He came to buy Atlantic City

Just when you thought Atlantic City had shed several casinos, they’re coming right back. Would-be Revel buyer Glenn Straub would include casino gambling in his larger strategy for the property but make it incidental to other “hobbies.” “Who in the hell wants to go where there’s not something more than
just gambling? You can only gamble for so many hours, maybe eight hours a day. You’ve still got 16 hours longer to eat, sleep and have fun,” he groused to The Press of Atlantic City. “We’re not going to let a building be dominated by a casino,” he added, vowing to put the casino in the hands of a third-party operator. His focus, meanwhile, will be on converting Atlantic City into a sporting destination. (Womens’ basketball and skateboarding have been mentioned.) He’s already thinking big, talking about high-speed rail to New York and Philadelphia.

Straub, whose Revel bid seems to have caught Mayor Don Guardian off-guard, is just starting an Atlantic City white-tag-sale spree, expressing interest both in Showboat and Trump Taj Mahal. (Nobody wants Trump Plaza, do they?) Both a championship polo player and a hard-money lender, Straub is a colorful character whose trademark in business is to find distressed assets, downsize them and generally cut costs with a vengeance. The Revel deal echoes Straub’s 2009 acquisition of the Tesoro golf course in Port St. Lucie, which he obtained at a 94% discount. He’s got nothing to lose in this deal, since Revel’s owners have to pay him $3 million if it doesn’t go through.

Caesars Entertainment would also like to have a talk with Straub, especially since he would reopen Showboat minus gambling. That dovetails with Caesars’ goal of removing competitors (including itself) from the board. “We believe there’s an oversupply of gaming positions in Atlantic City and that adding non-gaming amenities and attractions are the keys to recovery. Our goal is to sell Showboat as a non-gaming property,” said Caesars spokesman Gary Thompson.

Across the state, in Trenton, Gov. Chris Christie (R) is trying to add economic-development incentives of a non-gaming nature to a tax-incentive bill that already passed the Legislature. Arguing that Atlantic City should be treated like any other Garden State metropolis, Christie is “recommending that non-gaming development projects and private-sector job growth in Atlantic City be eligible for the strongest possible incentives under New Jersey’s successful (tax credit) programs.” At the moment, though, he’s short on specifics.

Christie’s proposal already has the approval of state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D), who’s also characteristically euphoric over the prospective approval of PokerStars to operate in Atlantic City, in a matter of weeks. Practically jumping up and down, Lesniak said, “It’s going to be soon and it’s going to be huge. PokerStars is going to make a huge investment in Atlantic City, not just in Internet gaming but in their brand and in bringing attractions to Atlantic City.” This sudden influx of dollars seems slightly improbable (remember that Lesniak thinks Jersey City can crush Macao) but, for the Boardwalk’s sake, we’ll hope that Lesniak is right this time.

The state senator is a busy man. He’s also trying again to legalize sports betting, this time by removing language in state law that prohibits such wagering. Lesniak says he hopes “the second time’s the charm.” We agree. “I’m going to place the first bet. I’m highly confident of this one. I tweeted that I’d mortgage my house on it,” says Lesniak. Whoa, there! Save something for your retirement years, senator.