Shuffled up: Once a destination, Taj Mahal poker room folds

Source: Associated Press



Oct 8, 11:34 AM EDT
Shuffled up: Once a destination, Taj Mahal poker room folds

By JOSH CORNFIELD
Associated Press

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) -- The closing of the Trump Taj Mahal casino on Monday will cost thousands of workers their jobs and bring a final end to Donald Trump's legacy in the seaside resort, but it will also mean the closure of what was once one of the premiere destinations for poker outside Las Vegas.

The poker room in the casino on Atlantic City's boardwalk long ago lost its luster, but in its heyday drew packed crowds of gamblers from around the region and country to dozens of tables around the clock.

Around lunchtime Wednesday, the 24 remaining tables were empty. A security guard and two soon-to-be unemployed employees milled about, but there were no dealers, no chips being shuffled, no cards flying through the air.

After opening in 1993 when poker was legalized in New Jersey, "the Taj" became "the center of the East Coast poker world, certainly the legal poker world," said Brian Koppelman, who used the mix of locals, tourists and pros as inspiration for scenes in his 1998 film "Rounders."

"It was the place that you could go play without violating any laws and where, if you were someone who wanted to get better at poker and study the best players, you were there," Koppelman said. "If you were someone who wanted to hustle people, you could go there and find tourists to hustle."



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