Here's a story from The Press of Atlantic City yesterday that shows a possible problem for the Revel casino project. I was pretty excited about this casino after I saw the plans for this casino. It was different for Atlantic City and definitely a place I would check out as I am just dieing for a good poker room with great dealers.

Atlantic City Housing Authority questions financing for $2B. Revel casino

By MAYA RAO Staff Writer, 609-272-7221
Published: Friday, January 11, 2008

ATLANTIC CITY - The head of the Housing Authority raised questions in an interview Friday about whether Revel Entertainment Group has sufficient financing to follow through on its proposal for a $2 billion casino on which construction has just begun in the South Inlet.

Dennis Ricci's remarks followed a controversial decision the authority made at a special meeting Thursday night that will hamper Revel's access to $53 million its financers are holding in escrow until it has a so-called reverter clause stricken from its agreement with the authority. The casino, slated to open in 2010, would be the biggest and most expensive in the resort.

"The question that needs to be asked is why this is undercapitalized," Ricci said. "Everyone knew going in that the reverter was in place. (Revel CEO and Chairman Kevin DeSanctis) knew it was in place. That was their business decision."

The authority maintains that all of its redevelopment agreements have carried such a clause, under which developers must complete construction within a specified period - among other requirements - or the land "reverts" to the Housing Authority. The measure was implemented to hold developers accountable after the resort in decades past saw a slew of failed promises resulting in vacant lots; the authority only removes it from agreements once construction is complete.

An agreement from a previous developer bearing the clause was carried over to Revel in 2006 once the company, backed by Wall Street giant Morgan Stanley, purchased five acres of authority-owned land as part of its 20-acre beachfront site. Revel only recently submitted papers seeking 20 different amendments, one of them a request to drop the reverter clause.

The Housing Authority approved the majority of the amendments sought. And it offered to meet Revel halfway, said Ricci, by agreeing to remove the clause once the company secured permanent financing. So far, Revel is operating on $160 million in interim financing in an effort to start construction quickly even though permanent financing was difficult to obtain because of problems in the credit markets. Revel expects to secure permanent financing in three or four months.

"We will bend over and do something we have never done for anyone else before by taking out the reverter prior to completion," Ricci said.

The unanimous vote has prompted threats and criticism from Revel, which said it was counting on tapping into its $53 million in escrow by the end of the month to proceed with the project. Revel officials met with Mayor Scott Evans in City Hall on Friday to press the issue, and several City Council members are backing an ordinance for next Wednesday's meeting that would eliminate the authority's redevelopment powers.

Escrow money aside, just $68.3 million of Revel's interim financing is allotted for construction improvements; $52 million is going to pay off existing debts, authority documents show.

"That's (the construction improvements) less than 3 percent of project," Ricci said. "That's a very small amount of money."

"The reverter is the only control or remedy the public sector has in case there are any defaults along the way," he added.

Revel attorney Lloyd Levenson raised sharp questions about the Housing Authority's motivations, claiming the authority asked Revel during the course of their negotiations for money in exchange for dropping the clause.

"They know as well as everyone else knows that this is a partnership between Morgan Stanley and Revel, and we have done more in a year than any other developer has done on that site in 40 years," DeSanctis said.

Levenson, who said the company has spent more than $250 million overall on the project - including the cost of the land - also noted that the authority would only have the power to "revert" five acres of land, which would be useless because it is too small for a hotel or casino.

Among the other concessions the authority granted to Revel, according to documents, was extending the term required for completion from three years to four - with the option of extending that term by paying $250,000 for every six-month interval after. The Housing Authority balked at an additional request from Revel to change the period the authority has to approve its permanent financing to just 10 days. The authority is pushing for a 30-day period.

The Housing Authority is also asking Revel to increase its hiring goals for unemployed and under-employed resort residents from 20 to 30 percent, a proposal that Revel rejected, according to Ricci.

City Council passed a resolution Dec. 28 ordering the authority to approve the amendments Revel was seeking, but Ricci claims he did not find out until later and had to call the Clerk's Office for the documents. Evans said he met with Ricci on Friday.

