It’s happening at Atlantic City Hotels and Casinos

This post was really informative - atlantic city gambling history

This site often posts useful news and information about NJ, Philadelphia and adjoining areas. We literally ‘live’ atlantic city but still found some of the information on this post new!

For instance, did you know that Resorts International was the first licensed casino in Atlantic City?

Did you know that gambling only started at 10 AM and wasn’t a 24 hour operation? That’s good to know :). I wouldn’t have wanted to go there at 8 AM and not had a slot machine to drop my money at :)). It always amazes me how there are people at the casino floor at 8 AM.

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The Norwegian Dawn was headed for Bermuda from New York City when a 46-year-old woman went overboard. Searches were conducted by helicopters and other means but they had to stop search after about an hour and a half due to bad weather. I read this news and was pretty saddened. I am sure it was an unfortunate incident but what a horrifying vacation that must have been for the family of the deceased!

This got me thinking about other Cruise-line deaths and injuries. This has been a hot topic of discussion the last few years owing to the increasing number of lawsuits against cruise lines. Cruise lines are always tight-lipped about the matter and have never released official statistics. I feel that they should be required by law to provide consumers with these numbers so that we can make an informed choice.
According to one source, most Cruise deaths are due to natural causes such as heart attack and stroke. This is not surprising to me since a lot of older folks like to travel on ships. May be if the cruise lines make this data public, more people will find the courage to go on board! But I am sure they will never do it unless they are made to do so by law.

This article goes through some pretty good details about Cruise ship accidents and ways in which we can prepare ourselves before taking a cruise trip.

We provide news and information about Atlantic City and Atlantic City Hotels.

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Atlantic City now has much cleaner air since April 15, from the day when a new smoking law went into effect and restricted smoking to no more than 25 percent of casino floors in the city. The law took effect exactly a year after New Jersey’s Smoke-Free Air Act prohibited cigarette, cigar and pipe smoking in private office buildings, restaurants, bars, and other indoor places. Smoking in Casinos, however, remained unaffected. Smoking bans have proven to be the biggest motivation for people to want to quit

The council had been ready, after New Jersey’s ban on smoking in all workplaces except casino floors and tobacco shops took effect in 2006, to completely ban smoking on the casino floors. But it was a move casino owners vigorously opposed because they feared a substantial drop-off in business with gamblers who smoke. The casinos were probably right that a complete ban would have resulted in lost customers and revenue. So the city council instead passed an ordinance limiting smoking to no more than 25 percent of the casino floor.

The new law is a result of conciliation between Atlantic City and the casino industry in the city. While the city intended to ban smoking completely in the city’s 11 casinos, the casino industry objected, saying the move will result in a 20 percent loss of revenue and the termination of up to 3,400 casino employees. Casinos in the city placed signs to notify the patrons which areas are smoke-free and where they can indulge themselves in a cigarette. Only few people needed to be reminded not to smoke in smoke-free areas.

As enclosed lounges will protect casino workers from cancer-causing smoke. The enclosed smoking lounge on casinos floors in Atlantic City, approved by the city council there, makes sense. Ultimately, this is a solution that takes the interests of smokers and nonsmokers into account and offers a reasonable solution.

Not surprisingly, that solution has not been loved by dealers and other casino workers who are still exposed to cancer-causing cigarette smoke. However, one casino, the Tropicana, came up with a plan to make its casino floor smoke-free except for enclosed smoking lounges, thus sparing dealers from having to stand a foot or two away from lit cigarettes. Other casinos followed suit with these lounges. Offering smokers a place to light up without having to walk too far from the slot machine or table where they’re playing is a practical solution. Smokers can get their fix without having to walk far to get to the Boardwalk or street. Dealers and other workers don’t have to breathe in the smoke and risk their health.
According to health experts, the ban has already started to show short-term benefits to the health of the nation and there are expected to be significant long-term benefits. According to a new report released in England, over 40% of smokers who tried to quit their habit, did so because of smoking bans in public places where they went. Smoking bans are becoming more and more of a common thing in the U.S. and abroad. Every year an estimated 53,000 Americans die because of exposure to secondhand smoke, say health experts, and that’s not to mention the hundreds of thousands who develop serious diseases as a result — cancer, asthma and heart disease. So far, 18 states have passed laws banning smoking in public places, but sometimes special exemptions in those laws make the bills all but meaningless.

The full smoking ban was to take effect 90 days after being signed into law by Evans. But just before the vote, a compromise was reached between council members and casino officials to extend the deadline to Oct. 15, 2008 to have the smoking lounges built.

