ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — The Atlantic Club Casino Hotelin Atlantic City says it will close on
Jan. 13, reducing the number ofcasinos in the struggling gambling resort to 11.It will be thefirst Atlantic
City casino to close since the Sands shut down in 2006 tomake way for a new casino project that never got
built.Thecasino said Friday it reached two sale agreements that will be submittedto a judge Monday for
approval. It did not list either buyer, but abankruptcy court filing identified one as Caesars
Entertainment.The document filed Friday afternoon lists the purchase price as $15 million."Firstand
foremost I would like to express my profound admiration and respectfor the employees of this company,"
said Michael Frawley, chiefoperating officer of the Atlantic Club. "The events of the last fewmonths
have evoked an array of emotions, and through it all, theemployees of the Atlantic Club have remained
consummate professionals.It is because of these outstanding individuals that we were able tobuild
considerable momentum over the last year.Unfortunately our pacewas unsustainable in the extremely
challenging Atlantic City gamingmarket."He said the casino will operate normally until the Jan. 13
closing date.ACaesars spokesman could not immediately say what the company’s plansfor the property are. But
the court filing contains provisions requiringthe sellers to remove all gambling equipment at their own
expense.Caesars is to meet with New Jersey gambling regulators within three daysto determine what approvals
will be necessary in order to end gamblingon the premises.That would seem to indicate the company mayutilize
the hotel portion of the property as a non-casino hotel. Italready owns four casinos in Atlantic City —
Caesars, Harrah’s, Bally’sand the Showboat — and hotel rooms for gamblers are at a premium onweekends.The
second purchaser was not mentioned in either theAtlantic Club press release or the court filing. Tony Rodio,
presidentof the Tropicana Casino and Resort, which was rumored to have been aparticipant in the auction,
declined comment Friday.Word of the shutdown came on the fourth day of a bankruptcy court
auction.TheAtlantic Club thus became the first Atlantic City casino to fall victimto the insidious downward
spiral the resort has found itself in sincethe advent of casinos in neighboring Pennsylvania that began in
late2006.Atlantic City’s casino revenues reached a high of $5.2 billion that year, and will likely fall
below $3 billion this year.Analysts have long said Atlantic City has more casinos than the now-diminished
market can bear.Anotherstruggling casino, Revel Casino Hotel, could be headed for a secondbankruptcy filing,
or could be sold to new owners soon.Half of the 12 casinos currently operating in Atlantic City have filed
for bankruptcy in the last six years.TheAtlantic Club was formerly known as The Atlantic City Hilton,
andbefore that, as the original Golden Nugget in Atlantic City, not to beconfused with the former Trump
Marina casino that now carries the GoldenNugget name at the opposite end of town.It struggled to
competeagainst newer, bigger casinos here and in Pennsylvania. For the past twoyears, it turned its focus to
low-rollers and local residents, offeringcut-rate prices to attract those unable or unwilling to afford
thepricier casinos.That effort improved the casino’s financial picture, but not quickly enough. It filed for
Chapter 11 protection in November.Its owners, Colony Capital LLC, the Los Angeles hedge fund, paid more than
a half-billion dollars for it in 2005.Itsearched in vain for a purchaser for the past three years,
beforeinking a deal to sell itself to the PokerStars web site for $15 million.But that deal fell apart
within months due to concerns over whether thewebsites’ management could qualify for a casino license in New
Jerseydue to an unresolved indictment against the company’s founder.PokerStarsthen aligned itself with
Resorts Casino Hotel — which itself narrowlyescaped having to close down in 2010 — to offer Internet
gambling in NewJersey. But those legal troubles led to PokerStars being suspended fromapplying for a license
in New Jersey for two years.___Wayne Parry can be reached at http://twitter.com/WayneParryACCopyright 2013
The Associated Press. All rightsreserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten
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