experienced players, and smart ones -- and Johnson is known to be a very good player -- know how to ride out changes in cards," (Las Vegas gaming consultant Leonard) Benson said. "There can be clumping, for example, when all small cards come out or all high cards come out. If you see a clump, recognize and can capitalize on it, that's to your advantage. He would have had a very good sense of what cards were played."  

The Tropicana says it's sticking with its policy of offering high-stakes tables to big players -- even though they got walloped again in early June by a player who walked off with $5.3 million.

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Atlantic City Casinos Up the Ante

Daily Mail: Soon it might be more difficult to concentrate on the cards at Atlantic City’s casinos.

The Tropicana Casino and Resort is creating a new ‘party pit’ where female blackjack and roulette dealers will wear skimpy bustiers and stockings. It’s part of a desperate attempt by the nation's second-largest gambling market to sex things up as the competition for the gambling dollar grows ever fiercer.

Steve Callender, Tropicana's vice president, said the casino is in the process of hiring dealers ‘with great personalities that look nice’ to work in the new pit. Existing dealers will not be required to wear the revealing costumes when the pit opens over the July 4th weekend.

Down the Boardwalk in the New Jersey gambling hub at Resort Casino Hotel a nightly adults-only Naked Circus is to be introduced in July. The casino has already caused outrage this year with a 60-foot-wide bare bottomed billboard that it placed on the highway in a bid to win back business.

‘It'll be as naked as the law allows,’ said Resorts co-owner Dennis Gomes, who is fast gaining a reputation for his willingness to push sex to promote his brand and generate publicity and buzz. He said the provocative female performers will wear just pasties and G-strings.

The casino has already facing two lawsuits after it introduced revealing flapper costumes for female cocktail waitresses. Older female workers said they were fired after being deemed insufficiently sexy in the new costumes. The black-fringed flapper dresses, worn with black fishnet stockings, are extremely low-cut in the back.

‘Sexiness is just part of it,’ Mr. Gomes said. ‘It's excitement, fun. Everything that Las Vegas has, we're going to have.’

Starting with the 1978 opening of Resorts, the nation's first casino outside Nevada, Atlantic City for years was the only place to play slots, cards, dice or roulette in the eastern half of the United States. But its 11 casinos have been battling for survival as they face competition right on their doorstep in Pennsylvania, New York and Delaware, as well as the recession.

In the last four years a billion and a half dollars of revenue has been lost along with thousands of jobs and tourists. Pennsylvania, which now has 10 casinos, is poised to knock Atlantic City into third place at some point next year.

Gloria Allred and the Case of the Sexy Casino Uniforms

TMZ is reporting that celebrity attorney Gloiria Allred is defending 9 cocktail servers who were fired from the Resorts Casino in Atlantic City to make way for younger women. TMZ's Photoshopped image is on the right.

Allred plans to hold a press conference in Atlantic City at noon Tuesday. The women are suing for unlawful race, sex and age discrimination.

No word on what Allred will really be wearing.

Instant Replay: Atlantic City Casino Workers Fired Because of "Skimpy Uniforms"

Bin Laden Raid Code Name: "Trip to Atlantic City"

Atlantic City?

Sify News: Several hundred people at the Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) were involved in the planning for the US raid on Osama bin Laden's hideout in Pakistan, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

To keep it under wraps before the May 2 raid on the Al Qaeda leader's hideout in Abbottabad, near the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, some referred to it in code as a 'trip to Atlantic City', according to a detailed reconstruction by the US daily.

In his windowless conference room at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, director Leon Panetta had a 16-square-foot model of bin Laden's hideout that was accurate down to the trees surrounding the Abbottabad house, the report revealed. The model was made with the help of satellite spy photos.

In February, a mix of CIA and military officials met around the model to discuss intelligence that suggested a 'high-value' terrorist was there. Analysts said there was 'a strong probability' it was bin Laden, the Journal said.

Working hard to keep the mission secret, officials spoke to one another about the plan in code, with one calling it 'the trip to Atlantic City,' it said. The close cooperation between the Pentagon and CIA revealed by the Journal report marks a shift from an era in which the troops and spies were at odds, analysts said.

It suggests that, moving forward, troops and spies will do more to work together to combat terrorism, they said.

7th Generation Wallenda Wows Atlantic City Crowd

'The Wheel of Death'

Morning Sentinal: A seventh-generation member of the legendary "Flying Wallendas" performed what he hopes will be a world-record continuation of the family tradition on Friday.

Nik Wallenda performed acrobatic moves in "The Wheel Of Death," a rotating steel frame that hung off the side of the Tropicana Casino and Resort's 23rd floor. Earlier in the day, he walked a high-wire inside the casino's shopping area. Both stunts were part of an upcoming television special.

