Trump casinos file Ch. 11, threaten Taj closure

[Newsjock]

Source: Associated Press

Trump Entertainment Resorts filed for bankruptcy Tuesday and threatened to shut down the Taj Mahal Casino Resort, which would make it the fifth Atlantic City casino to close this year.

The company owns Trump Plaza, which is closing in a week, and the Taj Mahal, which has been experiencing cash-flow problems and had been trying to stave off a default with its lenders. The company said the Taj Mahal could close Nov. 13 if it doesn't win salary concessions from union workers.

It's the fourth such filing for the struggling casino company or its corporate predecessors.

... Donald Trump owns a 10 percent stake in the firm, but no longer controls it. He is suing the company to remove his name from the properties, which he says have fallen into disrepair and do not meet agreed-upon standards of quality and luxury.

Read more: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-casinos-latest-filing-bankruptcy-130320332--finance.html

[Jackpine Radical]

1. I've long suspected that the thing on Trump's head

is eating his brain.

And I have wondered how it can survive so long on such poor fare.

[A Simple Game]

10. It's early but you win my vote for best post of the day. n/t

[Kelvin Mace]

2. So, how many times have Trump declared bankruptcy?

For such a financial genius his businesses sure fail a lot.

[DinahMoeHum]

12. Reason: his casino holdings are "loss leaders"

That is: he can afford to take a bath with his casinos / hotels losing money because that's not the bulk of his business.

His real $$$ comes from regular real estate.

[Kelvin Mace]

17. Yes, but all of his real estate was used to back up his

casinos in his 2009 bankruptcy when he had $1.8 billion in debt, up from $1 billion in debt in 1992. The guy seems outstanding at losing other people money while paying himself handsomely.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

3. Somebody call Nucky Thompson. nt

[napi21]

4. Why are Atlantic City casinos closing while Vegas casinos seem to be going strong?

I've been to
Vegas, but never to Atlantic city so I don't know the diff. I did go once to a casino in NC and was disappointed. NOTHING like Vegas at all!

[George II]

6. They've got competition from all over the northeast, as close as 45 miles away in Philadelphia...

...in Pennsylvania down through Delaware and Maryland and up through New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, and soon in Mass.

People aren't going to drive past casinos to get to the casino "enclave" near the Atlantic City boardwalk.

The whole Atlantic City experiment has been a failure. It was intended to revitalize and renovate the entire CITY of Atlantic City. Drive a few blocks west of the boardwalk and there still is squalor 40 years after the fact.

[Historic NY]

7. AC is a dump...

anything surrounding them is ghetto...the thought was building them would improve conditions. Well that experiment failed. I used to go down there years ago and the casinos & surrounds were plagued by pan handlers and working girls. There was no other life around the casinios except the boardwalk. They just never broke out.

[LynneSin]

8. Because Vegas is in the middle of nowhere serviced by a great airport

Atlantic City is surrounded by 4 states within 2 hours driving distance that all have competing casinos. Atlantic City was also more of a Bus crowd instead of an Airport crowd but since those buses can now do closer trips to nearby casinos that's hurting Atlantic City.

Plus no one has never done anything about the bad sections of AC which rival Camden NJ, one of the worst cities in the USA. Back when Atlantic City was thriving and the money was rolling in you'd think some of the profits would be earmarked towards fixing up the city but instead the bad sections were ignored. You walk about 2 blocks away from a casino you are in very dangerous neighborhoods. Sure Las Vegas has those kinds of neighborhoods but they are farther away from the Casino areas.

The thing is this. Even as the crowds were shrinking in AC there was a good balance between the casinos in NJ that allowed all the casinos to eke out an existence. Then someone had a dimwitted idea of building the Revel which upset that balance. It was thought they could bring Las Vegas style Casino/Playground to Atlantic City but in the end it was a poor fit. It never brought in new customers but instead the Revel just leached existing customers from other NJ casinos.

There's something else that hurts NJ casinos. New Jersey casinos are required by law to have so many hotels rooms connected with it whereas the neighboring states do not have the same laws. So the cost of operating those casinos are much higher in New Jersey than other states. Here in Delaware I think some of the casinos down south (we only have 3) have a hotel connected with it but the one near me is a stand alone casino. I know the ones up in Philly are also stand alone casino. So that was another thing hurting New Jersey was operating cost - other states near buy could do it at a better price.

[Dreamer Tatum]

14. Because AC is seedy, skanky, nasty, and far too expensive. nt

[happyslug]

21. Las Vegas is also hurting....

But Las Vegas also has the hotels and rooms for Conventions and many conventions are held in Las Vegas for that reason. My own union switches between Las Vegas and Washington DC for its conventions (And often cancels the Washington conventions do to lack of hotel rooms, something that never happens in Las Vegas).

