Scarcely had Gary Loveman opined that a few casinos in Atlantic City needed to close than they began toppling like dominoes — some by his own hand. Headed to the casino graveyard alongside the Atlantic Club and the Showboat is Trump Plaza, whose owners contemplate a mid-September shutdown. Unlike the Showboat, Trump Plaza has been making negligible revenue for nearly as long as we can recall. Like Showboat and Revel, it hasn’t been able to attract buyers. Worse, it hasn’t been able to attract gamblers. Unlike the Showboat closing, this isn’t a rash and questionable decision but more of a
mercy killing. It’s not Trump Entertainment Resorts‘ job to subsidize unprofitable casinos.
There were predictable reactions. Unite-HERE President Robert McDevitt called for state “action equal to the magnitude of this pending catastrophe.” Minority owner Donald Trump, of course, washed his 
hands of everything: “I let them use my name, but I have nothing to do with it. Atlantic City has suffered for years. Many mistakes were made by government, tremendous mistakes, including no reinvestment in town; they would take casino revenue and put it in places that had nothing to do with Atlantic City. I got out seven years ago; my timing was tremendous.” (The Associated Press disputed the accuracy of Trump’s remarks)
In any event, the Plaza’s numbers were wretched, grossing $6 million a month last year and down 27% from that this year. One obviously sympathizes with the 1,000+ workers who may soon be out of jobs, but this is the one casino closure that was overdue.
* That GLPI/Isle of Capri Casinos takeover may have been snuffed out before talks began in earnest. Isle has restructured its management, shedding $2.5 million in salaries. CFO Dale Black got the chop and Chief 
Strategic Officer Eric Hausler‘s position will be eliminated. Hausler (left) replaces Black. The company will also proceed without an executive chairman of the board. With 40% of the company held by the founding Goldstein family, their opinion counts for a lot and Macquarie Securities analyst Chad Beynon thinks GLPI’s offer didn’t impress. Isle still has a ways to go to achieve its goal of $12 million a year in savings but it’s made a big first step.
* Penn National Gaming‘s loss has become Tropicana’s Entertainment‘s gain.
Although Trump Plaza wasn’t bringing in much gambling revenue, TER was running that place on a shoestring budget that they were actually making a small profit there. The problem with TER is that they should have never been awarded the properties. They had no money to run them and the judge gave the properties to the bondholders because they gave the Donald 5% of the new company to use his name. If the mortgage holder, Carl Icahn, was given the properties, they wouldn’t have been saddled with over $350 million in debt (the mortgage on the properties.)
How the mighty have fallen. TP was always one of, if not the best, performers in town pre Taj opening. It hosted some of the best concerts and sporting events in AC history. Trump neglected it and the rest is its latest history. Another sad story.