Casino Connection Atlantic City

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Unfair Disadvantage

One of the more controversial portions of the table game bill signed last week by Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell involved the Foxwoods Philadelphia casino project on the Philadelphia waterfront. The new law grants the Gaming Control Board authorization to extend the deadline for Foxwoods to submit a construction plan.
The project’s investors asked that the deadline […]

Could Icahn Corner the Market in City that Inspired Monopoly?

Trump Entertainment bondholders have posed an interesting question as they face off with Carl Icahn for control of the Atlantic City casino company. How much influence should one man, one owner, one entity wield in a given gaming market?
 
As Icahn reveals details of his plan […]

Taking It To The Streets

In the last year, we’ve seen gaming disappear from Russia and Ukraine. Tough anti-gambling laws were enacted in Poland that dramatically shrunk the size of the gaming industry there. And in Bulgaria, the tax rate was raised.
        
While there are multiple reasons for these […]

Duel in the Sun: The Jimmy Buffett Wild Card

The corporate bondholders of Trump Entertainment Resorts have made an interesting counter-offer in the battle to gain control of three bankrupt casinos in the shore resort of Atlantic City.
While former Chairman Donald Trump and his financier have offered $100 million in cash for Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Plaza and Trump Marina (below), the beleaguered bondholders–who […]

Trump’s Triumphant Return?

It looks like Atlantic City has regained its most celebrated spokesman. On Monday night, news broke that Donald Trump—real estate mogul, reality TV star, and once and future casino tycoon—will buy his way back into the New Jersey gaming industry.
In February, the former chairman of the board left in what used to be called “a […]

Are Dealers Really That Stupid Or That Unhappy?

Last week, the dealers at Caesars and Bally’s in Atlantic City voted to strike the two casinos for failing to reach an agreement with their union, the United Auto Workers (UAW). My first reaction was that they must be incredibly stupid to vote to strike in this economic environment. But then my second thought was […]

30 Years

I had a meeting with Dan Nita this week. Dan is the chief of the four Harrah’s properties in Atlantic City, and he mentioned that it was 30 years this week since Caesars opened. I was surprised but I guess I shouldn’t have been. After all, last year we did a complete story about the […]

The Power of the Brick Wall

The East Coast Gaming Congress was held last month, and when it came to the future of gaming in Atlantic City, speakers there fell into several categories: the out-and-out cheerleaders and the harbingers of doom. The yay-sayers and the naysayers. The daydream believers and those who think we’re in the epicenter of a perfect storm.
The […]

Sands of Time—AC-style

So now, we hear that Steve Wynn is looking to buy back his masterpiece, Bellagio, from the troubled MGM Mirage and bring it into the Wynn Resorts fold. It is a symptom of MGM’s difficulties in completing the CityCenter project that the second-largest gaming operator may be looking to sell off assets, including the Bellagio.
Yes, […]

Icahn Could Get A Bargain in Trop Deal

The “For Sale” sign in front of Atlantic City’s fabled Tropicana Casino could be coming down any time now. A group of lenders that includes billionaire financier Carl Icahn, onetime owner of the Sands in Atlantic City, have offered $200 million for the landmark casino, which includes New Jersey’s biggest (2,100-room) hotel.
The figure is hardly […]