SS-PapaJoe

Chapter I The Trop

In 1870, the first boardwalk was built in Atlantic City
along a portion of the beach to help hotel owners
keep sand out of their lobbies.

Today, 136 years later, this boardwalk is lined with
multi-billion dollar casinos and luxury hotels with
famous names such as Bally’s, Caesar’s, Harrahs,
Trump Taj Mahal, and the Tropicana, just to name
a few.

Opened in 1981 on the former site of the old
Ambassador Hotel, the Tropicana Casino and
Resort, or “The Trop” for short, is the largest hotel
in the state of New Jersey, featuring 2,125 rooms
and a 148,000 square-foot casino. The Tropicana
Casino is one of the few places in the world where a
statue of Soviet dictator Vladimir Lenin is neither
toppled-over nor headless. On October 30, 2003 a

parking garage being built as part of the new The Quarter project collapsed killing 4 people and seriously injuring
20 people, all of whom were construction workers. No resort guests or employees were killed or injured.

Most people arrive at the Tropicana, a sprawling complex located between South Brighton Avenue and the
Boardwalk, by car, bus taxi or limo. Walking to and from the casinos from transportation hubs is not advisable since
the Trop, like all other Atlantic City (AC) casinos, is mostly surrounded by impoverished working-class and poor
neighborhoods rife with drug-infested tenements. Once safely inside any casino, however, you suddenly find
yourself in a windowless, clockless, self-contained world where every need can be met. Most gamblers are barely
mindful of the pure white sandy beaches and the crashing waves of the Atlantic Ocean practically a stone’s throw
from any blackjack table.

Horse race betting in Atlantic City accounts for a very small portion of the yearly $4.5 billion dollar New Jersey
casino gaming industry; but on any given day or hour of the day bets are steadily placed on the thoroughbreds, the
trotters and the quick-sprinting quarter horse races broadcast live from racetracks across America via satellite.

To find my way to the Horse Racing Book at the Trop, I had first to wade through a sea of blinging–and-ringing slot
and video card game machines, and past islands of blackjack, craps and roulette tables until I finally arrived at the
far end of the massive casino floor. From here, I sought out further directions from a bored looking security guard
who told me to keep going left until I reached a small bar called “The Lucky” where I should turn right and directly in
the Poker Room. The Horse Book, the guard assured me was “right there”. In less than a minute’s time I was