In the outdoor stunt, Wallenda walked inside the wheel for eight to 10 rotations, then climbed on top of it, walked around it and even jumped rope atop it. He did part of the stunt blindfolded.

On the Boardwalk below, several hundred people cheered when he finished.

The wheel is a rotating steel frame with an 8-foot wheel at one end. He'd done the act for about 10 years, he said, but never hanging off the side of a tall building. In the morning stunt, Wallenda carried a 22-foot metal balance pole and edged out onto the high wire 45 feet in the air atop The Quarter, the casino's shopping and dining enclave, stopping for a bit above one of two enormous indoor palm trees.

He dropped to one knee, got up, then lay down on his back atop the wire _ all without a net or a safety harness as the crowd applauded. After completing the 100-foot walk _ forward and backward at times _ Wallenda stepped off the wire and pumped his first skyward to applause from those below.

Wallenda said he had noticed the casino's raised ceiling, where clouds are painted on a light blue background, giving the illusion of an outdoor neighborhood under the sky. "I saw those clouds and said, 'I've gotta walk there!'" he said afterward. "It was an amazing opportunity. I don't get to walk indoors too much."

Christina Arvanites, of Pomona, N.Y., was awed by the indoor stunt. "It was terrific, especially since I can't walk straight on the floor, let alone on a wire in the air," she said.

Chris Heisler, of Atlantic City, admitted he came to see if disaster would strike. "I wanted to see if he'd fall," Heisler said. "I watch horror films just to see people die."

Wallenda said it should be several weeks before Guinness World Records Ltd. rules on whether his outdoor stunt qualifies for the world record for performing the stunt off the side of a building.

Atlantic City's Last Hotel Casino?

Atlantic City's Revel Hotel Casino

Hotel Chatter: While Las Vegas has had its fun (somewhat) opening new casino hotels over the past few years, Atlantic City hasn't seen a new property since the opening of the Borgata's Water Tower back in 2008. But that will change when the planned Revel casino opens in mid-2012.

The Press of Atlantic City reports:

Revel is a play on the word meaning fun. The company plans to entertain its guests by stocking the resort with pools, a spa, 12 restaurants, retail shops, two nightclubs and other attractions found nowhere else in Atlantic City.

One of the most striking features will be a two-acre, landscaped outdoor deck overlooking the ocean. The so-called roofscape will include a man-made “pine grove” of more than 30,000 live trees and plants. Cabanas and fire pits will allow guests to party while soaking up the outdoor decor.

The 47-hotel room tower will have 1,090 rooms and downstairs it will be anchored by a 150,000-square-foot casino floor. However, Revel is shying away from using the word "casino" in its name.

“We are not promoting this as a casino,” Revel spokeswoman Lisa Johnson said. “It’s a lifestyle resort with a casino.

Hmm...we didn't know casino was a dirty word.

Revel will probably be the last new resort/casino to open in Atlantic City for a while. The $2.4 billion project was nearly dead in the water thanks to the mortgage crisis but new financing in February put it back on the fast track.

Still, that doesn't mean that the other casino hotels in AC can't spiff themselves up. And indeed, the Borgata is already working on a renovation of its main tower before Revel opens. Jersey Shore, Season 6 get ready!

Report: Atlantic City Smoking Ban Has Little Effect

Press of Atlantic City: Anyone hoping to gamble in a nonsmoking section at one of the Trump casinos earlier this month might have had to climb on top of a slot machine or sit in the center of a blackjack table.

Floor maps posted on the walls of the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino and the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort showed smoking was prohibited in the physical space occupied by gaming tables and slot machines, but allowed in the area immediately around them, including the seats.

Within a day of a Press of Atlantic City reporter questioning a Trump executive about the smoking sections and pressure applied by the city and state, the casinos reverted to old floor plans that had larger nonsmoking areas.

The city’s partial smoking ban for casinos — applauded by some but viewed as a handicap to doing business by others — turned 4 years old this month. But enforcement of the rules since 2007 has been virtually non-existent. A Press review of city records and observation of floor activity in all 11 casinos show there is virtually no enforcement of the ban by city officials and that casino nonsmoking section boundaries are often ignored. The Press observed patrons smoking in nonsmoking sections in all but three gaming halls: Borgata, Bally’s and Hilton.

In four years, only one smoking ordinance violation on a casino floor has been issued by the city’s Department of Health and Human Services.

“It’s a nightmare for the Health Department,” Ron Cash, the department’s director, said of enforcing the city law. “We’re not surprised by the minimal number of violations. The reality is we don’t have enough inspectors. ... We don’t have the staffing or the resources.”

