Atlantic City

Cards started turning and dice began rolling early Thursday morning at Maryland Live, already the largest slots casino in the Mid-Atlantic. Opened just 10 months ago, the casino next to an Anne Arundel County outlet mall rakes in more money from slot machines than any other casino from New Jersey to West Virginia, including those in Atlantic City. And now it has added table games such as blackjack, roulette and baccarat, taking a big step toward becoming the Mid-Atlantic's dominant full-scale casino.

Last November, after months of campaigning - and millions spent on advertising for and against gambling expansion - Maryland voters decided the allure of live table games at local casinos was too enticing to ignore and Question 7 was approved by a narrow margin. On a recent Friday night, Maryland Live Casino - the state's largest and most extravagant casino, located in Hanover - appeared to be reaping the benefits of democracy. At around 9:30 p.m., the crowded and energized floor offered enough sights and sounds to keep eyes darting in all directions.

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)

Cards started turning and dice began rolling early Thursday morning at Maryland Live, already the largest slots casino in the Mid-Atlantic. Opened just 10 months ago, the casino next to an Anne Arundel County outlet mall rakes in more money from slot machines than any other casino from New Jersey to West Virginia, including those in Atlantic City. And now it has added table games such as blackjack, roulette and baccarat, taking a big step toward becoming the Mid-Atlantic's dominant full-scale casino.

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)

Maryland will never completely recoup gambling revenues lost to West Virginia, Delaware and Atlantic City ("The shaky case for Question 7," Oct. 15). Those locations are not only an opportunity for gambling, but an inexpensive get-away that offers a pleasant ride with friends and a touch of adventure that going to the local casino will never be able to offer. Anita Heygster, Pasadena

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.

When you become the most decorated Olympian of all time what do you do --  head to Disneyland? Not Michael Phelps. He's going to Atlantic City. Phelps will be headlining a pool party at Harrah's Resort on Sept. 22. And from the looks of photos of past "Pool After Dark" parties on the resort's website , these things can get pretty wild. You think you can handle hanging with the king of chlorine? Well, all you have to do is head over to the New Jersey boardwalk and pony up $20 -- that's what admission costs.

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."

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.

After losing two months ago for the first time in his career, Seth Mitchell is set for a rematch against Johnathon Banks on Feb. 16 in Atlantic City, N.J., a fight that's a virtual must-win for the boxer from Brandywine in Prince George's County if he is to continue his pursuit of the unified heavyweight championship of the world. Banks-Mitchell II will take place at Boardwalk Hall, the site of their bout Nov.17, in which Banks knocked down his heavily favored opponent three times.

If casinos are such a good deal for a state, lets see how the Atlantic City casinos step up to the plate and provide money for the New Jersey people who have lost their homes. Tony Buechner, Baltimore

Central Maryland appears to have been spared the worst of Sandy's fury, which was delivered farther up the Atlantic Coast. One man was killed after a tree fell on his home in Pasadena. A second was killed in a head-on collision in Clarksburg that officials said was connected to flooding. No other deaths had been reported in the Greater Baltimore region as of 9:00 a.m., though four people in Howard County were hospitalized following carbon monoxide poisoning related to the use of a gas-powered generator.

While I would gladly attend a bachelor party in Atlantic City, I would prefer not to raise my children there. However, as Maryland continues to morph into that Sin City of the East, I may not have a choice. In 2007, Maryland politicians pushed slots on us in cowardly avoidance of real solutions to revenue shortfalls. We now have not only buffets of slots but also electronic table games, with digital dealers so lifelike you swear they are flirting with you. There are no real (human)

Maryland will never completely recoup gambling revenues lost to West Virginia, Delaware and Atlantic City ("The shaky case for Question 7," Oct. 15). Those locations are not only an opportunity for gambling, but an inexpensive get-away that offers a pleasant ride with friends and a touch of adventure that going to the local casino will never be able to offer. Anita Heygster, Pasadena

"Life's better with friends. " - Gyp Rosetti Like most men, Nucky Thompson dreams about bacon. Unlike most men, he also dreams about dead choirboys. Yes, the whole "assassinating your surrogate son" thing is finally starting to catch up to Nucky, and it's blinding the patriarch of Atlantic City from the chaos brewing around him. As an episode, "Bone for Tuna" belongs to the chief agent of said chaos, Gyp Rosetti. His one-man blockade of the highway between Atlantic City and New York has finally caught Nucky's attention, but his one-man assault on the English language and social convention wages on stronger than ever.

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!

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.

When you become the most decorated Olympian of all time what do you do --  head to Disneyland? Not Michael Phelps. He's going to Atlantic City. Phelps will be headlining a pool party at Harrah's Resort on Sept. 22. And from the looks of photos of past "Pool After Dark" parties on the resort's website , these things can get pretty wild. You think you can handle hanging with the king of chlorine? Well, all you have to do is head over to the New Jersey boardwalk and pony up $20 -- that's what admission costs.

On the November referendum ballot on casinos, there should be one ballot for table games (yes or no) and a separate ballot for a sixth casino site (yes or no ). If there are no table games in Maryland I certainly will go to Atlantic City, where I can get rebates and food. Another casino in Maryland won't draw me and other players. If casinos don't offer table games, Baltimore should be the only casino in Maryland. Frank F. Braunstein, Pikesville