Late last month, the porte cochere of the Atlantic Club collapsed. As metaphors for the long-suffering property go, you can’t get 
much better than that. Despite this recent debacle, owner TPM Properties has actually found a buyer for the bounced-around ex-casino. Unfortunately, nothing is known at this time about the buyer, the purchase price or about new plans for the Atlantic Club, whose gaming entitlement was removed by Caesars Entertainment. Whatever transpires, renovation would appear to be the first order of priority.
Speaking of Caesars, congratulations to the company on raising $2 million for victims of the Stephen Paddock shooting spree. Not content to stop there, the company is also arranging a benefit concert to raise still more. Celine Dion, as you might expect, will be among the headlines.
* S&G recently interviewed Jackpot Digital CEO Jake Kalpakian (pictured) about his company’s newest product, Jackpot Blitz. Well, it certainly made an impression on gaming expert Steve 
Ruddock at Global Gaming Expo. It leads his rundown of new games reviewed, with Ruddock calling it “definitely a cut above.” That being said, he doesn’t feel that it’s product destined for integration into traditional poker rooms. “Rather, they could be an interesting addition at slot casinos, or wherever table games are prohibited by law. Electronic and live dealer blackjack and roulette games have done well in these settings, so it would be interesting to see how a poker table would do,” Ruddock writes.
That being said, skill-based slots were “prominently featured” by the establishment, while newbies like Gamblit went “from an upstart company in a small booth, to a major player with a sizeable footprint in a centrally located area and an attention-grabbing booth.” Another SKS prime mover, GameCo saw its booth mobbed. Ominously, online gambling “was conspicuous in its absence.” Hurricane-battered Antigua and Barbuda would like it to be present — and want the U.S. government to make good on a $200 million punitive judgment from the World Trade Organization, stemming from Uncle Sam’s interdiction of Internet gambling to the islands. Such a payment would go a long way toward repairing storm damage to the area.
* Paragon Gaming gets a rave notice for its reinvention of the 
long-suffering Horizon as Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Lake Tahoe. The only drawback to playing there would seem to be that points earned its elaborate player-reward system, since the casino is a one-off, unaffiliated with any other Hard Rock-branded properties. However, since Paragon runs casinos from Westgate Las Vegas to new Parq Vancouver, we think it could do a little better by the player.
The “Atlantic Club” or whatever you want to call it; bewilders me. Does it need work; absolutely, but it is still one of the nicest and warmest hotels, in probably the best section of Atlantic City. Too bad the water park proposal did not work. It would have been an interesting concept to resurrect that asset.
Agreed on the Hard Rock Lake Tahoe. Went there last winter. Nice little place and MAJOR improvement from the dumpy Horizon (previously owned/leased by Col Sux; of course).