"The city is very concerned about this issue and the city intends to see that everything can be done in an amicable way to see that the Revel project continues without any disruption," Evans said.

The mayor has a seldom-invoked veto power over authority meeting minutes, according to the city code, which says that no action taken by the authority is effective until approved by the mayor or 10 days after a copy of the minutes is delivered to his office.

Evans, who was unaware of that power, said he would consult with the city solicitor on it and that he believed the issue could be resolved within the next few days.

Councilman Tim Mancuso said he thought the authority had acted with good intentions, though some miscommunication may have occurred, and suggested that all parties could sit down without having to "go to war."

State Sen. James Whelan, D-Atlantic, a former resort mayor and frequent critic of the government's interference here with attracting what he believes is much-needed development, had this to say: "Frankly, this is the kind of snag that comes up that developers look at and kind of say geez, what's going on?"

To e-mail Maya Rao at The Press:

mrao@pressofac.com

I know I am a little late on this, but sometimes even the real job gets in the way of things.

On Wednesday, the World Poker Tour announced the creation of the World Poker Tour Ladies League. The WPT is incorporating a title into the events it was previously holding.

I bet all the women out there are asking, well how can I play? Easy. Come to the Borgata on Jan. 20. It’s the first stop of the five-date tour. I have every intention of playing in this tournament. I actually had planned on it before it was given this prestigious title. This is part of my lesson in becoming a better tournament player. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Women are a growing demographic in the game. In every poker room, you can find a handful of women, not all are good, but they are there.

However, the men still seem enamored by the fact women are playing in their game. Some even get scared. One time I sat in a cash game at the Taj and the man to my immediate left got up and said he couldn’t play with women on the game because they take all his money and suck out.
Well, except for that silly Showboat tourney I played in recently, I don’t suck out. I think he just plays badly.

But it’s comments like that that scare women away from the game. It’s relative to high school where there have been studies done showing girls are intimidated by boys. That was never my problem, which is probably why I enjoy sitting at a poker table so much.

These women’s tournaments and women’s events are great for these other types of women though. It’s a much more relaxed atmosphere and they get a chance to enjoy a social game with women of the same interests.

As much as there are other women playing poker now, I find it hard to find another woman I can actually enjoy poker with. Either they think they are better than they really are and don’t want to listen to advice when they ship it, or the women just love the social aspect of the game.

I plan on being at the Borgata for my first major tournament. And as I’ve learned, you have to play bad to win these things. Just kidding.

Here’s the rest of the schedule:
• January 20 – Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa – Atlantic City, NJ – $300+$50
• Feb 2-3 – Commerce Casino* – Los Angeles, CA – $970+$95
• March 16 – Bay 101** – San Jose, Ca. – $300+$30
• March 29 – Foxwoods Resort and Casino – Mashantucket, CT – $530+70
WPT Ladies’ Championship
• April 13-14 – Bellagio – Las Vegas, Nevada – $1500+$90
• April 25 – Final Table

Check out the latest article from The Press of Atlantic City on the selling of the Tropicana.

LATEST NEWS: Colony Capital makes $850M. offer for Tropicana
By DONALD WITTKOWSKI Staff Writer, 609-272-7258
Published: Wednesday, January 9, 2008

ATLANTIC CITY - Colony Capital LLC, a private real estate investment firm that already owns two Atlantic City gaming halls, has made an $850 million cash offer for the troubled Tropicana Casino and Resort.

Los Angeles-based Colony expressed its interest in a letter to Gary S. Stein, a former New Jersey Supreme Court justice who is overseeing Tropicana's sale in his role as a state-appointed conservator.

Colony spokeswoman Lisa Baker declined to comment Wednesday night. Other company representatives in Los Angeles and New York could not be reached. The Press of Atlantic City learned of the offer from people familiar with Colony's letter.

The Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort and sister property Resorts Atlantic City are owned by Colony affiliates. Colony tried to acquire Tropicana in 2006 but was outbid by Kentucky-based Columbia Sussex Corp. in a $2.75 billion takeover of Tropicana casinos in Atlantic City and Las Vegas formerly owned by Aztar Corp.

Columbia Sussex, in turn, was denied a new gaming license Dec. 12 by the state Casino Control Commission following a disastrous 11-month reign that included mass job cuts, regulatory violations and complaints of unsanitary conditions and poor customer service. The commission appointed Stein to take charge until the casino is sold.

Interest in Tropicana has intensified in the last two weeks as potential bidders have begun jockeying for position. Connecticut's Mohegan Sun casino is looking at Tropicana as part of its East Coast expansion plans. In addition, a private investment group headed by New Jersey real estate developer Curtis Bashaw and former Atlantic City gaming executive Wallace R. Barr has confirmed it may make a bid for Tropicana.

As owner of two of Atlantic City's smaller casinos, Colony Capital reportedly has been shopping for a large property that would transform it into a major player in the country's second-largest gaming market.

The sprawling Tropicana has 2,129 hotel rooms, 3,400 slot machines and about 150,000 square feet of casino space. However, the aging casino floor and hotel towers are badly in need of renovation to complement Tropicana's tourist-friendly retail and entertainment complex known as The Quarter.

Gaming analysts have estimated Tropicana will fetch between $800 million and $1 billion in an auction. Colony's offer suggests a minimum of $850 million. The buyer likely will have to spend a few hundred million dollars more to refurbish the 27-year-old property.

Other possible bidders include Pinnacle Entertainment Inc., Ameristar Casinos, Penn National Gaming and Crown Ltd., a gaming company headed by billionaire James Packer, Australia's richest man, according to analysts.

One private group seen as a likely bidder is Gomes + Cordish Gaming Management LLC, a newly formed partnership between Dennis Gomes and Baltimore-based retail developer Cordish Co. Gomes was Tropicana's chief executive when it was owned by Aztar, while Cordish is the developer of an Atlantic City shopping and entertainment district known as The Walk.

Founded in 1991 by Thomas J. Barrack Jr., Colony Capital has about $36 billion in real estate and casino holdings worldwide. Colony bought Resorts Atlantic City in 2001 for $140 million. It acquired the Hilton in 2005 as part of a $1.24 billion deal with Caesars Entertainment Inc. and Harrah's Entertainment Inc. for four casinos in New Jersey, Mississippi and Indiana.

To e-mail Donald Wittkowski at The Press:

DWittkowski@pressofac.com

This year’s installment of the Executive Poker Tour kicks off Jan. 11-14 at the Trump Taj Mahal. It’s a busy month for major poker tournaments in Atlantic City as the World Poker Tour starts on Jan. 15 at the Borgata.

Steve Dannenmann, Rhett Butler, Victor Ramdin and Lee Childs are all confirmed for the event.

Part of what makes the Executive Poker Tour intriguing is the lucrative cash game that is played during the event. This cash game isn’t for meager bankrolls. The minimum buy-in is $100,000, which puts at least $1 million on the table for Saturday’s side game.

The tournaments are a little more affordable.

Schedule:
Friday – 9 a.m. $65 turbo satellite for $500 event.
11:15 a.m. $500 NLHE Trophy Event
2 p.m. $150 Super Satellite for main event
5 p.m. $150 Super Satellite for main event
9 p.m. $250 Super Satellite for main event.

Saturday – 9 a.m. $140 Turbo super satellite for $1,000 event
11:15 a.m. $1,000 NLHE Trophy Event
2 p.m. $150 Super Satellite for main event
5 p.m. $150 Super Satellite for main event
9 p.m. $250 Super Satellite for main event

Sunday – 9 a.m. $300 Turbo Super Satellite for main TV event
11:15 a.m. - $2,500 NLHE Main TV Event

Monday – 11:15 a.m. $500 NLHE Second Change Trophy Event
3 p.m. – Main event final table

I know there are people who move to the Atlantic City area for a numbers of reasons. I moved down here three years ago after living in New York my whole life.