“The only way we can really do this is to rely on the casino industry to enforce it themselves.”

City code requires casinos to prohibit smoking “on all employee-staffed portions of the casino floor; however, casino licensee operators are permitted to construct nonstaffed, separately exhausted, enclosed smoking lounges on no more than 25 percent of the gaming floor,” the law reads.

There is strong incentive for Atlantic City casinos to allow smoking. The local industry faces growing competition in neighboring states and other locales across the nation. Smoking is allowed on casino floors in Nevada and Mississippi, and Pennsylvania allows it in half a casino’s gaming space. Smoking is prohibited in all parts of casino properties in Delaware, New York and Maryland, according to the American Gaming Association.

A smoking ban can be bad for business: When Colorado and Illinois completely banned smoking in casinos in 2008, gaming revenue fell by double-digit percentages.

The city’s Department of Health and Human Services continues to endorse a full ban and has suggested other changes to the law to make it more threatening. Cash said he would like to increase smoking violation fines. City officials can charge a smoker or an establishment with fines ranging from $25 to $250. Cash said he hopes to see them boosted to the fines outlined in state law, which range from $250 to $1,000.

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Casino Deregulation May Not Save Atlantic City

NewsWorks: New Jersey's latest attempt to help its struggling casino industry will take effect Wednesday. That's when the state will eliminate some staffing requirements for table games supervisors, including pit bosses.

New Jersey has seen nearly 30 months of steadily declining casino revenues. The latest regulatory changes follow a major overhaul of casino regulations earlier this year.

The staffing requirement changes are meant to allow casinos to use fewer supervisors. That could save them millions. But some say deregulation has been tried in the past when casinos were struggling with little long term success.

Temple University History Professor Bryant Simon wrote a book on Atlantic City. "Casinos weren't open 24 hours to start," Simon said. "Well, when profits lagged, they were open 24 hours. In Atlantic City, the casinos had to dedicate more space to non-gaming activities. Well, when casino profits lagged, that regulation went. So here we are at a very dramatic kind of fall in the casino business in New Jersey. And what's the response? Yet again to give the casinos better chances of making money."

Simon says he's skeptical these changes will turn around Atlantic City's fortunes. "It will continue to yield short time revenue windfalls to the state," said Simon. "So maybe casino revenues pick up and the state gets a little bit more money, but it's not going to kind of fundamentally address the problems that Atlantic City's suffering from, that South Jersey's suffering and that the state's suffering, and that is: we need more good jobs."

Simon says the state's reliance on casino revenues means officials don't have to rely on more politically treacherous measures like tax increases. Earlier this month, the state instituted regulations that allow casinos to increase slots odds in their favor and keep more of the profits.

Atlantic City Casino Earnings Down 27% in 2010

Press of Atlantic City: Casino earnings plunged 27 percent last year as the fragile economy and competition in surrounding states made it more challenging for Atlantic City’s gaming industry to make money.

Altogether, the 11 casino hotels posted gross operating profits of $534.9 million in 2010, compared with $729.7 million in 2009, year-end figures released Monday by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement show.

Operating profits fell 44 percent in the fourth quarter to $62.6 million, reflecting a dismal winter for the nation’s second-largest casino market.

Tropicana Casino and Resort was the lone standout for 2010, posting higher operating profits for both the fourth quarter and the entire year. Tropicana is in the midst of a turnaround under the ownership of billionaire financier Carl Icahn, who bought the property for $200 million last year after the troubled former operators were stripped of their casino license.

Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa saw its operating profits drop nearly 15 percent in 2010 but maintained its No. 1 position overall at $174.7 million. Harrah’s Resort was second at $134.6 million, down 9 percent from a year ago.

The Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort, Resorts Casino Hotel, Trump Marina Hotel Casino and Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino all posted operating losses for the year. The Hilton was the biggest loser, posting an $18.9 million operating loss, followed by Resorts at $18.6 million.

Trump Marina, which suffered an $8.3 million operating loss for 2010, is under sale for $38 million to Landry’s Inc., a Houston-based gaming, restaurant and entertainment conglomerate.

While weaker properties such as the Hilton are in the red, Atlantic City’s gaming industry remains profitable overall. However, it continues to be hurt by the sluggish economy as well as stiff competition from casinos in surrounding states. Pennsylvania, Atlantic City’s chief rival, introduced table games last July to intensify their border war.

