Hot news

Dublinbet

Dublinbet

DublinBet.com is an innovative and classy casino and card room. It offers classic online casino game favourites plus some of the best live dealer games on the net for January 2012.

Through the latest webcasting technology you can interact with dealers from the privacy of your home (or office!). The sounds and dealer action is live from the Fitzwilliam Card Club and Casino, in Dublin Ireland. DublinBet's Distance Gaming® is a 'must try even if you're not fussed for live dealer games - try the unique early payout

+ More info...

888

888

Do you find it hard to get to a live casino to play poker? Then simply come to 888poker, the best poker online room in Australia and experience the same thing with no hassle.888 Casino is one of the most famous casinos in cyberspace, thanks to some of the most eye-catching promotions in the industry and an ongoing commitment to innovation. Owned and operated by a subsidiary of 888 Holdings plc, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, 888 Casino was launched in 1997 and more than 25 million people have played here since.

+ More info...

365 Casino

365 Casino

Enjoy a huge selection of casino games at 365 Casino with monthly bonuses and weekly promotions, Play Blackjack, Roulette, Baccarat, Slots, and Video Poker and win big at 365 casino. 24hrs a day, 365 days a year Safe & secure with excellent Customer Service.

+ More info...

Elegance Casino

Smart Live Casino

The unique thing about Smart Live Casino is its live casino games. It offers live baccarat, live roulette and live blackjack where the player sees the dealer and the action unfold infront of his own eyes. They have a fully array of games as well as sports betting. The site also comes in a variety of languages.

+ More info...

Atlantic Club casino shuts its doors

E-mail Print PDF
Atlantic Club casino shuts its doors

Last updated: Tuesday, January 14, 2014, 1:07 AM

ATLANTIC CITY The Atlantic Club Casino Hotel closed early Monday, a victim of the casino saturation taking place in the Northeast.

About 1,600 people lost their jobs at 12:01 a.m. as the 33-year-old casino shut its doors. Tearful employees embraced one another and exchanged goodbyes.

Cocktail server Ursula Moralski, who had worked at the casino since the day it opened, said its struggles were evident.

"We've seen it coming, but we're still shocked it's actually happening," she said. "It's sad. I've been here half my life."

Battling for years against newer, bigger casinos in Atlantic City and in neighboring states, the Atlantic Club had sought a buyer for years but was unable to attract one. It filed for bankruptcy in November and was sold for a combined $23.4 million just before Christmas to two competitors who will strip it for parts.

Tropicana Entertainment bought the table games, slot machines, and customer lists, while Caesars Entertainment bought the 801-room hotel, for which it has no immediate plans.

"I never thought it would end this way," veteran cocktail server Catherine Irizarry said last month on the day the bankruptcy sale was finalized. "I came here from Caesars when it was the Golden Nugget because it was the hot place to work. I never thought it would go down."

The Atlantic Club opened in December 1980 as the Golden Nugget, owned by casino magnate Steve Wynn. It soon became Atlantic City's top-earning casino, and its TV commercials featured Wynn bringing fresh towels to Frank Sinatra, who often performed there.

But over the years, as the Atlantic City casino market expanded, the casino changed hands several times and went through a handful of names: The Grand, Bally's Grand, the Atlantic City Hilton, ACH, and finally the Atlantic Club.

As newer casinos opened with 2,000 rooms and hot nightclubs, pools, and spas, the Atlantic Club was no longer so special. It lost market share to its local competitors, and its decline was hastened when the first Pennsylvania casino opened in 2006.

The Atlantic Club was more dependent than the others on convenience gamblers looking to play for a few hours, then drive or ride the bus home. It struggled further as many of its best customers forsook it for gambling halls closer to their houses.

Its owner, Colony Capital L.L.C., a Los Angeles hedge fund, paid more than a half-billion dollars for it in 2005.

It searched in vain for a purchaser for the last three years before inking a deal in December 2012 to sell itself to the PokerStars website for $15 million.

But that deal fell apart within months because of concerns over whether the website's management could qualify for a casino license in New Jersey amid an unresolved indictment against the company's founder.

Steve Norton, a former Atlantic City casino executive and current casino consultant, said the Atlantic Club's closing will benefit the market by removing unneeded capacity and the excessive discounting that he said was helping keep it afloat.

He said Atlantic City should brace for additional casino closures, particularly if gambling is allowed to expand to the Meadowlands in the next several years.

"This is very unfortunate for the several thousand employees, whose families rely on their casino jobs, but those with gaming training may find a new opportunity if Meadowlands gaming is approved in the future," he said. "The Atlantic Club's casino may be the first, but probably not the last."

Annette Flack said she and all her coworkers asked to work one last day together Sunday.

"I don't care if we make $2," she said last month. "We want to go out together."

Added food server Lisa Schaper: "Everyone said they wanted to come to work."

As of Monday morning, Atlantic City was down to 11 casinos.

Read more http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNGeBJ1cEf4L1frRgedVVIBjm5VEmw&url=http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20140114_Atlantic_Club_casino_shuts_its_doors.html

You are here