Revenue at the casinos in Atlantic City have been dropping monthly for over two years. The dealers union doesn’t care about that and was able to get dealers at the Tropicana a raise of 18% over the next 5 years.
As part of the agreement that was reached today, dealers will receive an eighteen percent raise spread out over the next five years. It was the first union agreement that dealers have ever completed in Atlantic City, and residents are commending the arrangement.
“With all of the negativity that has surrounded us (Atlantic City) here in the past couple of years, it was nice to see that the casino and their employees could come to an agreement on fair pay,” said Lillian Bell. “Hopefully, the other casinos can follow suit and create new deals with their workers.”
I’m all for getting what you can, when you can but at face value this seems as if it’s trying to get blood from a stone. In the short term this may be good for the dealers, but if things don’t pick up in Atlantic City the raises won’t matter because there won’t be a need for dealers and hours will be cut because of increased cost.
The Tropicana did what they had to for business today and they’ll do what they have to for business tomorrow…for better or worse to the dealers.
I came across a couple good recaps on the Atlantic City overhaul and wanted to pass them along.
Die is Cast dissects the plan item by item. Overall, there is some excellent perspective on the reality of Chris Christie’s plan for Atlantic City.
In a nutshell, this means: no more subsidy for the racetracks; no slots at racetracks; no interstate Internet gambling; no sports betting.
It’s a major plan that will require several breaks from the past. Even if I knew all of the details, I couldn’t say definitively whether it will or won’t work, since there’s many moving parts here that are impossible to predict. But at least someone’s interested in reviving the city.
Stiffs and Georges offers a lot of video from the press briefings and plenty of observations on the plan. They also shout out to Dr. Dave Schwatz at Die is Cast.
“You have to be bold. We are in difficult times and we have to turn this state around,” Christie said this morning. S&G agrees that the time for boldness is long past due. If Christie is closing the barn door after the horses have fled, it’s through little fault of his own. His huevos are even bigger than Donald Trump’s ego. Perhaps the governor is taking his cue from Frederick the Great: “L’audace, tourjours l’audace.”
Two excellent reads on the subject. If I find any other interesting articles I’ll pass them on via twitter.
The Veer Towers at CityCenter opened this week. The towers are the kind of cool, crooked looking condo buildings at CityCenter. About 100 of the 600 units have been sold and closed with just 6 having moved in. The Las Vegas Sun looks at overall condo sales at CityCenter.
With no casino and no gambling, I don’t see myself reading and sharing much about Veer Towers. Keep up with the towers at their website.
Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc is about to emerge from bankruptcy and the bondholders are ready to do work getting Trump Casinos into a better place. Plans include updating Trump Plaza and selling Trump Marina.
Trump Entertainment’s new owners plan to spend money updating Trump Plaza, and want to attract more families to Atlantic City in order to compete with new casinos closer to their homes in nearby states, Lasry said today during commission questioning.
Coastal Marina LLC, controlled by Richard T. Fields, had agreed in 2008 to buy Trump Marina and turn it into a Margaritaville casino resort. Last year, Fields renegotiated the deal, which included settlement of an unrelated lawsuit, and then reached yet another plan with bondholders to buy the Marina before Trump switched sides and aligned with them.
These are welcome changes and potential additions. My last experience at Trump Plaza was nice, but the casino doesn’t seem as if it’s been updated since the 80′s. A makeover will do nicely.
I’m not a parrothead, but I love the attitude of Jimmy Buffett fans. All they want to do is drink and have a good time. Even if Trump Marina doesn’t become the next Margaritavile casino, new owners and a major face lift will do the casino good. It’s the only ugly property at the marina area, which is becoming more popular with young casino-goers every day.
There have been rumors about an NBA team moving to Las Vegas for at least five years. Those rumors are fueled again with talks of a deal being in place if Las Vegas builds a new arena for a team.
“We have an NBA team under contract,” Milam (Chris Milam, CEO of International Development Management LLC) said, declining to name the franchise. But the deal will take effect only if “other pieces of the puzzle fall into place: One of those pieces will be that a building (arena) is approved,” he said.
Detroit Pistons: The Pistons are mentioned specifically in the article because Karen Davidson, the widow of the long-time owner Bill Davidson, has said the team is for sale. Detroit’s economy, of course, is getting killed, and that, combined with the team’s increased struggles, has caused the Palace of Auburn Hills to be sparsely populated, even though it’s outside of the city. Odds: 3-1
New Orleans Hornets: The Hornets’ money problems are no secret, and they just fired the very competent Jeff Bower as their GM. Oh, and they might trade away their best asset in Chris Paul. Also, they’re probably for sale, though you never know with George Shinn. Odds: 3-1
To no surprise the Riviera (hotel and owners) filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization yesterday.
…because this is a Chapter 11 filing backed by the key creditors, it’s likely the Riviera Las Vegas and the Riviera Black Hawk will operate normally through the bankrupty process.
This is backed by the bulk of the companies creditors, so don’t expect Riviera to go away too quickly. Hopefully this reorganization includes renovations and cleaning up of one of the last remaining casinos from the old strip. Sometimes I’m nostalgic.
