{"id":19963,"date":"2017-07-20T08:07:42","date_gmt":"2017-07-20T16:07:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=19963"},"modified":"2022-12-18T10:04:43","modified_gmt":"2022-12-18T18:04:43","slug":"starting-over-at-the-taj","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/starting-over-at-the-taj\/","title":{"rendered":"Starting over at the Taj"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI think that we were trying to copy what was happening in Vegas.\u00a0Everything out there had a theme, and I think that is what we were trying to do.\u201d So says former Trump Taj Mahal<\/strong> executive Steve Norton<\/strong> \"\"about the ultra-gaudy casino that become his erstwhile boss’ signature property. The beginning of the end of the Donald Trump<\/strong> era came this week, as Hard Rock International<\/strong> began removing the marquee and some external decorations, just the first step in converting the Taj into a sleek, modernistic, Hard Rock-branded resort. Interestingly, Trump was more forward-thinking than some of the his, favoring an open casino-floor plan of the type that has become standard, while Norton leaned toward the traditional maze layout (and if you’ve ever been to Excalibur<\/strong> you know that gets old quickly). If the financing of the Taj ultimately was its undoing, it could have been worse: Trump wanted to outfit the entire property in “the finest quality” marble, an urge that — had he not been talked out of it — could have been even more disastrous for the bottom line.<\/p>\n

Buried in The Press of Atlantic City<\/em>‘s coverage is the disclosure that Carl Icahn<\/strong> parted with the resort for $50 million. That’s chicken feed — and a huge embarrassment\u00a0for Icahn. One can see why he didn’t want the \"\"number publicized. Meanwhile, the Taj continues to sell its now-unwanted inventory, giving thousands of Garden State citizens a chance to walk off with a piece of (rather tacky) history. Gaming consultant Robert Ambrose<\/strong> pronounced this epitaph of the Taj:\u00a0\u201cThe legacy of the Taj is a monument built on the ideology of the day, reflecting the excess of the \u201880s and \u201890s.\u00a0In some respects, it is a model to a lack of vision among some of the corporate power brokers and government entities that influenced decisions during that period.\u201d With Trump having traded the Taj for the White House<\/strong>, could a new era of excess be in store?<\/p>\n

* Slot revenue in Pennsylvania<\/strong> may be showing some fatigue, calling into question the Legislature’s desire to expand video gaming, but tables are doing just fine<\/a>. In the Philadelphia<\/strong> area, SugarHouse<\/strong> Casino<\/strong> was up 12%, while slot revenue rose nearly $2 million. Slots retreated nearly $2 million at Park Casino<\/strong> but table revenue was up 9%. There wasn’t any good news to report at Harrah’s Philadelphia<\/strong>, where slots tanked, down $15 million, while tables slipped 2%. That casino just can’t catch a break.<\/p>\n

* Roulette is enjoying a boom year in Nevada<\/strong>, giving craps a run for its money, so to speak. Not only is it a well-known, interactive game, its simplicity of play is giving it a leg up with patrons. This spin of fate has not noticed the escape of table-game developers, who are working on new side bets for those who crave a higher level of complexity when betting than “Baby needs new shoes.”<\/p>\n

* The Trump administration stuck up for a land-into-trust transfer for California<\/strong>‘s Wilton Rancheria<\/strong>, one that was being challenged for a minor deviation from administrative protocol. The decree was \u201cfinal for the [Interior<\/strong>] Department<\/strong>,\u201d said Acting Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Michael Black<\/strong>. Casino opponents are now promising a court challenge<\/a> but Wilton leadership is sanguine. While Chairman Raymond Hitchcock<\/strong> hopes to break ground on a casino by 2020, first he must negotiate a compact with Gov. Jerry Brown<\/strong> (D). That timeline pleases Stand Up for California<\/strong> Chairwoman Cheryl Schmit<\/strong>, who sniffed,\u00a0\u201cThis dismissal doesn\u2019t change anything. The casino is still a long ways off.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI think that we were trying to copy what was happening in Vegas.\u00a0Everything out there had a theme, and I think that is what we were trying to do.\u201d So says former Trump Taj Mahal executive Steve Norton about the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[65,23,34,82,42,172,165,7,140,91,207,95,25,20],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19963"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19963"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19963\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32066,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19963\/revisions\/32066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}