Resorts Atlantic City

WHEN DENNIS Gomes bought Resorts Atlantic City last year, one of his first phone calls was to a bartender. He didn't need someone to pour him a celebratory glass of champagne. Instead, he just wanted to let Blanche Morro know he wanted to be her boss again. Morro, who worked for Gomes from 1998 to 2005 when the latter ran Tropicana Casino and Resort, is better known down AyCee way as "Blanche the Singing Bartender. " Five days a week at 25 Hours, Resorts' casino-side lounge, Morro serves up classic pop and rock songs as she mixes cocktails and pours brewskis from the tap. The multitasking mix-mistress came by her rather unusual vocation "by accident" back in 1994, when she was tending bar at an Atlantic City taproom.

Casinos Atlantic City Hilton Boston at the Boardwalk, Atlantic City; 609-347-7111. www.hiltonac.com . The Shirelles $35. 4/4 9 pm. Borgata Hotel & Casino 1 Borgata Way, Atlantic City; 609-317-1000. www.theborgata.com . D.L. Hughley - One of the Original Kings of Comedy $49.50-$65. 4/4 9 pm. Comedy Stop at the Trop Brighton & the Boardwalk, Atlantic City; 609-822-7353. www.thecomedystop.com . Christine Stedman/Greg Vaccarello/Jim David. $23-$26.

Donald J. Trump's casino company has rejoined the Casino Association of New Jersey - a sign that Atlantic City's casinos are united amid pending legislation in Trenton. Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., which owns the Trump Marina, Trump Plaza, and Trump Taj Mahal, announced that it had rejoined the lobbying organization that represents Atlantic City's casino industry. With Trump back in, the association now represents all 12 casinos. Mark Juliano, chief operating officer of Trump Entertainment, said yesterday that there were several health-care and tax issues before the New Jersey Legislature as well as ongoing expansions by several casinos, which made it important to rejoin.

Veteran Atlantic City gaming executive Dennis Gomes, known for his often-outrageous, and sometimes controversial, casino promotions died early this morning. The co-owner and CEO of Resorts Atlantic City since December 2010, he was 68 and lived in Margate, N.J. Details of his death have not yet been released, but Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Center City confirmed Gomes' died there, according to the Associated Press. Gomes had a reputation in the gaming industry as something of a maverick.

DURING THE course of a close friendship and creative partnership of more than 20 years, entertainer Joe Piscopo and I have spent countless hours in conversations that have covered topics from "The Honeymooners" to Trenton and Washington politics to the joys and frustrations of fatherhood. But it's doubtful no subject of the past two decades has claimed our attention more than Joe's desire to have his own nightclub in an Atlantic City casino. "How cool would it be," he has rhetorically and repeatedly asked, "to have a home base down there, where I could play and hang out?"

FROM THE MOMENT Resorts International (now Resorts Atlantic City) opened its doors 31 years ago, there has been opposition to legal gambling's presence in Atlantic City. Some critics cite the toll - gambling addiction and an increase in crime (especially prostitution) - casinos can take on society. Others have decried gaming halls and their attendant amenities as an affront to the town's glorious past as a wholesome, family-friendly destination. Both groups are obviously well-intentioned.

Veteran Atlantic City gaming executive Dennis Gomes, known for his often-outrageous, and sometimes controversial, casino promotions died early this morning. The co-owner and CEO of Resorts Atlantic City since December 2010, he was 68 and lived in Margate, N.J. Details of his death have not yet been released, but Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Center City confirmed Gomes' died there, according to the Associated Press. Gomes had a reputation in the gaming industry as something of a maverick.

DURING THE course of a close friendship and creative partnership of more than 20 years, entertainer Joe Piscopo and I have spent countless hours in conversations that have covered topics from "The Honeymooners" to Trenton and Washington politics to the joys and frustrations of fatherhood. But it's doubtful no subject of the past two decades has claimed our attention more than Joe's desire to have his own nightclub in an Atlantic City casino. "How cool would it be," he has rhetorically and repeatedly asked, "to have a home base down there, where I could play and hang out?"

KATIE TEDDER and her girlfriend, Julia Arikh, had endless options when they were deciding where they would celebrate Arikh's 30th birthday. Their choices included Atlantic City's Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa, where the two have been longtime regulars. But as a recent Friday evening was melting into Saturday morning, the pair wasn't partying at AyCee's hippest adult playground but on the 13th floor at Resorts Atlantic City. For Tedder, 56, of Ewing Township, N.J., the visit was nothing less than a revelation.

Casinos Borgata Hotel & Casino 1 Borgata Way, Atlantic City; 609-317-1000. www.theborgata.com . Joey Kola. $20. 6/12. Miranda Lambert. $65-$85. 6/10. 8 pm. Sully Erna. $24.50-$29.50. 6/10. 9 pm. Brian Regan. $43.50. 6/11. 8 pm. Rocky LaPorte. $20. 6/13. Caesars Atlantic City Casino Hotel 2100 Pacific Ave., Atlantic City; 609-348-4411. www.caesarsac.com . Smokey Robinson. $55-$85. 6/11. 9 pm. Comedy Stop at the Trop Brighton & the Boardwalk, Atlantic City; 609-822-7353.

WHEN DENNIS Gomes bought Resorts Atlantic City last year, one of his first phone calls was to a bartender. He didn't need someone to pour him a celebratory glass of champagne. Instead, he just wanted to let Blanche Morro know he wanted to be her boss again. Morro, who worked for Gomes from 1998 to 2005 when the latter ran Tropicana Casino and Resort, is better known down AyCee way as "Blanche the Singing Bartender. " Five days a week at 25 Hours, Resorts' casino-side lounge, Morro serves up classic pop and rock songs as she mixes cocktails and pours brewskis from the tap. The multitasking mix-mistress came by her rather unusual vocation "by accident" back in 1994, when she was tending bar at an Atlantic City taproom.

IT'S LOGICAL to think Dennis Gomes and his partner, Morris Bailey, might have a brighter financial future investing in a uranium mine in Asbury Park or some similar harebrained scheme than by acquiring Resorts Atlantic City, among the casinos hardest hit by the double whammy of legal gambling in Pennsylvania and a sour economy. News reports of the duo's impending purchase of Resorts have overwhelmingly contained positive feedback. Gaming industry analyst Michael Pollock told the Press of Atlantic City , "If anyone can [bring Resorts to profitability]

IT'S PROBABLY a good thing I enjoyed a recent performance by Straight No Chaser , the 10-voice a cappella group that is spending July and August at Harrah's Resort Atlantic City. That's because I fear that giving the unit a bad review is akin to slamming motherhood, the Fourth of July or puppies. That's just how wholesome and downright likable SNC is. The score of male singers, so clean cut they make Justin Bieber seem menacing, deals in classic vocal harmonizing. The twist, if there is one, is that the group's repertoire includes material not usually associated with the a cappella format.

Crooning in his Eagles jacket and cap to late lunchers in the Gallery's food court yesterday, Raphine Smith, a buffet server at Atlantic City's Tropicana Casino & Resort, snapped his fingers and sang: In Atlantic City, you can do an awful lot. It doesn't make a difference if you're from Jersey or not. There's so much to do; Just give it a shot. Because the hospitality's hot. Nice, tight singing, good harmony with the other warblers, but it wasn't three minutes or even a whole song before security guards at the Gallery ejected Smith and his crew.