AC: The Tropicana lost more than $1.86 million at its blackjack tables in April thanks mostly to a single patron who won $5.8 million at the casino’s

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One Gambler’s Blackjack Hot Streak Wipes Out Casino’s Profit
May. 13 2011 - 12:22 pm |

A high-roller walked away with $5.8 million leaving the Tropicana with a monthly loss for its blackjack tables.



April was a bad month for casinos in Atlantic City but a great one for a blackjack player whose winnings resulted in an unprecedented monthly loss for the Tropicana Casino and Resort.

The Tropicana lost more than $1.86 million at its blackjack tables in April thanks mostly to a single patron who won $5.8 million at the casino’s high-stakes tables.

A spokesman for New Jersey’s Casino Control Commission told The Star Ledger that the proportion of the Tropicana’s loss was unprecedented in the state since the inception of casino gambling in 1978. “It’s extraordinarily unusual for a casino to lose money at the game of blackjack in a particular month,” he told the paper.

It was a rough month overall for New Jersey’s oceanside casinos whose revenue fell by 7.1 percent in April continuing a 4 1/2-year slump for the nation’s second-largest gambling market.

The Tropicana Casino and Resort was at the bottom of the list with April revenue falling 19.8% percent to $19.2 million. The Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino was not far behind with a 19.3 percent decline in revenue to $13.2 million.

Tropicana’s outgoing president, Mark Giannantonio, told The Press of Atlantic City, “We ran very unlucky,”

He added, “We had the single-largest winner in our history. If it hadn’t been for bad luck at the tables, we would have had a good month.”

He didn’t disclose the name of the blackjack winner.

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Name was CujoLatte

http://m.pressofatlanticcity.com/mo...cle_d164b674-9086-11e0-b534-001cc4c002e0.html

Tropicana loses another $5.3 million to a second high roller

By DONALD WITTKOWSKI, Staff Writer | Posted: Monday, June 6, 2011 5:44 pm


ATLANTIC CITY — Think of the odds of two high rollers winning more than $5 million apiece — at the same casino, within weeks of each other.
Well, it has happened again at Tropicana Casino and Resort. Two months after a blackjack player won $5.8 million, another gambler has burned the casino for $5.3 million.
Tony Rodio, Tropicana’s new chief executive officer, said the unidentified gambler won most of the money at the craps table during a six-hour hot streak Wednesday night. He also got lucky playing blackjack and mini-baccarat.
The craps player showed his appreciation by leaving a $150,000-plus tip, which was divided up among the Tropicana table games dealers who worked that night, Rodio said.
Rodio declined to name the craps player, saying it is Tropicana’s policy to protect the privacy of its customers. He did say, however, that it was not Don Johnson, the high-rolling blackjack player who revealed his identity in a May 22 story in The Press of Atlantic City.
Johnson, 49, of Bensalem, Pa., took Tropicana for $5.8 million in April. Before his exploits at Tropicana, Johnson beat Caesars Atlantic City out of more than $4.2 million in December and won a total of about $5 million playing blackjack at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in December, March and April.
Johnson complained that Atlantic City’s casinos are refusing him a chance to play again, but Tropicana’s billionaire owner, Carl Icahn, said he plans to personally invite Johnson back to the blackjack tables.
“We have not cut him off,” Icahn said. “I congratulate him on his winnings. That’s what gambling is all about. We’d be happy to see him again.”
Rodio said the winning craps player also will be invited back for more high-stakes gambling. At one point Wednesday, the mystery player was betting more than $100,000 at a time on the craps table.
Tropicana has made high-stakes wagering the centerpiece of its casino strategy, with mixed results. The casino posted higher table games revenue in six of seven months while the rest of the Atlantic City market shrank. Johnson’s winning ways, however, brought Tropicana’s streak to a dramatic end in April.
“Mr. Icahn and his company understand that with this strategy, there is a little bit of volatility,” Rodio said. “Sometimes you’re the bug, and sometimes you’re the windshield.”
Rodio recalled that Icahn was unfazed when he told him about the craps player’s big win. Instead of scrapping the high-stakes strategy, Icahn told Rodio that he wanted to spread the word that Tropicana is still pursuing major players.
“This is Mr. Icahn’s strategy,” Rodio said. “He has made no bones about this strategy. He feels very confident. We are not afraid to offer aggressive limits.”
Last week, Rodio, 52, of Hammonton, replaced former Tropicana CEO Mark Giannantonio, who was fired in May. Rodio denied that Johnson’s huge win had anything to do with Giannantonio’s ouster.
Rodio has spent nearly 31 years in the casino industry. He recalled one Japanese gambler who won about $6 million while playing baccarat at Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in the 1980s. But he said he had never before heard of two gamblers winning more than $5 million each at one casino so close in time.
Contact Donald Wittkowski:
609-272-7258
DWittkowski@pressofac.com