Breaking news out of the NY Times: casinos like Asian high rollers: Casino operators have long recognized that a large number of Asians, especially Chinese and Chinese-Americans, are avid gamblers. For years, casinos have dispatched special buses to any Chinatown within a day’s drive. Recently, though, casinos have become much more aggressive in wooing Asians […]
Asian high rollers: the new thing? Read More »
atlantic city, gambling & culture, life in vegasWhat’s the Atlantic City of the future going to look like? I think we have an inkling of an answer with this story from the Press: Atlantic City casinos may be opposed to competition at Bader Field, but the director of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority told a Senate Committee on Thursday that the property
I stopped by the Sands garage sale yesterday, and it was about what you’d expect the latter stages of a casino garage sale to be: depressing. There really wasn’t anything good left, and the former casino floor, without all the blinking slot machines, just looked cavernous and even gloomy. There were still a few matresses
You’d think that a used bed would be about the last thing you’d want to buy from a failed casino, but you’d be wrong: Atlantic City’s erstwhile Sands has sold 950 of them. From the Press: Every single bed — about 800 double beds and 150 king-size beds — from the Sands’ 500-room hotel tower
Take a casino bed home! Read More »
atlantic cityAmong Trump properties, it is–it’s about three times the casino as the Marina and Plaza. From the AC Press: Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino or Trump Marina Hotel Casino, or both, probably would be demolished and redeveloped if the proposed sale of Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. is completed, they say. “Most comments heard from other
First off, a mammoth hurrah to the AP’s Wayne Parry. An Eliot reference in the first line of a story about gaming revenue? Classic. Sure, anything in April is a bit obvious for Eliot, but I’ll take what I can get. If you don’t like poetry, you can skip ahead a bit for some juicy
Fear death by decreased revenue Read More »
atlantic cityPinnacle Entertainment had its first quarter conference call today, and CEO Daniel Lee had some interesting thoughts on Atlantic City. I don’t usually do this, but here are some excerpts from the transcript by Bloomberg: Well, we’ve been consistently saying we expect to build something on the same order of magnitude as the first phase
It seems apropos. From the AC Press: Actually, hundreds of thousands of items will be up for grabs as the old Sands Casino Hotel clears out its vast contents in an “everything must go” sale beginning 10 a.m. Thursday. The public sale will continue for the next 30 to 45 days until the place is
Sands ends with a garage sale Read More »
atlantic city, news about gamblingOne of the most important keys to running a casino is the ability to monitor and account for your cash flow. In a business with no tangible products, the only way to tell if you are making or losing money–or have a leak somewhere–is to keep tabs on every cent that comes in. Some casinos
Maybe this is why they went bust Read More »
atlantic cityI just found out about this from Yahoo: Director Martin Scorsese has teamed with his “Departed” co-star Mark Wahlberg for an HBO drama series about the development of Atlantic City. The project will be developed in conjunction with the book, “Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City” by Nelson Johnson, which
It’s not TV, it’s AC on HBO Read More »
atlantic cityWith a just-opened parcel of land that many developers would kill for, what do you think the City of Atlantic City is doing? A) Fielding a variety of bids from interested developers before choosing the one that best promotes regional growth B) Hiring a developer with a proven track record to masterplan the site and
No Bader master plan yet Read More »
atlantic cityI’m going to warn you: this story has nothing to do with casinos. Not on the face of it, anyway. From the AC Press: When Gary E. Pettus retired Dec. 1 after more than 26 years on the resort’s police force, he planned to live off his $4,600 monthly police pension. Instead, he and about
Jack Potts to the rescue Read More »
atlantic city, haphazard worldMy father wrote for the Atlantic City Press when I was growing up (which probably explains my friendliness for the media). As a child, I believed that the Press was one of the finest and most significant newspapers in the country. I think I actually thought that the Sunday morning show “Meet the Press” had
Mouse obit in the Press Read More »
atlantic cityIt’s a busy day for me, because this morning I was live on KNPR’s State of Nevada. You can click that link for a link directly to the show, and I think you can even listen. I’m part of the panel in the first segment. It was a lively talk about pro sports potentially coming
Down in the depths on the 80th floor Read More »
atlantic city, life in vegas, what's newIn the early 1990s, competiton from Foxwoods forced many changes on the Atlantic City casino industry, most of them good: new games like keno and poker, 24-hour gaming, and several others. Now, Foxwoods, arm-in-arm with MGM Mirage, might–might–be coming to the World’s Favorite Playground. From the AC Press: The American Indian tribe that struck it
I covered this story when it happened in Novosibirsk, so did you think I wouldn’t post on it when it happens in my hometown? From the AP: An Atlantic City woman playing the penny slots Saturday morning left the Resorts Atlantic City casino with her own little jackpot – a new baby boy. Eight-months pregnant
Casino maternity ward Read More »
atlantic city, haphazard worldEven though I’ve never been to Blackpool, England, I’ve always had affinity for it–at least since I heard people describing it as the Atlantic City of the UK. Like AC, the city has had some bad beats in the past. Also like my hometown, it has been looking to casino gaming to rejuvenate it. But
If you thought ultra-luxe casino spas were confined to the Las Vegas Strip, you once might have been right. But two Atlantic City resorts are opening lavish spas in what may be the opening salvos of (dare I say it) Spa Wars. From the AC Press: For sheer magnificence, it may fall short of the
Smoking in AC casinos could be ending this April, or not. If AC’s City Council decides to ban smoking effective April 15, rest assured that I have the requisite T.S. Eliot quote on hand, and I’m not afraid to use it. But nothing is decided yet, as you can see in the AC Press: About
AC casino cigs up in smoke? Read More »
atlantic citySome people say that there’s a “curse” on players featured on the box of Madden NFL. This Snopes article does a good job of reconstructing it. Others have said that there is a Megabucks curse, or a curse on lottery winners. I think it makes sense to compare the two. BTW, Snopes has an article
It can’t buy happiness Read More »
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