After a month of fresh air inside Atlantic City's 11 casinos, smoking is once again allowed. A temporary smoking ban expired at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, and gamblers will be able to light up again for at least the next year. Gladys Bryan of Philadelphia can't wait. Standing on the Boardwalk outside the Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort (one of two casinos that forced its gamblers to go outside to smoke during the ban)...

With USD 7 billion worth of casino projects on indefinite hold and gambling hall revenue plunging for the second straight year, new Mayor Lorenzo Langford has lots to do and little time to do it. Langford, a former casino dealer who served as mayor from 2002 to 2005, is back in City Hall again for at least the next year. He took office this week amid a painful financial climate that has already seen hundreds of casino workers laid off, gamblers flee to slots parlors in Pennsylvania and New York...

New York (AP) -- Shares of Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. continued to drop on Tuesday after the New Jersey Casino Control Commission reported that Atlantic City gambling revenue dropped 10 percent in October. Trump shares fell 6 cents, or 11.1 percent, to close at 48 cents Tuesday, after touching an all-time low of 47 cents earlier in the session. The stock has traded between 50 cents and USD 6.65 during the past 52 weeks. Since the beginning of the year, Trump shares have lost 87 percent of their value.

Atlantic City, New Jersey (AP) - Lately, the luck has been all bad for Atlantic City's 11 casinos. Last week alone, a major casino developer put a USD 2 billion Boardwalk project on indefinite hold, and the city's newest and most successful casino laid off 400 workers. And Donald Trump had to knock USD 46 million off the price of one of his casinos in order to salvage a deal to sell it to someone else.

Atlantic City's most profitable gambling palace, the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, confirmed today that it laid off about 400 of its staff this week. The 5.5 percent cut in its workforce of about 7,600 was unavoidable in the deteriorating economy, said Rob Stillwell, a spokesman for Las Vegas-based Boyd Gaming Corp., which co-owns the Borgata with MGM Mirage. The Borgata layoffs follow Harrah's Entertainment Inc.'s announcement Friday that it was cutting hundreds of employees at its four Atlantic City casinos...

Atlantic City, New Jersey - Pinnacle Entertainment's plan to build a mega-casino worth as much as USD 2 billion on the Atlantic City Boardwalk is on "indefinite hold" due to worsening competition and the poor economy. The company also said Thursday it would consider selling its land here "if someone made us a decent offer." The Las Vegas-based casino developer cited the continuing tight credit market, which is making it nearly impossible to borrow money...

Atlantic City - Since the dawn of the gaming age here, casinos have cut back on the number of employees when summer gave way to fall and winter. With declines in gaming revenues in both 2007 and 2008 from a confluence of factors - competition from Pennsylvania and New York, a partial smoking ban, high gas prices over the summer, and a downward spiraling economy - you'd expect a sizable decline in the number of jobs as a result.

Atlantic City - Blaming the weak economy and competition from casinos in surrounding states, Atlantic City's biggest gaming operator says it has begun cutting the work force at its four properties. Harrah's Entertainment Inc. declined to disclose how many layoffs it has made at Harrah's Resort, Bally's Atlantic City, Caesars Atlantic City and Showboat Casino Hotel. Employment figures compiled by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission indicate hundreds of job cuts at Bally's and Caesars.

Atlantic City, New Jersey (AP) -- Sometimes the art of the deal calls for it to be redone. That's what has happened to an agreement between Donald Trump and a former protege of his who's buying the Trump Marina Hotel Casino in Atlantic City. Due to the worsening economy, both sides agreed to reduce the purchase price for the casino-hotel to USD 270 million, down from the USD 316 million they set as the price back in May.

Atlantic City - Casino patrons will take their last breathe of fresh air on a city gaming floor Nov. 16 after City Council lifted a smoking ban Monday that went into effect 12 days ago. The 5-4 vote overturned council's unanimous decision in April to ban smoking at all 11 Atlantic City casinos, instead choosing to revisit the ban in a year with hopes that the country's economic crisis has subsided.

Atlantic City - Paula Cifelli, a dealer at Caesars Atlantic City, described one high roller who had the nasty habit of blowing cigar smoke in her face when he would lose at a hand of cards. "He intentionally blew smoke at me," Cifelli said. "He told me, 'If you don't want me to do this, I'll have to win.'" The cigar-chomping bad loser is gone from the gaming floor thanks to Atlantic City's new casino smoking ban, but Cifelli is worried that he and other smokers will return next week.

New York (Reuters) - Bankrupt Tropicana Entertainment LLC asked New Jersey gaming regulators to return control of its Atlantic City casino on Thursday, saying it would do a better job of returning it to profitability as the state seeks a buyer for the property. The privately held casino operator, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May, has since severed relations with its founder and former chief executive, William Yung III, and his Columbia Sussex Corp hotel company.