Atlantic City casinos’ regional A-list headliner monopoly will be put to rest May 16, the day the Event Center at Sands Casino- Resort in Bethlehem opens with a concert by alt-rockers Incubus. The unit’s date is one of four announced Friday morning. The others are country star Alan Jackson (May 19), Irish rock band Flogging Molly (May 24) and longtime AyCee regular Paul Anka (May 27). More bookings will be announced in the weeks ahead, according to Geoff Gordon, president of Live Nation Philadelphia, the local branch of the national concert-promotion behemoth that also handles booking at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa’s Event Center and Music Box.

The Sands Event Center is designed as a multi-use facility with such programs as conventions, trade shows and family shows expected to be part of the mix along with performances by big-name acts. The state-of-the-art facility’s single-level seating area will accommodate 2,250 people for seated shows and 3,500 for standing-room-only concerts. According to Jeffrey Trainor of Vision Entertainment Group LLC, one of the partners in the Event Center project, the farthest seats in the house—located in seven second-floor luxury boxes—are just 137 seats from the stage. “All seats are good seats,” bragged Trainor.

A unique aspect of the building is Vision Bar, the 12,000-square-foot nightclub that will serve as the hall’s entrance. According to Trainor, the bar will be open hours before a performance as well as for post-show partying. Those without concert tickets will still be able to be part of the scene there (cover charges will be in effect on weekends).

Although Live Nation works with Borgata, Gordon noted the two casinos’ offerings will not be identical. “There will be some [acts] that will be routed through if it makes sense in both markets,” he said. But, he added, the two locales are not monolithic in terms of artistic preferences, so some artists who play one of the casinos won’t automatically be booked at the other.

Tickets for the above shows go on sale Feb. 17. They can be purchased in person at the Event Center box office located in the Shoppes at Sands retail area, by calling 610-625-5500 or by going to www.sandseventcenter.com.

‘Wheel’ pays of real fortune

At 9:40 a.m. Thursday morning, an unidentified customer hit a $776,908 jackpot on a “Wheel of Fortune” slot machine at Bally’s Atlantic City. No word on what the anonymous lucky duck plans to do with his money.

Atlantic City casinos’ regional A-list headliner monopoly will be put to rest May 16, the day the Event Center at Sands Casino- Resort in Bethlehem opens with a concert by alt-rockers Incubus. The unit’s date is one of four announced Friday morning. The others are country star Alan Jackson (May 19), Irish rock band Flogging Molly (May 24) and longtime AyCee regular Paul Anka (May 27). More bookings will be announced in the weeks ahead, according to Geoff Gordon, president of Live Nation Philadelphia, the local branch of the national concert-promotion behemoth that also handles booking at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa’s Event Center and Music Box.

The Sands Event Center is designed as a multi-use facility with such programs as conventions, trade shows and family shows expected to be part of the mix along with performances by big-name acts. The state-of-the-art facility’s single-level seating area will accommodate 2,250 people for seated shows and 3,500 for standing-room-only concerts. According to Jeffrey Trainor of Vision Entertainment Group LLC, one of the partners in the Event Center project, the farthest seats in the house—located in seven second-floor luxury boxes—are just 137 seats from the stage. “All seats are good seats,” bragged Trainor.

A unique aspect of the building is Vision Bar, the 12,000-square-foot nightclub that will serve as the hall’s entrance. According to Trainor, the bar will be open hours before a performance as well as for post-show partying. Those without concert tickets will still be able to be part of the scene there (cover charges will be in effect on weekends).

Although Live Nation works with Borgata, Gordon noted the two casinos’ offerings will not be identical. “There will be some [acts] that will be routed through if it makes sense in both markets,” he said. But, he added, the two locales are not monolithic in terms of artistic preferences, so some artists who play one of the casinos won’t automatically be booked at the other.

Tickets for the above shows go on sale Feb. 17. They can be purchased in person at the Event Center box office located in the Shoppes at Sands retail area, by calling 610-625-5500 or by going to www.sandseventcenter.com.

‘Wheel’ pays of real fortune

At 9:40 a.m. Thursday morning, an unidentified customer hit a $776,908 jackpot on a “Wheel of Fortune” slot machine at Bally’s Atlantic City. No word on what the anonymous lucky duck plans to do with his money.

Visitors to Atlantic City’s soon-to open Revel mega-resort will experience a work-in-progress rather than a fully realized operation, according to its CEO.

Kevin DeSanctis, who has overseen the creation of the $2.4 billion pleasure dome since the project was conceived in the middle of the last decade, explained during a media conference call Thursday afternoon that the casino-hotel complex’s planned eight-week “preview” period that commences April 2 is necessary to work out as many bugs as possible leading up to the May 25 grand opening and beyond.

“Having [opened other casinos in the past], my experience has been that the worst possible thing you can do is open everything at once with one big splash,” said DeSanctis, a veteran gaming industry executive who once ran Atlantic City’s Trump Plaza.

“We have an all-new staff, an all-new [technological) system. Things are going to go wrong. We expect some issues. If you bring things online in stages, you know what the problems are.

