It’s happening at Atlantic City Hotels and Casinos

News like this makes my day! Atlantic City’s beaches have been around for years and attracted tourists from far and near for centuries. It’s the only gaming resort destination along a natural coastline. Despite this fact, the beaches in Atlantic City haven’t been renovated in years. Whether it was the Government’s lack of vision to convert Atlantic City to be as big and famous as the Las Vegas or the lack of someone like Steve Wynn here is a matter for debate. But today is not the time for it

U.S. Republican Frank A. LoBiondo has secured $10.4 million in federal funding to replenish Atlantic City’s beaches and for local construction. Though the amount is not significant enough to completely overhaul the look of the beaches, it’s good enough to make some long-overdue repairs and improvements.

The Press of Atlantic City reported today in their note - http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/186/story/412684.html that

U.S. Rep. John Adler announced that he has helped secure $16.7 million in funding for his district, including $11.7 million towards a beachfill project on Long Beach Island.

Way to go Atlantic City.

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The Borgata, without a doubt, is Atlantic City’s finest Casino/Hotel-Resorts. It’s done to Atlantic City what the Mirage did to Las Vegas in the 80’s - revived it from being more or less a gambling town to the status of an international destination for vacationers and gaming enthusiasts alike. Borgata means “a little village” in Italian. Borgata has quickly risen to its status as the backbone of the Atlantic City casino industry. Borgata aimed to bring the luxury “packaged entertainment” concept from Las Vegas to Atlantic City and boy, did they do a good job at it!

Borgata hotel and spa opened its doors to the public on the second day of the month of July in the year 2003. That’s not very long ago, you’re right, but quite a bit has happened at  Atlantic City in these five-odd years. This world class hotel is co-owned by Boyd gaming and MGM Mirage - another first of its kind, a collaboration rare in the Gaming or any other industry for that matter. The project of Borgata hotel and spa was also considered to be a Tunnel project in the year 1999 because Steve Wynn (yep, the guy that’s credited with making Las Vegas what it is today, and the owner of the hugely successful Wynn and Encore Resort in Las Vegas) wanted to connect the Atlantic City expressway of around 4 kilometers directly to the resort. This tunnel would bring in direct traffic to the Marina Bay where the Borgata is located. This tunnel never saw daylight though, plagued by controversies and lawsuites. Donald Trump sued Wynn suggesting that Wynn was using the tunnel as a driveway to his casino. Despite those setbacks, Borgata opened amidst great hope of a new era of success at Atlantic City.

Fastforward a few years, today, the Borgata is the fastest growing casino in Atlantic City with more customers and revenue going its way than any other casino. It has the largest Poker room in Atlantic City, which was created in 2006 where the major World Poker Tour is organized. Its spa is by far, the best in Atlantic City, attracting people from nearby states including New Yorkers, in large numbers. Several new projects are in place as well - some details are on their Wikipedia page here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borgata

The Borgata, like any other successful operation in the Casino business, has seen its share of controversies and issues. In 2005 they issued a policy recommending that the Hotel authorities fire any cocktail waitresses who gained weight which is more than 7% of their body weight and don’t lose the excess weight within ninety days. Newspapers and tabloids took a generous stab at the Borgata for harrassing their employees. Borgata booked twenty three people on 14^th November for their alleged involvement in the illegal sports gambling ring that was run out of their poker room. After proper investigation it was discovered that out of the twenty three people booked, six were employees of Borgata and four people were known mob associates. Not a good thing for a leading casino to boast about!

Despite these controversies, the Borgata Hotel and Spa has managed to stay ahead in the Casino race and their Poker events are still a classic. With the recession hitting Atlantic City big time in 2008, Borgata is among those few casinos that’s still standing tall and holding it’s own.