The first place I lived was not The Landings, but unfortunately I did live there for some time. This post is my warning for anyone considering heading down to the area perhaps to get a job as a dealer or to grind it out in A.C.

DO NOT LIVE IN THE LANDINGS IN ABSECON!

They are nice apartments, modestly priced, which is why I moved there. However, that's when the trouble started. When I moved into The Landings, they weren't even ready for me. The cleaners came while I was in the process of moving even after the complex pushed my move in date back a month. Everything was dirty and wasn't that much better after I moved in.

So, I lived there for a few months and then there was a leak in my bathroom above the shower. I called for it to get fixed, but at least two weeks went by before someone came. They ripped open the ceiling, fixed the leak and then left the hole saying they would come back within the next two days.

Two days turned into THREE MONTHS! It was three months and lots of complaining before someone fixed the hole. By this point it was December and knew I didn't want to live there anymore. Once my lease was up I was moving.

This is where the fun begins. It's about two months before my lease is up and I still haven't received a letter asking if I planned to renew, so I went to the leasing office and told them and they said they would take care of it. I move out.

Almost three months after I left, I realized I still hadn't received my security deposit. I called and called, but got no response. it wasn't until I went down there and pretty much raised hell that anything got done and I got my deposit at the end of August. Only it was a partial deposit. Over $900 was missing for rent for the month of June.

I moved out in May. You see my dilemma. Since then, I have called, visited, called the management company, sent copies of my lease, sent emails and still I have not received my money even though Stacey, the property manager, said I would have it in two weeks after I received the initial deposit.

It's now 2008, I moved out last May and still don't have my money. I am making one last phone call tomorrow to the mysterious Stacey who has seemingly disappeared over the last two months. If I don't talk to her because she has left for the day, not come in yet or she is in a meeting (all excuses I have been given over the last two to three months), my next stop is Atlantic County Court in Atlantic City.

Small Claims Court, here I come.

I have read similar if not worse complaints on rental sites over the Internet. Don't trust me, do the search yourself.

As you can see, this place is a waste. So don't even look there if you plan on moving down here.

(This wasn't for the picture I wanted to use, but the only that didn't make me throw up. The pic comes from All In Poker Blog. Check out it. ... Notice the straight flush. If you can't read the picture, just click on it to make it larger.)

In my first foray into tournament poker this year, I learned that playing badly nets you big pots. It's not the way I like to win, but, unfortunately, it's the only way I won at the Showboat 7 p.m. tournament on Thursday.

I played so poorly, it wasn't even funny and I even felt uncomfortable winning that way. I am not very good at winning what I consider the wrong way. It's a strange feeling for me to get my money in when I am way behind. It happened three times on Thursday that I put my money in moments of desperation only to come away with a massive pile of chips.

I am not very good at recounting hands, which is why there isn't much of it in my posts. I also don't want to bore people with replaying hands because there is nothing spectacular or out of the ordinary about them.

The short story, I have J-9 and go all-in with less than 10 big blinds left. Two people call with K-Q and K-10. Jack hits the flop and holds up, so I triple up. Another hand, I raise with Q-J of diamonds. I get a caller, then min-raised (the guy also moved all-in). I call and so does the other. The flop comes with a K and one diamond. Check, check. The turn is a 9D, so I bet. The guy pushes all-in, I feel desperate and I call. He has pocket 9's. The guy who was all in has pocket K's. So I'm up against two sets and I hit the 10 on the river for a straight. I win again and I felt sick about it.

The other hand I sucked out on was when it folded to me and I raised on the button with AH-10D. The big blind moves all-in for a little less than a min.-raise. I call and he has pocket 10's. Two hearts hit the flop and the board flushes out and I take home that pot as well.

The one hand I actually played properly with the math and everything is the one where I got snapped off. I have Q-3c in the big blind and the blinds are $1,000/$2,000. There are two callers and the small blind min.-raises it $4,000. So I just need to call $2,000 to win $16,000 because I know the other people are calling. I am getting 8-1 on my money, I have to call.