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Fired Casino Workers Sue for Age and Sex Discrimination

Cocktail servers Jessica Ruiz, Kerly Duran and
Keiona Robbins pose in their Roaring '20s
 costumes at the hotel in Atlantic City, N.J

Seven of the 16 waitresses fired from Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City after posing for the company in skimpy new flapper costumes are suing, claiming age and sex discrimination. Resorts says the reason for the firings was for "violating uniform standards.” The workers suspect that management wanted to get rid of older women who were judged not sexy enough to fit in with the casino’s new image.

The women, all long-time employees in their 40s, 50s and 60s, were told to go into a room and try on the new flapper-style uniforms so they could be photographed.

Nancy Schromsky, one of the fired waitresses, said the uniforms were strewn on the floor and were all sizes two and four. A modeling agency representing the casino later told the 16 they were fired.

“It was very degrading to women,” said fired waitress Kathryn Felici, 53. “I feel they never gave me a chance. We had no idea that photo shoot was fighting for our jobs.”

The casinos management defended their actions, calling the process “fair and objective”. They said they also offered the women other positions in the casino, although some of the women claim they were not offered other employment options.

 In 2008, two former cocktail servers at Atlantic City's Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa settled a multimillion-dollar sex discrimination lawsuit they brought against the casino. They claimed the casino humiliated costumed waitresses, known as "Borgata Babes," by imposing weight limits, encouraging breast augmentation surgery and emphasizing looks over job performance.

Instant Replay: Atlantic City Casino Workers Fired Because of "Skimpy Uniforms"

Atlantic City Casino Workers Fired Because of "Skimpy Uniforms"

NBC New York: Sixteen cocktail waitresses at Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City were fired after being told they’re not a fit for the casino’s new sexy uniforms.

All of the 16 women who lost their jobs were middle-age, long-time employees who were happy to retain their jobs after the casino’s sale only to lose them because of their appearances in a skimpy costume. Union Officials say that Resorts is using the 1920s flapper-style uniforms as a way to get rid of older cocktail waitresses in order to cultivate a younger clientele.

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PA to Overtake Atlantic City in Casino Revenue

Press of Atlantic City: Pennsylvania’s surging gaming industry will probably overtake Atlantic City next year as the nation’s second-largest casino market, Wall Street analysts predicted Tuesday.

Pennsylvania has been growing by double-digit margins at the same time that Atlantic City’s gaming revenue has plunged 30 percent since peaking at $5.2 billion in 2006. Pennsylvania’s 10 casinos, which are spread across the state, took in about $2.5 billion in revenue in 2010, compared to $3.6 billion for the 11 gaming halls in Atlantic City.

As Atlantic City continues to decline, it seems inevitable that Pennsylvania will become the next $3 billion market and should surpass New Jersey for the nation’s No. 2 spot in gaming revenue behind Nevada, analysts told an industry conference.

“Pennsylvania gaming, sometime next year, will most likely be bigger than Atlantic City,” Andrew Zarnett, managing director of Deutsche Bank, said during a panel discussion at the Pennsylvania Gaming Congress.

Zarnett and other Wall Street observers believe Atlantic City will continue to struggle as competition intensifies in the Mid-Atlantic gaming market, including the opening later this year of a new slots parlor at New York’s Aqueduct racetrack.

Even the opening next year of the $2.4 billion Revel casino may not be enough to reverse Atlantic City’s slide, the analysts stressed. Revel, a Las Vegas-style megaresort, is being counted on to draw high-end customers and more conventions.

“I think Atlantic City will fight back a little bit with the opening of Revel,” said Christopher Jones, a director at Telsey Advisory Group. However, Zarnett contended that Revel will not expand the market overall. He warned that Revel may cannibalize a large piece of the marketplace from the existing casinos.

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Atlantic City Sees 6.2% Visitor Drop

ABC News: More than 26.6 million people visited Atlantic City casinos last year, a decrease of 6.2 percent. But a new survey finds spending per visitor fell by only half that amount, indicating that the people who have stopped coming to the nation's second-largest gambling market are the less-profitable customers the casinos have been paying less attention to in recent years.

The stakes are high in Atlantic City, which is in the fifth-straight year of a revenue decline brought on by the explosion of casino gambling in neighboring states and made worse by the poor economy.

For the past five years, it has been trying to remake itself as a destination resort for higher-spending customers willing to stay a few days and take in shows, go shopping and eat at gourmet restaurants in addition to gambling.

A new statistical survey by Spectrum Gaming Group, an Atlantic City-area consulting firm, indicates that the strategy is working, to some extent. It found the casinos' win-per-visitor was nearly $134 last year, down 3.6 percent from 2009 and nearly 8 percent from 2008.

"It's clear that the low-end visitor is more likely to migrate to other places," said Michael Pollock, Spectrum's managing director. "But it also shows that you have the ability to hold on to your high-end visitor if you have something to offer them.

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