Revel has a soft opening beginning April 2.

Revel, Atlantic City’s new casino and Las Vegas-style resort, which is trailing the town’s other 11 gaming halls in terms of total gaming revenue, according to October numbers, is looking for more money.

(All of Atlantic City’s casinos reported a 20-percent decrease in revenue last month compared to October 2011.)

It was revealed that last week, according to a company statement, Revel AC Inc. entered into discussions “with a majority of its lending group to provide additional capital for liquidity and to fund certain gaming projects at its resort.”

A report out today in one of Philly’s dailies says that “Wall Street gaming analysts say the casino is at the brink of insolvency, particularly with the fall-off in business that has followed Hurricane Sandy.”

According to the article, Revel is currently negotiating the structure and amount of its latest “additional capital” request.

According to Revel CEO Kevin DeSanctis,  “The additional capital will provide us with the liquidity necessary to allow the market to recover from Hurricane Sandy and execute our strategic build-out of exciting new gaming, food and beverage, and entertainment amenities.”

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BB's Burger Bar

ATLANTIC CITY — Hurricane Sandy’s residual effects continue to be felt in the Atlantic City casino community, as it was reported Tuesday, Nov. 13, that the Atlantic Club Casino Resort was forced to lay off 80 workers to deal with the economic downturn caused by the massive storm.

Three-quarters of those 80 workers, it was reported, were seasonal employees that would have been let go later in the year regardless. Most of those laid off were food servers, cashiers and busboys in the Atlantic Club restaurants and, with business levels continuing to decline since the Oct. 29 storm that shut down all 12 of A.C.’s casinos for about five days, Atlantic Club has decided to close its Ono Chinese Bistro and BB’s Burger Bar immediately, and until further notice. Other Atlantic Club restaurants will switch weekend-only schedule, although at least one will be open on weekdays so that hotel guests will always have an in-casino place to dine.

Ono Chinese Bistro

Atlantic Club hopes to reopen Ono and BB’s and return to a full-time schedule for the other restaurants in late January, but that will hinge on business getting back to normal levels, it was reported.

Thanks in part to no Hurricane Irene in August, Atlantic City casinos experienced a 12.6 increase in revenue during August 2012 over the previous year.

Revel, the city’s newest casino, which opened in the spring, broke the $20 million mark in revenue in August, up 14 percent from July.

“We made a little progress,” said Kevin DeSanctis, Revel Entertainment’s CEO. “August was a good month. I don’t think one month is indicative of anything, but we are making some progress. We’re clearly not where we want to be.”

Read more here.

ATLANTIC CITY — The newly named CEO of Tropicana, Tony Rodio, said earlier today that his Atlantic City property, which opened in 1981, is slated for some big changes this year.

The plans in the announced $25 million renovation project, according to Rodio, include 16 floors of the casino-hotel’s north tower, encompassing 437 rooms and suites. New furniture, carpeting, textured wall coverings and modernized bathrooms are planned.

According to the Associated Press, the renovation work will begin after the summer season and is  expected to be completed by the end of the year.

The addition of 150 new slot machines, a new Italian restaurant, and the expansion of Tango’s Lounge (with 30 additional seats and a bigger dance floor) are also part of the project.

These improvements are close to the Tropicana’s new Boogie Nights dance club, which debuted two weeks ago, and also includes a Boogie Nights-themed party pit for gamblers outside its doors.

Between 25 to 30 permanent jobs, as well as more than 100 temporary construction jobs, are expected to be created in relation to the project.

“It’s a testament to our commitment to Atlantic City and to this property,” says Rodio. “We think this place has a lot of upside.”

RELATED: Borgata’s $50 million redesigned rooms

RELATED: Golden Nugget grand opening kick-off weekend

RELATED: Revel, Atlantic City’s much anticipated new resort opens for preview through Memorial Day weekend.

Entirely … according to a post on the Curbed LA (Los Angeles) site, which states that:

“The Casino Reinvestment Development Authority has approved a master plan from Venice [California]-based Jerde Partnership (working with real estate consultants Jones Lang LaSalle).”

OK, so what does Jerde have in mind?

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Liza Cartmell

Ad Week reports that the Atlantic City Alliance (ACA), which was created in 2011 to re-brand Atlantic City with new media campaigns to attract more visitors, has narrowed its formerly reported search for an outside ad agency with three New York-based companies “still in the hunt.”

The article, posted Jan. 5, names the agencies and also says:

“The agencies — Euro RSCG, Arnold and Draftfcb — traveled to the New Jersey shore point this week for a round of work sessions. Another round is expected before final presentations, which are slated for late January.

“The finalists emerged from a broader field of about a half-dozen shops that executives from the Alliance for Atlantic City visited in December. Another New York agency, The Kaplan Thaler Group, had advanced to the final stage but subsequently exited, creating an opening for Draftfcb.

“The alliance, under new CEO Liza Cartmell, has budgeted $20 million initially for tourism marketing—a role that the group assumed last year from the Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority, which now focuses on luring conventions. Beyond creative efforts, the ad assignment includes the planning and buying of media, according to Roth Associates, the New York consultancy managing the search.

“The nonprofit alliance is a joint venture of private casino owners and the State of New Jersey, which established the group through legislation. The casino owners provide the funding.”

Related: Interview with Liza Cartmell

Related: Atlantic City Tourism District Master Plan due Feb. 1; new Web site launched for public input.

Related: Interview with CRDA Chief John Palmieri

Here is an Ad Week article from October related to the search by the ACA.

This just in: Bloomberg News is reporting thatRevel Entertainment has announced today that it has secured the money it needs to finish its ‘Half-built” casino project on the northern end of the Atlantic City Boardwalk.

Here is an excerpt:

Revel Entertainment said Thursday that it has secured the final $1 billion-plus it needs to finish its half-built casino on the Atlantic City Boardwalk, a project that is widely considered the best chance for the nation’s second-largest gambling market to recover from four years of plunging revenue.
The remaining $1.15 billion in financing was secured Thursday, and work on the stalled project will resume as quickly as possible, Kevin DeSanctis, Revel’s CEO, told The Associated Press.

See full story here and  here.

Apparently, it doesn’t matter what sex you are if you’re interested in entering a women-only poker tournament as witnessed at the Borgata on Saturday. Acording to reports, Abraham Korotki, 65, of Ventnor, won the tournament’s kitty of $20,982.

The AP reports that the new owners of Tropicana, led by billionaire Carl Icahn, is not looking to making any dramatic changes to the Atlantic City casino any time soon. The deal for the purchase of the Trop is set to close by year’s end.

We’ve been cracking up at the various YouTube clips featuring comedian Dave Attell (interviewed in this week’s coming issue and doing a show at Borgata this weekend), but couldn’t find one without any profanity. Since this is a family site, we offer this great clip courtesy of the late great comedian Mitch Hedberg, filming backstage during a high school stop on tour with Lewis Black and Attell.