Last week, Donald Trump let fly with some strong words about the new ban on smoking on Atlantic City's casino floors, to be implemented Oct. 15. I certainly agree with the The Donald's personal antipathy to smoking and his thoughts about the potential fallout from banning it in Atlantic City's public spaces is worth pondering. What's even more worrisome is analyst Dennis Farrell's observation that the impact will be felt most in table games, Atlantic City's strongest bulwark against encroachment from Pennsylvania, Delaware, etc.

Wall Street didn't fail to notice Trump's pessimism, either, rewarding him with a kick in the pants. The price continued to burrow downwards today, passing $2.80/share. Even at $3.14 one analyst didn't hesitate to brand Trump Entertainment Resorts as "overvalued." It's been long since clear that there's going to be no major turnaround at TER as long as Trump himself is involved in any meaningful way. But who has both the borrowing capacity and the desire to take on three Atlantic Casinos right now? Don't everybody raise your hands at once.

Harrah's sweats the small stuff. The bean counters are keeping busy at Harrah's Entertainment. When not pulling out of big overseas projects or trying to offload its London Clubs properties, Harrah's is nickel-and-diming its customers on the Strip. For instance, a sports book supervisor at Harrah's Las Vegas was reduced to pulling excuses out of his @$$ to avoid taking a bet from Las Vegas Sun columnist Jeff Haney. (And if you think my characterization is harsh, see what Haney himself has to say.)

Oh, and the world's largest casino company is saving a few extra pennies by ditching its Las Vegas Review-Journal subscription (second item). True, the R-J is hardly the best newspaper in Sin City, but it's the only daily one. Welcome to the wonderful world of private equity buyouts.

On the other hand, Harrah's must be doing at least a few things right, as the latest set of Majestic Research comparisons, show Harrah's properties not named "Rio" continuing to increase Strip market share, mostly at the expense of MGM Mirage ones not named "Bellagio." Players like to grumble about Harrah's properties -- but they keep playing there.

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