Vom 27. bis 31. Oktober macht die von Pokerfans im beschaulichen Bremen heiß ersehnte WestSpiel Poker Tour 2010(WPT) Station im Casino Bremen. Beim größten Sach- und Geldpreisturnier Deutschlands sind in diesem Jahr besonders abgefahrene Gewinne im Preispool. Als Hauptpreis winkt ein nagelneuer Porsche Boxter Spyder. Fünf Tage lang herrscht Hochspannung am Pokertisch, denn es geht darum, sich ein Ticket für das große WPT-Finale im Dezember zu erspielen.

Am 15. Jänner 2009 werden im Aviation Club de France (ACF) in Paris die European Poker Awards verliehen. Unter den Nominierten finden sich auch bekannte deutsche Spieler. Sebastian Ruthenberg, der sich heuer bei der WSOP sein erstes Bracelet holte und bei der European Poker Tour in Barcelona seinen ersten EPT Titel, ist gleich in zwei Kategorien nominiert: seinen Namen findet man unter „Rookie of the Year“ und „Best Tournament Performance“.

Donald Trump will be holding on to his three Atlantic City casinos for a while longer. Trump, who had engaged in talks with potential buyers on at least two occasions last year, said that his the gambling halls are no longer for sale. „We’re not looking at that. We’re doing very nicely.“ Left unanswered was whether Trump had taken the casinos off the market…

Trump Entertainment Resorts, the casino company founded by Donald Trump, posted its biggest loss since coming out of bankruptcy in 2005 as declining revenue prompted it to write down the value of its three properties. The loss swelled to USD 183.2 million from USD 9.68 million a year earlier, the Atlantic City-based company said yesterday in a statement. Revenue fell 6.4 percent to USD 228.6 million.

It seems The Donald is having a hard time holding onto his management team this year. Trump Entertainment Resorts was falling in Tuesday trading after the casino operator announced that its Chief Financial Officer Dale Black will resign from his post effective December 14. Trump’s stock, already trading at its lowest price year-to-date, dropped another 28 cents, or 5.7%, to USD 4.64, in Tuesday midday trading.

New York (Reuters) – Shares in Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc, which owns three casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey, rose more than 16 percent on Friday on a report that the company is in takeover talks. The Star-Ledger newspaper, citing three people familiar with the talks, reported on Friday that Trump Entertainment was in preliminary talks with Cordish Co., a real estate development firm that was involved in the development of two Hard Rock-branded hotel casinos.

Atlantic City, New Jersey (AP) — For months, a tusk on one of the elephants outside the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort was missing, probably snapped off by a vandal. It was one small repair on a long list of things Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. had to do to spruce up its three casinos in the battle against a growing list of better-financed, newer, flashier casinos changing the face of Atlantic City. Now the tusk is glued back on – a symbol that the company realizes that the small things are just as important as the big ones when it comes to succeeding in the new Atlantic City.

Atlantic City (AP) – Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino will eliminate smoking on its casino floor, bringing to six the number of Atlantic City casinos that will ban smoking while gambling. No timetable was announced, but other casinos said they expected to the changes to take effect at their own facilities by next spring. All 11 casinos here must tell the state by Saturday how they intend to comply with a partial smoking ban enacted by the Atlantic City Council in February mandating that at least 75 percent of the casino floor be smoke-free.

Atlantic City – Donald Trump thinks his casinos and others in town deserve a smoking break. Trump wrote to Mayor Bob Levy and City Council President William Marsh on Wednesday calling on the city to repeal a partial casino smoking ban that he claims is scaring away business. In his two-page letter, Trump said gamblers are fleeing Atlantic City en masse for competing casinos in Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut that don’t have smoking restrictions.

In March, when shares in Trump Entertainment Resorts were trading around USD 20, the company disclosed that it was seeking potential suitors. At that point, Donald Trump even envisioned pocketing USD 500 million (AUD 583 million) from selling at a handsome premium his one-third stake in this company bearing his name. In July, when the company announced that it had not found a buyer despite a three-month search, shares in Trump Entertainment, which operates casino-hotels in Atlantic City, closed the day at USD 10.49. Trump’s stake was worth roughly USD 100 million.

Atlantic City Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino has lost its appeal to overturn the results of a spring election where more than two-thirds of dealers voted to join the United Auto Workers union. On Friday, a National Labor Relations Board judge has overruled Trump Plaza’s objection to an election in which its dealers voted 324-149 for union representation and is recommending that the United Auto Workers be certified as the employees’ collective bargaining representative.

Atlantic City, New Jersey (AP) — Donald Trump knows the art of the deal. But he won’t be making one for his three New Jersey casinos. The company that bears the flamboyant real estate mogul’s name had been up for sale for several months. But Trump Entertainment Resorts announced Monday it is not likely to be sold. That caused shares of the debt-laden company to plunge nearly 17 percent, and Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to neutral.