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Atlantic City Race Course is located off Black Horse Pike next to Hamilton Mall in Mays Landing - 14 miles from Atlantic City and 46 miles from Philadelphia. The track is readily accessible from Atlantic City Expressway Exits 12 or 14, White Horse Pike via Cologne Avenue or Pomona Road, and Garden State Parkway Exit 44 (via Pomona Road) or 38A (via AC Expressway). The Atlantic City Race Track station was built off a 2.8 mile spur from the PRSL main line. Special race trains served the track until the early 1960s. A weekend race day could draw half a dozen or more long passenger trains, filled with passengers playing special excursion prices.

For those of us that were hiding behind the rocks for the past few decades, The Atlantic City Race Course is for horses. Jockeys ride on their backs and beat them with little whips to make them go faster. The horse that crosses the finish line first is the one that wins. A race rarely lasts longer two minutes, and it takes them about twenty minutes or more to set up for the next race. A night of racing usually sees about ten races.

The admission charge for races at the Atlantic City Race Course is only $2.50. You must be 18 years of age in order to bet at ACRC, but you can get in to watch the races no matter what age you are. If you’re 21 years of age, you can also buy alcoholic beverages at the track, though they might be a bit pricy.
Atlantic City’s 2008 live thoroughbred Turf meet closed Friday, May 2nd and for the second year in a row, broke 15-year attendance records and was the highest attended track in the country for the week. The attendance for the six days was one of the best in the country and reveals that racing is still popular in South Jersey, one of the best turf courses in the country.

In 2007, the four-day horse-racing meet drew 18,442 fans. The final day’s reported attendance was just less than 6,000. As long as Atlantic City Race Course receives some of the same supplement being requested by the three other tracks in New Jersey – Monmouth Park, the Meadowlands and Freehold Raceway –fans can expect an increase of up to 20 days in race days and even better turf competitions.
Atlantic City Race Course doesn’t receive any of the purse subsidies provided by the Atlantic City casinos to the New Jersey racing industry because of its short meets. With the recent legalization of in-home betting in New Jersey and the opening of a Greenwood OTB in nearby Vineland, however, the future of the track is being openly questioned by horsemen. Pure racing venues are becoming less typical in the era of racinos. It is highly unlikely that a horse racing only facility will be constructed in the foreseeable future. ACRC is as pure a race venue as they come. To see it torn down would be a real loss to the local fans who really seemed to enjoy the races and to those who respect the history of thoroughbred racing.

The success of the current 6 day meet with very little publicity is evidence that live racing can draw a crowd at ACRC. Let’s hope that it chugs along for another season and that the rest of the 2008 season and the 2009 season bring more prosperity to this historical racetrack.

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Tropicana Casino & Resort announced their forthcoming, much anticipated grand opening of “Havana Roof Top Slots,” on May 15th. “Havana Rooftop Slots”, is a 3,000 square-foot raised section of its casino that has been entirely altered into an all-about, themed slot environment.

Of all Atlantic City hotels, only Tropicana has the dignity of having 21 world-class restaurants, non-stop activities, a dazzling assortment of over 30 shops and south Jersey’s only IMAX Theatre… all on the Atlantic City beach and Boardwalk. Tropicana has always been an innovator of new games for the casino floor, with a selection of all favorites that surpasses that of other Atlantic City casinos. They sense that by bringing in Havana Rooftop Slots they guarantee their customers a premier-eminence hotel, amusement and casino experience.

In the increasingly hypercompetitive market, surrounded by new properties coming online in the near future, it was important for them to create this unique, ‘one of a kind’ environment that could visually and interactively excite their visitors . They wanted their customers to enjoy an ambiance that puts them at ease and makes them deem that they are a world away. Welcome to the Havana Rooftop, a Cuban infused flair that truly extends it to the next level on the casino floor.

As the city continues to grow with new developments, for Tropicana to succeed, customer service will be their cornerstone. Visitors to the new slot area will be greeted by specially uniformed staff and surrounded with the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of Old Havana, Cuba. Authentic Cuban music, vivid artwork, specialty drinks and coffees, festive lighting, and the faintest aromas of citrus will entice the senses while players enjoy the latest in slot skill and entertainment, further which the casino hopes will distinguish them as the destination of choice for gaming enthusiasts.

A 2008 independent study states that more than 35,000 visitors to Atlantic City and Las Vegas showed that visitors preferred Atlantic City. The “Always Turned On” destination won in each of the six categories: customer satisfaction, value for price, very likely to recommend, pampered, hip/cool, and sophisticated. The Hospitality Index is the largest and most in-depth measure of performance within the hospitality industry, surveying more than 35,000 people quarterly. The results of the study are very encouraging for Atlantic City and venues such as the Havana Rooftop Slots is expected to drive this point across.

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