“We expect to hit our stride around the Fourth of July,” he added while acknowledging he didn’t expect things to be 100 percent glitch-free until spring, 2013.

While April 2 is the target date for the 47-story, 1,400-room hotel tower and 150,000-square-foot casino to begin welcoming guests, the first visitors will get a sneak peak on March 28 and 29, when the casino undergoes two days of state-mandated testing with play money. DeSanctis said those invited to participate in the simulated wagering will include community members and people who worked on what is the costliest construction project in Atlantic City’s 158-year history.

When the doors officially open on April 2, 500 of the hotel rooms and suites will be open, as will the entire casino, seven restaurants, including three-Amada, Village Whiskey and Distito Cantina—run by Philly-based uberchef Jose Garces. By May 25, all 14 planned eateries, the entire hotel tower, two entertainment venues, a spa and several nightclubs (and one pool-oriented “dayclub”) will be up and running.

What won’t be open right away is the retail component, which DeSanctis described as unique to Atlantic City. The shopping, he offered, will be presented in such a way that it “will encourage you to browse and hang around a little bit.” He also said the retail outlets’ price points will be realistic in nature. “We don’t want you to have to take out a home-equity loan” to shop there, he joked.

Revel, which will be AyCee’s first 100-percent smoke-free casino-hotel, will definitely be a major player in an entertainment scene currently dominated by Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa. DeSanctis declined repeated requests to identify headliner acts (rumored to be, among others, Coldplay and Maroon 5), but he did hint at some major bookings, especially for Ovation Hall, the property’s 5,500-seat performance venue.

“I do not think you’ll be disappointed when we announce our entertainment lineup,” he told one reporter, adding there will probably be one or two shows in the theater prior to the Memorial Day weekend grand opening which, he promised, will include a blockbuster booking.

DeSanctis also spoke about The Social, a 700-capacity space located in the middle of the casino floor that will host name acts (mostly musical), but which will have no admission fee.

“We are clearly going to be very aggressive,” he said. “Our view is that entertainment is not only going to be important to us, but to Atlantic City.”

Revel, which covers 6.3 million square feet, is the first AyCee resort to spread its amenities beyond one or two levels. The various spaces, all of which are identified in a Revel press release by their height above sea level, include:

***Revelry, (61 feet above sea level) features the casino (and The Social), restaurants, shops, nightclubs and a “dayclub.

***The Mezz (87 feet) includes the complex’s 5,500-Ovation Hall and 160,000 square feet of meeting space.

***The Lobby (114 feet) encompasses almost two acres of outdoor space anchored by SkyGarden and InOut Pool, which offers both indoor and outdoor swimming.

Hotel reservations can be made beginning March 5 at www.revelresorts.com.

The public will get its first glimpse of Revel on April 2, the day the $2.4 billion mega-resort opens its doors for a two-month preview.

According to a press release issued this morning, all of the ultra-luxe property's 1,800 rooms will be open on that date, along with seven of its 14 restaurants. The remaining seven eateries, as well as nightclubs, retail outlets and spa facilities, will be up and running by the grand opening, which is set for May 25.

The hotel will begin accepting room reservations March 5 at www.revelresorts.com.

 Check back here later today for more about Revel's plans.

FOR THE second time in less than a year, Atlantic City’s western-most gambling den is getting a new name.

What was, for many years, the Atlantic City Hilton—and is currently ACH—will, on March 13 be re-branded as The Atlantic Club Casino Hotel. The change in moniker will be accompanied by a new marketing strategy that will emphasize value over big-ticket amenities. “It is our aim to be the casino for the savvy consumer,” said Michael Frawley, the property’s chief operating officer during a Tuesday morning press conference at the 31-year-old casino-hotel complex.

While the casino’s dining and entertainment strategies will be tweaked in the future, the immediate focus will be positioning The Atlantic Club as the gambling den of choice for people living in a 30-to-40 mile radius. To that end, a 2-for-1 comp dollar plan has been developed with a number of businesses—restaurants and others—in Atlantic, Cape May, and Burlington counties. In addition, the price points at all of the hotel’s seven eateries have been reset to be competitive with the area’s non-casino dining spots. According to Frawley, entrees at the steak house and Asian and Italian outlets will run between $12 and $18, well below the tabs at many other casino restaurants.

Frawley emphasized that “’Local’ is an operating philosophy” and not a geographic one.

Anticipating perception in some quarters, Frawley insisted  the new blueprint should not be interpreted as a move to a “cut-rate” operating agenda. Instead, he said the move is being made to create  a marketing niche occupied by people who are on tight budgets, but still would like to avail themselves of the casino experience.  To that end, The Atlantic Club will be identifying itself with the slogan, “A casino for the rest of us” in order to differentiate it from such high-end Atlantic City operations as Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa and the soon-to-open Revel.

Apart from the March 13 name change, the most immediate difference long-time customers will see will be on the casino floor, where 1,500 slot machines (down from 1,800) and 50 table games (down from 86) will be reconfigured to provide players a more comfortable and convenient environment. Penny machines are expected to dominate the slots inventory while the tables will overwhelmingly boast $5 and $10 minimums (Frawley said some $3-minimum tables will also be in the mix).

