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.
Source: Philly.com
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