Atlantic City facelift is a sure bet
The three new casino hotel towers opening this year will add more than 2,500 rooms to a city where it can be difficult to book a room at a casino hotel on a weekend. The Borgata Hotel Casino %26amp; Spa will open its Water Club tower with 800 rooms and a host of amenities; Harrah’s is opening a second tower with 941 rooms; and the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort is adding nearly 800 more in its second tower. Construction work will pick up this year on the $2 billion ocean-themed Revel casino at the end of the Boardwalk next to the Showboat. And by spring, Pinnacle Entertainment will reveal details about its Atlantic City casino. Monte Carlo hotel update A recent fire burned the exterior facade along the roof of the Monte Carlo hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Ron Lynn, chief of the Clark County (Nev.) Building Department, said the 32-story building will remain closed until resort owner MGM Mirage Inc. completes work to the roof-line foam building material. A spokesman for the casino company said he did not immediately say how long that would take. Lynn and an assistant Clark County fire chief, Sandra Baker, said most fire damage was to the exterior of the top five floors of the 3,213-room hotel. The roof was not damaged, they said, declining to estimate repair costs. “The building is in a safe condition,” Lynn said. “We feel it’s habitable from the casino up through the 26th floor.” The cause of the three-alarm blaze remained under investigation, Baker said. If you’re planning on staying at the Monte Carlo, watch repair developments and call ahead to check on progress. Shuffle the cards Each year, the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas features a twist. This year, there will be eight events that require a player buy-in of $10,000, up from two last year. They include the granddaddy of them all, the World Championship No-limit Texas Hold ‘em tournament, now simply called the Main Event. Last year, Jerry Yang, a social worker from California, outlasted more than 6,350 competitors in the Main Event and won $8.25 million. The other high-stakes buy-ins will be for world championships in games such as heads-up hold ‘em, seven-card stud, and Omaha. And for the third year there will be a $50,000 HORSE event, featuring five variations of poker, that mainly attracts accomplished pros. The poker World Series, played at the Rio All-Suites Hotel %26amp; Casino, is actually a collection of 55 tournaments that culminates with the Texas Hold ‘em championship. The World Series is scheduled to run from May 30 to July 3, when the Main Event will start, and run for about 13 days. Some of the cheaper events, expected to draw as many as 3,000 players, include seven $1,500 no-limit hold ‘em tournaments and qualifying tournaments, called satellites, that cost as little as $330. Another change this year is the elimination of the outdoor poker tent that Harrah’s Entertainment tried last year. The tent was meant to add playing space but was unpopular with players. Details: worldseriesofpoker.com. Proposed Catskills casinos rejected The federal government has rejected plans for two Indian casinos in the Catskills, saying the gaming sites aimed at drawing high rollers from New York City might leave their faraway tribes worse off. The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe had sought to build a $600 million casino in Monticello in Sullivan County, about 90 miles from New York City. The Stockbridge Munsee of Wisconsin had also sought to build a casino in Sullivan County. Both were rejected in separate letters sent Jan. 4 to tribal leaders by Department of Interior Associate Deputy Secretary James Cason. The St. Regis Mohawk tribe is located about 350 miles north of its proposed site. The Stockbridge Munsee are more than 1,000 miles away. “The remote location of the proposed gaming facility may encourage reservation residents to leave the reservation for an extended period to take advantage of the job opportunities created,” Cason wrote in identical language to the two tribes. “The potential departure of a significant number of reservation residents and their families could have serious and far-reaching implications for the remaining tribal community and its continuity as a community.” The Stockville Munsee had sought approval to acquire in trust a 333-acre parcel in the town of Thompson. The St. Regis Mohawks had sought to acquire a 29-acre parcel. Proponents of the St. Regis casino envision an entertainment complex with approximately 125 table games, 3,500 slot machines, 24 poker tables, and numerous restaurant and retail venues, that they claim would create more than 3,000 permanent jobs. COMPILED FROM WIRE REPORTS PHOTO: The Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort is adding nearly 800 more rooms in its second tower. It’s just one of many high-profile construction projects going on this year. WORLD SERIES OF POKER PHOTO: Feeling lucky? If so, the World Series of Poker starts in May in Las Vegas. PHOTOS.COM
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