Atlantic City

For the seventh time in history, WrestleManiawill be hosted in New York/New Jersey. At a press conference Thursday, MetLife Stadium, the home of the New York Giants and New York Jets of the NFL, was announced as the venue for WrestleMania 29, taking place April 7, 2013. In attendance for the press conference were WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Jets owner Woody Johnson, Giants owner John Mara and notable WWE Superstars John Cena, Triple H, Sheamus and Mark Henry.

In an effort to make guests' experiences more "distinctive," the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, N.J., is undergoing a $51 million face-lift that includes refurbishing poker and guest rooms. The Borgata opened in 2003, but hotel officials said it was time to freshen up. "Having such high customer volumes and almost 50 percent of the poker market share in Atlantic City, it was simply time," said Joe Lupo, the hotel's senior vice president of operations. Renovations to the poker room, which opened in 2006, include new carpeting throughout the 21,500-square-foot area and installation of 23 flat-screen TVs. The hotel also introduced The Boardroom, a high-limit poker lounge that requires a minimum buy-in of $10,000.

If you wanted to play blackjack, poker and roulette on the East Coast, you used to have to drive to Atlantic City. Now you just have to drive to Maryland's borders. That short trip is what Baltimore charter company Superior Tours is betting on. It has begun weekly trips to the Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races in West Virginia, about a 90-minute drive west of Baltimore. Superior Tours packed two buses for its inaugural trip to Charles Town this month. "We've been taking people to Atlantic City for 16 years," said Marc Komins, an executive vice president at Superior Tours.

Formerly Trump Marina, Golden Nugget Atlantic City - the east coast version of the Las Vegas staple - officially opened in April after a $150 million transformation. Casino hours: 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Games to play: There are 68 table games (blackjack, roulette, baccarat, et al.), 22 poker tables and 1,560 slot machines spread over the 70,000 square-foot casino floor. Entertainment: Concerts and shows range from the power-pop quartet the Smithereens (June 16)

Formerly Trump Marina, Golden Nugget Atlantic City - the east coast version of the Las Vegas staple - officially opened in April after a $150 million transformation. Casino hours: 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Games to play: There are 68 table games (blackjack, roulette, baccarat, et al.), 22 poker tables and 1,560 slot machines spread over the 70,000 square-foot casino floor. Entertainment: Concerts and shows range from the power-pop quartet the Smithereens (June 16)

Whether you want to relax at its Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa or want to dance all night at the massive nightclub, The Pool, Harrah's offers many different options for an Atlantic City trip. Casino hours: 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Games to play: There are 170 table games of craps, roulette, big six and more. There are also 2,722 slot machines. Entertainment: Concerts and shows range from stand-up comedian Ron White (June 16) to Irish folk band Celtic Thunder (June 27)

Maybe it is the bright lights on its facade, or the vivid colors of the dining room walls, or Sinatra crooning over its sound system. Whatever the reason, Tony's Diner reminds me of dining in an Atlantic City hotel. First a note on the restaurant's exterior: It is cool. At night, seven pillars of colored lights wash the upper reaches of the restaurant's front. The lights slowly change colors. This brightens a stretch of Park Avenue just north of 1st Mariner Arena and blends in nicely with the neon glow of a sign reading "Tony's Diner."

While Ocean City and Wildwood and other mid-Atlantic beaches allow horses on the beach, Atlantic City has plans to take things just a step further. The casino town, in desperate need of a makeover, has embarked on a revitilization master plan. That's great news for visitors and tourists. The plans call for better lighting, landscaping, new rides, infrastructure upgrades and a complete overhaul of the historic Steel Pier by 2015. The idea is to create a year-round entertainment attraction.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Satellite technology monitoring "Chessie" shows that the peripatetic manatee has left Delaware Bay's north shore for the neon lights of Atlantic City.The manatee, so-named for his trek up the Chesapeake Bay last summer and fall, was shown Monday to have left quaint Victorian Cape May, N.J., and working northward in the Atlantic Ocean to Atlantic City.Juvenile male manatees are known to wander and explore, but experts say Chessie is 30 to 50 years old."He's something else," said Linda Taylor of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

EVERY NOW and again I travel to the gambling dens of Atlantic City, only to lose a sum of money I can't really afford to lose, which causes me to return home and pray that the utility company doesn't shut off my electricity.People say: "Why do you do that?"And I answer: "Oh, hell, we'd only blow the money on mortgage payments or the kids' college education anyway. Besides, if everybody stayed away, what would Trump and the mobsters and the crooked politicians do?"My God, what a place Atlantic City is!