The new game plan comes in the wake of recent moves that eliminated the long-struggling property’s $360-million-in-arrears mortgage and added some $24 million in capital-improvement funds.  While the current agreement to keep the casino-hotel open only runs through Oct. 31, Frawley adopted a “What me worry?” attitude when asked about the deadline, and said decisions won’t be made with that as the primary consideration.

The Atlantic Club will be the sixth name hung on the building since it opened in 1980 as the Steve Wynn-built Golden Nugget (now the name of the casino that used to be Trump Marina). In 1987, it was sold and renamed Bally’s Grand. Since then, it has also been known as The Grand and Atlantic City Hilton. The latter name was discontinued last year when the casino’s licensing deal with Hilton Hotels was terminated by the lodging chain. ACH has been used since then.

FOR THE second time in less than a year, Atlantic City’s western-most gambling den is getting a new name.

What was, for many years, the Atlantic City Hilton—and is currently ACH—will, on March 13 be re-branded as The Atlantic Club Casino Hotel. The change in moniker will be accompanied by a new marketing strategy that will emphasize value over big-ticket amenities. “It is our aim to be the casino for the savvy consumer,” said Michael Frawley, the property’s chief operating officer during a Tuesday morning press conference at the 31-year-old casino-hotel complex.

While the casino’s dining and entertainment strategies will be tweaked in the future, the immediate focus will be positioning The Atlantic Club as the gambling den of choice for people living in a 30-to-40 mile radius. To that end, a 2-for-1 comp dollar plan has been developed with a number of businesses—restaurants and others—in Atlantic, Cape May, and Burlington counties. In addition, the price points at all of the hotel’s seven eateries have been reset to be competitive with the area’s non-casino dining spots. According to Frawley, entrees at the steak house and Asian and Italian outlets will run between $12 and $18, well below the tabs at many other casino restaurants.

Frawley emphasized that “’Local’ is an operating philosophy” and not a geographic one.

Anticipating perception in some quarters, Frawley insisted  the new blueprint should not be interpreted as a move to a “cut-rate” operating agenda. Instead, he said the move is being made to create  a marketing niche occupied by people who are on tight budgets, but still would like to avail themselves of the casino experience.  To that end, The Atlantic Club will be identifying itself with the slogan, “A casino for the rest of us” in order to differentiate it from such high-end Atlantic City operations as Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa and the soon-to-open Revel.

Apart from the March 13 name change, the most immediate difference long-time customers will see will be on the casino floor, where 1,500 slot machines (down from 1,800) and 50 table games (down from 86) will be reconfigured to provide players a more comfortable and convenient environment. Penny machines are expected to dominate the slots inventory while the tables will overwhelmingly boast $5 and $10 minimums (Frawley said some $3-minimum tables will also be in the mix).

The new game plan comes in the wake of recent moves that eliminated the long-struggling property’s $360-million-in-arrears mortgage and added some $24 million in capital-improvement funds.  While the current agreement to keep the casino-hotel open only runs through Oct. 31, Frawley adopted a “What me worry?” attitude when asked about the deadline, and said decisions won’t be made with that as the primary consideration.

The Atlantic Club will be the sixth name hung on the building since it opened in 1980 as the Steve Wynn-built Golden Nugget (now the name of the casino that used to be Trump Marina). In 1987, it was sold and renamed Bally’s Grand. Since then, it has also been known as The Grand and Atlantic City Hilton. The latter name was discontinued last year when the casino’s licensing deal with Hilton Hotels was terminated by the lodging chain. ACH has been used since then.

Don’t know why this would have happened, but there's something very wrong with the full-page Atlantic City ad that appears in this month’s Philadelphia magazine.

The eye-catching advertisement displays a beautiful, sun-dappled panorama of the town. It’s a spectacular shot, but there's one not-so-slight problem: It is missing several signature buildings, including Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa and its sister property, The Water Club, the Waterfront Tower at Harrah’s Resort, and, most egregious of all, Revel, which is the lynchpin of the town’s future (an under-construction Chairman’s Tower at Trump Taj Mahal appears to be poking its head above the original Taj tower). Oddly, the cupola-topped Havana Tower at Tropicana Atlantic City, which opened in 2004, can be seen behind the Ocean Club condos (second building from left).

Weird, no?

The highly anticipated master plan that will guide Atlantic City's near future will be released to the public today.

According to Wayne Parry of the Associated Press, the blueprint devised under the aegis of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA) focuses on urgently needed cosmetic and quality-of-life upgrades, among them an aggressive street-cleaning program and the removal of anti-crime window barriers on Atlantic Avenue storefronts (read the full story at (http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/sprucing-atlantic-city-goal-tourism-plan-15480776#.TyjRg8WJd2B).

The master plan is part of the Gov. Chris Christie-propelled effort to revive the resort's fortunes. The blueprint also includes the alloting of $30 million annually in marketing funds, the total reorganization of the various public entities that represent the state in Atlantic City and the creation of a special tourism district.

The general consensus is the strategy will easily be approved by the CRDA.