Casino Executive to Buy Aging Resorts Atlantic City

Resorts, Atlantic City’s oldest casino, is getting a new owner.

Dennis Gomes has a history in Atlantic City. He was once the president of the Trump Taj Mahal, and he also oversaw the Tropicana hotel in the seaside resort town before moving on to partner in casino operations in Kansas and Indiana. Now it looks like he’ll be returning to his old stomping grounds as the new owner of the oldest casino in Atlantic City.

Gomes Gaming has announced that it plans to purchase Resorts Atlantic City, which like other Atlantic City casinos has struggled in recent years. The casino is something of an icon – it was the first casino to open in Atlantic City in 1978 after gambling was legalized there. Resorts’ future has been in doubt since last December, when lenders took it over after its owners failed to make payments on the casino for more than a year.

“We are going to bring it back to life,” Gomes said in a statement announcing the Resorts purchase. “I have disagreed with the doom and gloom analysts who have painted a bleak picture of our city.”

In addition to his time as a casino executive, Dennis Gomes has also served on the Nevada Gaming Control Board and as chief of special investigations for the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. A probe he conducted during his tenure on the NGCB was the basis of the 1995 Martin Scorsese film Casino, starring Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci.