Bally’s Atlantic City

Bally’s Atlantic City is a hotel and casino on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey that opened in 1979.

History

Bally’s started life in 1976 when gambling became legalized in Atlantic City. In 1977 Reese Palley bought the Marlborough Blenheim Hotel and planned to preserve the Blenheim half of the hotel, along with adjacent Dennis Hotel. Palley was successful in getting the Blenheim part of the hotel placed on the National Register of Historic Buildings, while planning to raze the Marlborough to make way for a new modern hotel. However, he stepped aside after the Bally’s Manufacturing Corporation purchased a controlling interest in the project.

After Bally’s took control, they announced plans to raze the Marlborough, Blenheim, and the adjacent Dennis Hotel, despite protests, to make way for the new Park Place Casino and Hotel. However, in an effort to offset costs and get the casino opened as fast as they could they choose to keep the Dennis Hotel, which would serve as the hotel for Ballys. As part of the licensing process and investigation into alleged ties to the Mafia, the New Jersey Casino Control Commission stipulated that Bally’s Chairman and CEO William O’Donnell would be required to step down and sell all interest in the company. This was the second time the commission took this action, the first was when Clifford Perlman, Chairman of Caesars World Inc. and his brother were required to resign.

Timeline

• November 1978 through January 1979 Ballys demolishes the Marlborough Blenheim, and quickly clears the land to begin building it’s Park Place Casino.

• On December 30, 1979 the NJCCC granted Bally’s a temporary license for its Park Place casino. The casino opens with the newly renovated Dennis serving as the hotel.

• 1989 Bally’s adds a 750 room hotel tower.

• In 1994, Bally’s Manufacturing Corporation spun off its casino operations, including Bally’s Atlantic City, Bally’s Las Vegas and Bally’s Reno.

• In 1996, Hilton Hotels purchased Bally’s Entertainment, which included Bally’s Park Place, in a leveraged buyout.

• On July 2, 1997, the Wild Wild West Casino opens.

• In 1998, Bally’s Park Place became part of Park Place Entertainment after Hilton divested itself of its gaming operations.

• In 2000, Bally’s Park Place became Bally’s Atlantic City.

• in 2003, Bally’s buys the adjacent Claridge Hotel and Casino, renaming it the Claridge Tower at Ballys Atlantic City.

• In 2004, Park Place Entertainment (parent company of Bally’s Atlantic City) changed its company name to Caesars Entertainment and changed its ticker symbol from PPE to CZR.

• In 2005, Bally’s Atlantic City was purchased by Harrah’s Entertainment as part of a multi-billon dollar leveraged buyout of Caesars Entertainment.

• At the end of 2005 Gary Loveman, the Chairman and CEO of Harrah’s Entertainment, announced plans to rebrand the Bally’s Atlantic City and Las Vegas properties either to the Horseshoe or the Rio brands. The exact timeline of this rebranding still has yet to be announced.

Casino

The Bally’s numerous casinos have over 80,000 sq. ft. of gaming space with over 2,170 slot machines, Keno, simulcast, many table games, among other features.

Wild Wild West Casino

The Wild Wild West casino has a Wild West theme, and is probably the most notable of all the casinos. Upon entering from the Boardwalk, you see an animated mountain scene with waterfalls, mines and a running stream.

The mountain, which rises about 20 feet (6 m) in the air, is accompanied by animatronic characters, such as a “49er” panning for gold and telling stories of the Old West alongside his companion, a trusty burro. There’s also a talking vulture and a rattlesnake. Above, there’s a darkening sky with an approaching storm, which lights up the mountain with flashes of lightning as thunder roars throughout the room. Across from the mountain are various storefronts, all designed in an old west style.

Inside the gaming hall, the theme continues, complete with the weathered wood of the old west buildings, the gun shop, the general store, the undertaker, the dance hall and the saloon. In the middle of the casino is the town bank (casino cage).

New Western scenes are also here, with even the restrooms decorated like abandoned mine shafts. Scattered throughout the casino are 17 robots that perform in 30-minute intervals with four different action scripts.