East Coast Gambler -

The Atlantic City Press has a great article looking back at the past year and forward to this year for each Atlantic City casino.  Click here to see all of the analyst comments.  Below are the bullets for each casino.  I covered most of this as it was announced (go me!), but here’s a consolidated list.

Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino

Opened: May 14, 1984

Owner: Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc.

Employees: 2,187

2009 revenue: $202.3 million

Trump Plaza’s dismal performance in 2009 included a 28.7 percent decline in table game revenue and a 20.2 percent drop in slot winnings. The property will likely fall below $200 million in revenue in 2010. In 2005, it had more than $303 million in revenue.

This Boardwalk casino could use a facelift. Not much has happened since the casino floor was remodeled in 2006. Its architecture is hopelessly outdated. The Boardwalk entryway is like a portal to the 1980s.

Whoever wins in the bankruptcy fight over the Trump casinos will have to decide whether to unload the Plaza or upgrade it to take advantage of its prime Boardwalk location.

In what seems far-fetched now, in the pre-recession days of 2006, casino titans Donald Trump and Steve Wynn briefly played with the idea of redeveloping the Plaza into a

$3 billion megaresort.

Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort

Opened: April 2, 1990

Owner: Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc.

Employees: 4,097

2009 revenue: $446 million

Donald Trump once boasted that this Indian-themed gaming palace was the “eighth wonder of the world.” Although it falls short of that lofty assessment, it did prove to be one of the few casino standouts in a dreadful year. The Taj joined Borgata as the only casinos that avoided double-digit revenue declines. For the Taj, it was 7.6 percent.

Moreover, the Taj was the only casino to have only a single-digit decline in both slot and table game revenue. Taj’s ace is its new 800-room hotel tower. Opened in Labor Day 2008, the $255 million expansion has generated extra hotel and convention business without using slot machines or table games as the main attraction. The tower is completely gaming-free.

Taj’s new owner will get the new tower, a remodeled casino, surrounding property good for expansion and the world-famous Steel Pier amusement park. Trump Entertainment flirted with redevelopment plans for the historic pier, but always lacked the money. With the right vision, and enough financing, a revamped pier jutting 1,000 feet over the ocean could become, well, the “eighth wonder of the world.”

Trump Marina Hotel Casino

Opened: June 17, 1985

Owner: Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc.

Employees: 1,799

2009 revenue: $162.6 million

Trump Marina is the cellar-dweller for gaming revenue. Overshadowed by Marina District neighbors Harrah’s Resort and Borgata, the smallest of the three Trump casinos pulled in only $10 million in revenue in December. That was 25 percent lower than December of 2008.

For 2009, Trump Marina’s slot winnings plummeted 19.2 percent, to $125.3 million, and table game revenue fell 23 percent, to $37.3 million. Its total revenue of $162.6 million was even less than the $176.6 million that the tiny Sands Casino Hotel had in its last full year of operation in 2005.

The Sands closed down in November 2006 and was imploded a year later to make room for a proposed new casino. Analysts wonder whether Trump Marina awaits the same fate. Efforts to sell the Marina for $270 million failed last year, and now the casino is part of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy battle for the entire Trump Entertainment gaming empire.

Icahn is vying with a bondholder group backed by Donald Trump for control of the Trump casinos. A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge is scheduled to rule in February whether Icahn or the bondholders will take over.

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Bally’s and Caesars in Atlantic City were recently fined for allowing underage gamblers in their casinos.  Bally’s had to pay $55,000 because they let a 15 year old boy play roulette while Caesars was fined just $30,000 for letting a 20 year old girl play blackjack.

Bally’s Atlantic City was fined $55,000 by the state Casino Control Commission for allowing the teenager to play roulette in June 2008. The boy was caught on the casino floor by state gaming investigators who suspected he was under the legal gambling age of 21.

In the second case, Caesars Atlantic City paid a $30,000 fine for failing to catch a 20-year-old woman who won $8,500 while playing blackjack in January 2006. Just three weeks earlier, she had been arrested for underage gambling at another casino.

I understand that casinos can’t catch all underage gamblers, but a 15 year old boy seems to be easy to notice.  The 20 year old girl is almost as comical as she took Caesars for $8,500!  That’s a hot streak.  Way to go security.

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JMP has a little bonus report from Atlantic City to go along with his NFL picks this week.  I don’t like many NFL games this week, so I think I’m going to stay away until Sunday.

It’s time once again for JMPicks! Before I do, though, I’m hoping The Commander will let me digress a bit and expand upon a comment I made to his recent post about the Pier at Caesars. I posted about how I feel that Trinity Irish Pub & Carvery is the ONLY ‘Irish pub’ in AC. I’ve had 2 or 3 meals at each and can unequivocally say that if you just want to grab a drink and ‘eat’, go to the Irish Pub, but if you want to DINE, go to Trinity. 

