Trump Taj Mahal To Re-Open Poker Room FridayWhen Room Closed It Was Second-Largest In City |
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One of the iconic poker rooms in the Northeast will re-open Friday after being closed since February of last year.
Atlantic City’s Trump Taj Mahal casino announced May 2 that it will again offer live poker. The action resumes starting at 11 a.m EST on May 13.
Tropicana Entertainment, the owner of the Taj, said that no-limit hold’em, limit hold’em, stud, pot-limit Omaha, Omaha high-low and stud high-low will be available.
The re-opening of the Taj’s poker room should provide a boost to Atlantic City live poker.
In 2015, the city’s casinos raked $31.86 million from live poker. That was down from $36.32 million in 2014 and $43.56 million in 2013. For comparison, Nevada’s poker market is worth roughly $120 million annually and has been holding steady.
New Jersey Internet poker contributed $23.82 million in 2015 and $29.06 million in 2014. Online casino games debuted in New Jersey in late 2013.
In 2014, the last full year the Taj’s poker room was open, it raked $3.57 million which put it in fourth behind Borgata ($19.87 million), Bally’s ($4.4 million) and Harrah’s ($3.8 million).
When the poker room closed, the casino operator said it was not turning a profit.
“This is an exciting time for Trump Taj Mahal and we want our players to be a part of it,” Tony Rodio, President and Chief Operating Officer of Tropicana Entertainment, said in a statement this month. “Our strategy is to put our customers’ interests at the heart of every decision we make as we return the Taj to its rightful place as a leading gaming and entertainment destination.”
The new poker room is set to give away 50 32-inch TVs during the weekends in May to promote the re-opening. It had originally planned to re-open the room last summer.
With 48 tables previously, the Taj’s poker room was once the second largest in the city behind the Borgata. The casino didn’t say how many tables the re-booted room will have.
The Taj has been featured in a number of films, including “Rounders,” in which stars Matt Damon and Edward Norton play a session in the casino’s poker room.
Despite the re-opening of the poker room, the future of the Taj remains uncertain. Billionaire Carl Icahn said earlier this year that he won’t pump $100 million into the property like he has been planning if state voters approve a plan to allow casinos in north Jersey. Icahn acquired the casino through Chapter 11 bankruptcy for roughly $300 million.
Experts have predicted that additional casinos will close in Atlantic City if the resort town loses its monopoly on casino gambling in the Garden State.
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