Gambling is a factor in making Las Vegas a place for a convention, but in most cases just a minor factor compared to having rooms for meetings and hotel rooms for people who attend those conventions. Most conventions are held to work around peak times, so they are a nice solid source of revenue.

The other Gambling casinos locations are NOT places people go to hold a convention, and thus are suffering as income drops.

When they started to talk about a Casino in Pittsburgh, it was pointed out that Casinos cost cities more money then they bring in UNLESS you are pulling in people from outside your region. This was ignored for big money was involved, but it looks like it is what is happening to Atlantic City and other Casinos centers outside of Las Vegas. They are pulling in money from the local areas and thus doomed to fail. Las Vegas is still pulling in gamblers from outside the area and doing better then the rest, but even in Las Vegas you have NOT seen the increase in revenue that Las Vegas saw 20-40 years ago.

Sorry, Las Vegas, do to its ability to hold conventions will remain a gambling Mecca and thus draw in gambling from outside its area. I just do NOT see that happening elsewhere as more and more states permit such gambling casinos. Each new Casino mean less gamblers that have to go outside their area to gamble and what each Casino needs is these outside gamblers NOT local gamblers.

Side note: During the "Debate" on Gambling in Pennsylvania another fact came out, African Americans do NOT gamble, they may play the number but not the slots or any of the games played in Casinos. Thus Casinos avoid African American neighborhoods, for they want White Senior Citizens, who tend to gamble the most.

[davidpdx]

24. Las Vegas started a building boom right before the recession and got caught with its pants down

The city will bounce back through as it always does. I've been there a total of 5 times in the last 20 years and it always amazes me how much it changes. It never amazes me how damn hot it is though.

[bklyncowgirl]

25. The answer is competition from racetracks & reservations, a declining client base and a seedy area.

We used to call Atlantic City the South Bronx by the sea. You had those glitzy casinos on the boardwalk but walk a few blocks inland and you are in an area of dive bars, pawnshops and no tell motels with hookers hanging out on the corners and bums lying in the street. This, sadly never changed. For some reason, probably nefarious given my adopted state's reputation for corruption, the city itself never seemed to get its' share of the casino proceeds.

None of that mattered when years ago AC was the only place on the east coast for casino gambling. Then the Indians got into the business and Atlantic City faced competition from places like Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun. A few years ago neighboring states decided that since gambling was already going on at racetracks, why not offer slot machines and table games as well?

Now your slot addict granny or high roller brother in law can get their gambling fixes not only closer to home but in surroundings that may be considerably more pleasant--that is if they have any money to gamble with. Problem is that the middle class is pretty much strapped for cash. A weekend at Atlantic City used to be an affordable thrill within reach of many people. It no longer is. It's been a while since I've been to AC but I was at Mohegan Sun last year and the place was empty.

"It's the economy" said one blackjack dealer glumly looking at the empty seats at his table. I played one hand and left. The $20 minimum was too rich for my blood. When you have to choose between rent and food and your kids' education gambling doesn't even come close.

[FSogol]

26. The air smells like Trump in Atlantic City.

[shenmue]

5. I love to see Donald Trump lose, but I'm sorry for the workers

Yeah, there's something going on in New Jersey, all right.

[dotymed]

9. Wow.

The company said the Taj Mahal could close Nov. 13 if it doesn't win salary concessions from union workers.


Why does management consider their huge salaries sacrosanct and demand concessions" from their employees who EARN a fraction of what the CEO does?

[progressoid]

11. Yep, blame the employees.

[EC]

13. Rich mans way

Write off all as losses. Rebuild

[rurallib]

15. of course if it was a student loan

he'd be stuck with it even past his death.

[SunSeeker]

16. Exactly what I was thinking. nt

[bpj62]

19. 3 Casinos within one hour

I live in Northern Virginia and I have 3 casinos within a one hour drive and a 4th that will be opening on the banks of Potomac in 3 years. I am not a gambler but have visited Atlantic City several times over the past few years and what everyone said is true. The other problem is that the black jack tables are so expensive on the weekends and people just don't want to play $20 dollar hands. They never adjusted to this reality and now they are paying the price. They also never adjusted to the changing landscape of states allowing gambling and as a result they kept running the same business model.

[adirondacker]

20. +1000. nt

[liberal N proud]

18. How is it that the owner walks away with millions while the employees take the lumps

[Texano78704]

22. Typical union busting tactic

eom

[Earth_First]

23. Yet this clown was willing to offer hundreds of millions to bid on a NFL team recently...

This WNYer is glad that the front office in Orchard Park wanted nothing to do with Trump.

[Sunlei]

27. I grew up close to AC, love the boardwalk. A shame all the casinos and the local infastructure

the close neighborhoods, roads, schools never benefited from those casinos. Perhaps the buildings could be left to the county/locals and used for public buildings, schools and/or housing.