I don't watch the flop and pay attention to the man to my right. He leads out for $10,000. I look at the flop and it's 8-Q-3 (no clubs). I make it $30,000. The others fold and now the bettor goes into the tank. He questions if I flop a set, I don't respond. He starts counting his money and says to himself that if he calls and loses, he still has enough money left over, which was wrong because I had him covered.

So he pushes all-in and I call. He has A-Q, which is the exact hand I put him on.

Turn K
River 8
I get negated.

He takes down the pot with two pair, aces and eights. I had just $1,500 left, enough for the small blind on the next hand and go down, but not even swinging. I get knocked out 28th out of 84 people.

First lesson of the year: When you play bad, you win and you play good, you lose.

Just kidding. I have to play better. The last hand I would have played the same way every time. The hands before that, not so much.

"*Bally's Bad Beat Jackpot is paid when a hand of Four Deuces or better, loses to a bigger hand at showdown. Both of the hole cards of the winning hand and losing hand must be in play. 30% of the jackpot is paid to the loser of the hand, 20% paid to the winner of the hand, and 50% is divided between all other qualified players in the room."

Every other Harrah's property is Aces Full of Jacks or better is beaten. The loser of the hand gets 50 percent, the winner gets 25 percent and the rest of the table gets the other 25 percent.

Why do the same rules not apply at Bally's? Is it because all of the shadiness that went on with this room when the bad beat was brought in. I think the bad beat was hit about four times in a week. I might be slightly off on that count, but I think I am fairly close.

I know for a while the Bally's dealers had to use shufflers and shuffle the cards once they took it out. Honestly, I haven't played in months. Ever since a dealer told me to muck my hand in another language.

I get he was being nice to me and trying to help out, but I like to hold up the integrity of the game and I am not trying to win with an unfair advantage.

I ended up at Harrah’s last night thinking I could hit its 7:15 p.m. tournament. It’s similar to Showboat’s and I enjoy Harrah’s poker room, so that’s where my car headed. It really has a mind of its own.

However, when I got to Harrah’s there was no tournament starting at 7:15 p.m., it moved to 8:15 p.m. and, AND, the tournament is now $80 ($68+$12). Honestly, I could only shake my head at this. It seems whenever I walked into Harrah’s things just change for the worse. I really like Harrah’s, I want to like Harrah’s, but why, oh why, do they make it so difficult.

I guess I’ll be sticking to the Showboat tournament after all. I’m going to try and get there on Thursday night.

NBC's successful late-night poker show is back for another season. Poker After Dark begins Monday. The premise of the show is easy. Six players buy in for $20,000 in a winner take all format.

I've enjoyed Poker After Dark, not so much for the poker play, but the banter between the players. Sometimes PAD gets a group of players together that provides some good entertainment. I like watching Antonio Esfandiari and Phil Laak, though I think there are players out there who can't stand them. When they're in the show, it does its job in entertaining me for an hour.

PAD isn't going to teach me many new things about poker. There have been some interesting moves and comments that have helped, but in the end the show is for sheer entertainment purposes. There are some interesting matchups this year. I look forward to the "19th hole" with Gavin Smith, David Oppenheim, Erick Lindgren, Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson and Daniel Negreanu. Actually, I look forward to anything with Ivey in it. He is definitely one of my favorite players and watch whenever I get the chance. It's his Atlantic City upbringing.

For those who watch PAD to get their Shana Hiatt fix, I have good news and bad news. The bad news is she has been replaced. The good news is its by Argentinian Marianela (left) who is nicknamed the Poker Princess. Hopefully, she can provide insight into the game that Shana was never able to do. Her questions at times were pretty lame and she really didn't have a clue for someone who was around poker as much as she was.

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Mohegan tribe may purchase Atlantic City's Tropicana

By ERIK ORTIZ Staff Writer, 609-272-7253