My first time at Trinity, I thoroughly enjoyed a big bowl of their seafood chowder and their ‘beer battered burger’ – a hamburger battered, deep fried and served without a bun, accompanied by French fries with a curry dipping sauce. More recently (3 weeks ago), I went with my wife, my two kids (2.5 yrs and 8 mos) and my in-laws and we ALL had a great time. My wife had the beer-battered fish-in-chips, my MIL had the flat iron steak, my DIL had the shepherd’s pie, my 2.5 yr old had grilled cheese & French fries (she ALWAYS has that!) and I had their roast pork special that came with apple stuffing and mashed potatoes with scallions (a dish I learned is called ‘Champ’ on my most recent trip to Ireland). We all enjoyed our food and half of us had to take leftovers home, as the portions are HUGE (those who didn’t take something home, like myself, were REALLY hungry!). What’s more, this place was quite kid-friendly. They have booster seats and high chairs and understand that a toddler’s grilled cheese and French fries should come out ASAP.

Regardless of what happens with the Pier, I really hope that all the eateries, but especially Trinity, remain open.

Now, onto football. Those of you paying attention will notice that I screwed myself out of two ‘wins’ last week by switching picks at the last minute based on weather. 9-7 is good, but 11-5 would’ve been great. I honestly thought the weather in Foxboro and Buffalo would be worse than what it was, so in the future, I’ll be much more careful and try to only switch b/c of confirmed downpours or high winds.

DET @ CHI (-10) – the Bears D gave up yards AND points to Seneca Wallace and the Seahawks last week, while the Lions got their first win in ages. I think Chicago will win, but Detroit will play with confidence and, last I checked, Brian Urlacher isn’t walking through that door for the Bears. Take the Lions.

CIN (-5.5) @ CLE – Mangini was just dubbed the worst coaching hire of all time and somehow I doubt that will motivate him to get his players to like him or even coach a coherent game. The switch to deep ball thrower Derek Anderson may get them some more points, but their D will give up many more. Take the Bengals to blow them out.

SEA @ IND (-10.5) – the Colts will be feeling really good about their Sunday night win when they take the field at their quiet, spacious, new stadium. They’ll be without Dwight Freeney and facing a QB a wee little bit more mobile than Kurt Warner. I mean, yeah, it’s Seneca Wallace, so the ‘hawks will lose, but they’ll beat the spread.

NYG (-8.5) @ KC – I’m really going out on a limb here b/c I know the Giants pretty well, but I just can’t see the Chiefs coming back and making this a game once the G-men get out to a lead, especially with Dwayne Bowe out. With trepidation, I’m taking my Giants.

BAL @ NE (-2) – yes, Baltimore runs the same D that Rex Ryan used to shut down Brady in Week 2, but it’s Joe Flacco on the road and the spread is less than a FG. Take the Pats.

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EMI doesn’t allow for embedding of the original “Waking Up In Vegas” video.  I found this remix of Katy Perry’s song on YouTube for this post.  It’s not a great remix, but Katy Perry is still in the video so who can complain?  She’s easy to look at.

I heard this song the other day and thought the subject would make for a fun post.  What do you do when you wake up in Vegas?  I usually do one of a two things…

I’m an early riser no matter what time I go to sleep.  I’m always the first awake no matter who I travel with.

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News from Pennsylvania to Las Vegas back to Atlantic City and a gambling tale.  Here is the week in review.

• Why I’ll Never Play Golden Monkey Slots Again
• NFL and Government Really Are OK with You Gambling
• New Header
• 2 Card High – New Casino Table Game
• Why Pennsylvania Getting Table Games Matters
• Want A Free Room At Harrah’s Atlantic City?
• Aubrey O’Day Upset Over Nude Pictures
• Week 3 NFL Picks
• Bad News For Atlantic City Pier Shops

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Bad news this week for the Atlantic City Pier Shops at Caesars as their owner, Taubman Centers Inc., decided to turn the property over to its lenders.

“Taubman has made the decision not to fund the negative cash flow, and we’re going to start talking to the lenders about restructuring the debt,” Lisa Payne, Taubman Centers’ chief financial officer, said in a telephone interview. The lender may end up owning the asset, she said.

This isn’t too surprising as foot traffic in Atlantic City casinos has been very slow over the past year and not very crisp since the shops opened a few years ago.  Increased competition from other markets gave Taubman Centers enough of a reason to cut their losses.

I’m not sure what the future holds, but the perception of these shops is mixed.  Some think the shops are too high end, while people like me just don’t shop when gambling.  There are some cool restaurants and bars, but the 2-1 comp rate from Caesars makes it disadvantageous for me to eat and drink there.

Having these shops become deserted would be a bad look for Atlantic City and an eyesore to consumers.  I would think something would happen to keep the shops open with hopes that the economy turns and things get better for Atlantic City in the next few years.

In the meantime, I’ll keep my business elsewhere and save my comps for places that aren’t 2-1.

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August’s edition of Atlantic City video poker research showed both new and old information.  Video poker makes up about half of the gambling I do at a casino so I like to do my research while preparing for a trip.

vpFREE hasn’t had an update to most of the Harrah’s properties (Ballys, Harrahs, Caesars) since March so there isn’t anything surprising.  However, things were different when I looked at the Tropicana and Trump boardwalk properties.

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