Cleanup Needed On Pacific Avenue: Atlantic Club Ceiling Collapses
Not everything in Atlantic City is getting revitalized or rebuilt. Some parts are literally falling apart.
The ceiling at the entrance of the shuttered Atlantic Club collapsed last week. The former resort casino has been the subject of acquisitions that have fallen through in recent years.
The AC is one of several closed casinos in NJ that have not reopened, and with no imminent plans to do so.
Someone’s going to have to clean that up…
Luckily, the Atlantic Club is not currently active or hosting any guests. It’s been closed since 2014.
Here’s a look at the damage:
The Press of Atlantic City was on the scene to detail what happened, quoting Atlantic City’s director of licensing and inspection Dale Finch as saying:
“The drywall and Styrofoam ceiling of the porte cochere collapse created a large pile of debris, exposing insulation early Wednesday morning. By Wednesday afternoon, the pile of debris was removed. We talked to the owners, and they said they are going to be here either tomorrow or Friday to make the needed repairs.”
In good news for the resort’s resale value, it appears there’s no actual structural damage.
Purchases for shuttered NJ casino have fallen through
On at least two different occasions, investment groups have tried to purchase the Atlantic Club to reopen it as a water park.
The most recent attempt came this spring, when it appeared that an effort to buy the resort and turn it into “Dolphin Village” — sans casino gambling — was all but a done deal.
But the financing for the acquisition fell through, and the Atlantic Club continues to sit vacant as a result.
[i15-table tableid=4289]No new chatter on Revel/TEN casino reopening
The biggest shuttered resort in AC — Revel (or TEN AC) is still closed. A bidder has emerged for the property that has sat closed for years, shortly after it was built for a price tag in excess of $2 billion.
But since a report that the potential buyer upped its bid, things have been silent.
For now, the only plans to open a closed casino will come next year, when Hard Rock relaunches Trump Taj Mahal.
[i15-table tableid=4289]Image credit: Creative Family / Shutterstock.com
After Raiders Move, NJ Congressman Wants NFL’s Help On Sports Betting
New Jersey Congressman Frank Pallone Jr. has made it his mission to help his home state get legal sports betting.
Latching onto the NFL’s move of the Oakland Raiders franchise to Las Vegas is the latest tool he is using to accomplish that.
Pallone wants NJ sports betting
Pallone has been a central figure in New Jersey’s quest to legalize sports betting within its borders.
The law passed by NJ — and currently tied up in the federal court system — has been a state-level effort.
But Pallone has tried to advance federal legislation and do some PR to help his state out on the sports betting front.
The NFL and the other US pro sports leagues have challenged that law via a federal law — PASPA. So far, New Jersey has lost its case at every turn.
What Pallone said about/to the NFL
The latest example of Pallone’s PR efforts came on the heels of the NFL stating its intention to head to Vegas.
Nevada, of course, is the only state where anyone can bet legally on single games — including the NFL. Here is the statement that Pallone released this week:
“Today, the NFL owners almost unanimously voted to approve the Raiders organization move to Las Vegas. This move is a clear sign that the league owners’ attitudes toward sports betting has changed. I hope that following today’s vote, I can count on the support of the NFL and the NFL team owners for my efforts to legalize and regulate sports betting.”
The NFL probably isn’t quite there on sports betting
Despite Pallone’s wishes, the NFL probably is going to be joining the fight for legal sports betting.
As Pallone points out, having a pro sports franchise of any type in Las Vegas would have been a pipe dream in the recent past. The Raiders move at least offers a softening of the NFL’s stance against sports betting.
But the NFL has been opposed to sports betting vehemently in the past. And from Goodell’s comments this week, that hasn’t really changed, at least publicly.
The Raiders move is a good development for New Jersey sports betting. But don’t expect the NFL to be on the front lines fighting for its legalization.
Image credit: dean bertoncelj / Shutterstock.com
Pair Of Players Hit Six-Figure Scores On NJ Online Casino, Poker Sites
A couple of lucky players hit it big on New Jersey gambling sites in recent weeks, at two different online casinos and poker rooms.
That’s in addition to the winners that took home cash during a massive tournament poker series that just wrapped up at PokerStars NJ.
$150K handed out at Sugarhouse
The newest entrant into the New Jersey online gambling market is SugarHouse. That’s a Philadelphia casino that recently decided to get into the iGaming business in NJ.
While the online offering from SugarHouse is relatively new, it didn’t take long for a player to hit it big.
The user johnnyboy55555 won over $150,000 in cash on PlaySugarHouse.com. Here is how it went down, per SugarHouse:
Starting on one lucky day, Friday the 13th, he played over 20,000 slot spins on Mayan Riches across 12 days. He built up a few small deposits into a hefty profit of OVER $150,000!!! We approved and issued his cash withdrawal within 50 hours of his request.
A big score at PokerStars NJ
After more than a year, someone finally spun for big cash at PokerStars NJ.
The user ‘VaderWolf’ became the first winner of a $100,000 Spin & Go poker tournament. The promotion launched last spring, but the biggest prize had yet to be triggered in the turbo, three-player sit and go tournaments.
Here’s how PokerStars NJ described the action:
After buying in for just $10 to play the fast-moving, three-handed turbo tournament, ‘VaderWolf’ managed to defeat ‘martillo1978’ and ‘TLC-365’ to claim the lion’s share of the loot, winning a cool $100,000 in just minutes! For their part, both runners-up pocketed $10,000 each as a consolation prize.
PokerStars is still running these $100K Special Edition Spin & Go’s. Players can win anything 2x to 10,000x their buy-in in the Spin & Go’s at PokerStars.
Also at PokerStars…
PokerStars ran its first “Winter Series” throughout January. The collection of tournaments guaranteed more than $275,000 over the course of ten events. The series exceed expectations in terms of turnout, as prize pools totaled $366,000.
The main event surpassed its guarantee of $75,000. The prize pool edged past $100,000, making it one of the biggest online poker tournaments ever to take place in New Jersey.
There were 183 entries and 90 re-entries in the $400 buy-in event. ‘MattEMenz’ from Barrington, N.J., took the top prize of $20,935.