Image Courtesy Of www.wgyates.com/project_view.asp?d=5&p=54

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YES, the tough get going..Atlantic City is not enjoying the best times ever, nobody contests that. At the same time, though, when the going gets tough, that’s when smart people take advantage of the weak markets to get going. At a time like this, most casinos cut thier marketing spending. That’s when the smarter go all out and acquire new customers for a fraction of what it would have cost them during peak competitive season. Haven’t they read about Warren Buffet. I know it’s easier said than done, but the way Atlantic City casinos are falling down like a stack of cards, it makes one wonder who picked their top executives. Our belief is that the best will thrive. People and businesses that truly have a good product and the ability to adapt to changing times and believe in what they do, will thrive. The problem is that public casinos these days are often led by Managers and executives that lack such drive. Perhaps they are more focused on their fat bonuses and short-term benefit than the longer-term success of the company. Sometimes I wonder whether small business owners are perhaps driven a lot more toward their businesses compared to executives at large corporations. The move from family and privately owned casinos to commoditized, consolidated casino companies, did bring with it benefit of equality and regulation but took away some of the ownership and pride from Atlantic City’s casinos.

The Press of Atlantic City reported that non-gaming revenue at Atlantic City is still rising despite gambling revenue being 7.6% down in recent months. We can only hope that the smart execs at these companies don’t follow Trump’s example and actually face the receission head on and come out ahead.

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It may be hard to believe but gambling was not legal in Atlantic City a few decades ago and now this city is one of the most famous destinations for world class casinos. After Las Vegas, Atlantic City is considered to be the second largest casino city and there are many world famous casinos in this city. The incredible growth of the casino industry in seen a corresponding increase in demand for experienced management. Casino exec jobs are not like your local retail management jobs - they are pretty well paid and a career of choice for many.

Top executives at casinos include the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice President, Vice President of Sales and Marketing and the Senior Vice Presidents of Operations. The total cash compensation received by these top executives of the casinos may depend from casino to casino but it can range from thousands to millions of dollars every year. The total cash compensation includes the total of base salary plus bonus pay. This can be a really crazy amount and all you geeks out there, if you are wondering why you had your head in the books and avoided cards, we don’t blame you.

The salary of such executives also vary between land based casinos and riverboat casinos. The salary of the executives at a land based casino are usually higher than those of a riverboat executive. Land based casinos are usually larger and offer a wider variety of facilities compared to riverboat casinos. Land based casinos are also situated in destination casino markets such as Las Vegas and Atlantic City whereas the markets for riverboats casinos are secondary.

Casino Executive bonuses have suffered during the recent economic downturn. Several casinos have announced salary freezes, bonus cuts and even Executive layoffs at times. Casino company stocks have suffered huge losses, which usually affect executives the most due to their significant ownership interest in stock options. But overall, casinos are still operational and surviving the crisis. Unlike other industries, casinos at least haven’t closed or asked for bailout money. Casinos made it through 2008, despite their losses. Destination cities such as Atlantic City usually bounce back from recession faster than local casino towns. remains to be seen where the casino industry will end up at the end of 2009.

Image Courtesy Of www.cdms777.com/aboutus.html

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The 100% smoking ban was in effect for only a few days before the City Council reverted back to the 75-25 law that allows 25% of the slot floor to be smoking and the rest smoke free. - http://www.casinocitytimes.com/news/article.cfm?contentID=175911. We’ve heard debates for and against the law all of 2008. A recent poll shows that 47% of the pollers were acceptable to smoking inside Atlantic City casinos. That is a significant statistic. The debate continues - http://www.topix.com/forum/city/atlantic-city-nj/T2HB61AUHCT0IQ2NT.

The 75-25 law perhaps does not do enough for non-smokers and leaves smokers feeling unwanted all the same. The law tries to satisfy both but really falls short in both directions. The comment by a non-smoker:

I for one was a die hard Atlantic City gambler until the smoke just was too much and I actually felt the negative effects personally. I elected to go to the 100% SMOKE FREE Slot Casinos in DELAWARE. Not really the same but will do until AC wakes up and pulls their heads out of the sand. People don’t want to be around smoke anymore, plain and simple.

And here’s one by a smoker:

One thing the poll does not identify is how many people that participated in the poll actually visit the casinos? I think a general poll would provide the results reported, but a poll of the people that actually go to casinos on a regular basis would give you different results, most likely an increase in the acceptance of smoking and increased smoking areas.

At AtlanticCity.com, we lean towards a smoke-free Atlantic City. We feel that smokers can always smoke outdoors or in designated smoking areas. Fresh air is something everyone loves - even smokers. It can never go out of fashion.

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