New Jersey Atlantic Club Casino Formerly Atlantic City Hilton and ACH, this newly renamed casino and hotel forgoes the glitz of newcomer Revel. Casino hours: 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Games to play: There are 58 live table games, including blackjack, roulette, mini baccarat and various versions of poker. Close to 1,500 slot machines line the floor. Entertainment: Atlantic Club's priority is gambling, so don't expect too many options.

Home to high-end boutique shopping and the Boardwalk Beer Garden, Caesars has remained one of Atlantic City's most popular resorts since the Roman Empire-themed casino opened in 1979. Casino hours: 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Games to play: There are more than 135 table games, including blackjack, poker, craps, roulette and more. There's also Keno and more than 2,300 slot machines. Entertainment: Concerts ands shows range from TV host Bill Maher (June 2)

As a sometime visitor to Atlantic City casinos because of rebates, comps and free rooms, I know Maryland has to find a better way to get better activity than building more casinos. Just look at Atlantic City and its struggle with the casinos it has. There are too many and volume of gambling is down - otherwise, they wouldn't give rebates and free rooms. If we go ahead and build more casinos than what has been agreed to, owners and customers will not receive their best value. Leave well enough alone and go for the time being with Ocean Downs, Arundel Mills, Perryville, Rocky Gap and the future Baltimore City casino and see what happens.

The Tropicana's strongest asset could be its familiarity and price-point efficiency: You'll find recognizable restaurants (Hooters, P.F. Chang's) and practical shops (Brooks Brothers, A Time for Wine) in The Quarter. Casino hours: 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Games to play: There are 170 table games including craps, roulette, blackjack, baccarat and more. Asian games, including Pai Gow poker and Pai Gow tiles, take place in Jade Palace. Tropicana offers more than 2,600 slot machines.

For the seventh time in history, WrestleManiawill be hosted in New York/New Jersey. At a press conference Thursday, MetLife Stadium, the home of the New York Giants and New York Jets of the NFL, was announced as the venue for WrestleMania 29, taking place April 7, 2013. In attendance for the press conference were WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Jets owner Woody Johnson, Giants owner John Mara and notable WWE Superstars John Cena, Triple H, Sheamus and Mark Henry.

While Ocean City and Wildwood and other mid-Atlantic beaches allow horses on the beach, Atlantic City has plans to take things just a step further. The casino town, in desperate need of a makeover, has embarked on a revitilization master plan. That's great news for visitors and tourists. The plans call for better lighting, landscaping, new rides, infrastructure upgrades and a complete overhaul of the historic Steel Pier by 2015. The idea is to create a year-round entertainment attraction.

ATLANTIC CITY -- Barry Manilow's "Copacabana" was a hit song in the 1970s.In 1985, the story of a love triangle at the legendary New York nightclub was made into a CBS-TV movie that starred Manilow.Now, it's about to become a musical at Caesars in Atlantic City. The story is the same: Lola is the aging showgirl looking back; Tony is the star of the Copa, and Rico is trying to break them up.The show, which opens today, is to be a full, Broadway-style musical with complex sets, lavish costumes and a cast of 20. There are 20-foot-high movie screens surrounding the sets, projectors all over the theater, a huge ramp that surrounds the stage and an intricate light and sound system.

The Rouse Co., chosen two years ago to oversee development of a retail-entertainment corridor linking the Atlantic City, N.J., boardwalk and a new convention center, has quit, citing financing problems and disagreement over the plans.The decision by Rouse, which developed such acclaimed projects as Baltimore's Inner Harbor and Boston's Faneuil Hall, was neither a surprise nor a major blow, Jim Kennedy, executive director of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, said yesterday.The $254 million convention center is under construction, and Mr. Kennedy noted several pieces of the $175 million corridor project are already under way. The project would include a 500-room "headquarters" hotel near the convention center and a park-lined boulevard at the foot of the Atlantic City Expressway.