This week both the Taj Mahal and the famous White House Sub Shop announced that they have entered into an agreement to open a second location within the resort.

“We’ve been approached numerous times by other casinos to bring our product into their venues,” commented Mary (Sacco) Conley, owner of White House Sub Shop. “The timing is right and the opportunity to open our second location at Trump Taj Mahal Hotel and Casino seems a natural fit–pairing two Atlantic City icons together in one location.”

The White House Sub Shop has been in operation since 1946 and has attracted its share of celebrity patrons over the years.

“The White House Sub Shop is an Atlantic City favorite,” said Mark Juliano, CEO, Trump Entertainment Resorts. “We are all excited to have this opportunity to bring this venue in to share with our guests and give them a taste of Atlantic City’s history and world-famous subs.”

Effective October 8, 2010, James Rigot will resign from his position as General Manager of Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City.

Rigot has been employed with Trump Entertainment Resorts on and off through the years. Rigot began his employment with the gaming operator as a casino shift manager in 1984 and later returned to serve as Executive Vice President of Casino Operations between 1994 and 1999. For the past five years Rigot has served as General Manager of Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino.

While the reasons for Rigot’s departure has not been disclosed at this time, the filing reported that he would be entitled to a severance package as stated in his employment contract due to a “change-of-control”, referring to the recent emergence from bankruptcy under the lead of Mark Larsy with Avenue Capital.

For the quarter Trump’s gaming revenue at its three Atlantic City casinos continued with its double digit decline dropping an additional 7.2% to $182.3 million.

According to last week’s earnings report, gaming revenue at the Trump Plaza fell 17.1% while Trump Marina lost a drastic 30.9% due to increasing competition in neighboring states, however the tables were turned at the Trump Taj Mahal who reported an overall revenue increase of 7.1%.

Trump Entertainment Resorts reported a total net loss of $15.9 million or $0.51 per share for the quarter compared to the same period in 2009 with a loss of $443.1 million or $13.97 per share due to writing off value in the Atlantic City resorts.

While analysts anticipate a slow recovery for the Atlantic City casino market and possibly an even longer one for Trumps new owners who took control of the properties in July, third quarter financials could be a tell all if bondholders led by Avenue Capital can turn things around for Trump Entertainment Resorts.

On Friday, Trump Entertainment announced that they lost an appeals case that would have paid them nearly $3 million from overpaid utility taxes.

According to the court filing the three casinos paid Atlantic City Electric $2.7 million in utility taxes but was exempt from the state legislation signed in 1998 because of a previous contract signed with the utility company.

A refund was requested in 2006 when Trumps Attorneys realized that they were billed and subsequently paid $539,000 for the Trump Plaza, $670,000 for the Trump Marina and $1.5 million for the Trump Taj Mahal between 1998 and 2001. However the state court ruled on Friday that the statue of limitations have run out for the refund and that they were not eligible for the refund.

Trump was successful in filing refunds for the years of 2001 through 2004.

Trump’s Attorneys are reviewing the ruling and determining if further action can be taken.

Chief Executive Officer Mark Juliano said that they are looking to take on a partner to renovate the aging Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in order to generate more convention business. The Plaza plans to capitalize on its shoreline location on the famous Boardwalk that the governor is eying to turn into a “family friendly” destination.

While there are no negotiations currently underway, Juliano says that he would like to see a well known brand like the Hard Rock or Planet Hollywood join them in the venture.

Trump Entertainment is open to options but says that to compete with neighboring resorts they would need to renovate the existing facilities and add a new hotel tower to increase available rooms to at least 1,500.

Restructuring plans also include selling the Trump Marina, although plans to sell to Coastal Marina LLC have fallen through twice the company is in closed discussions with four other potential buyers.

According to an SEC filing 13.53% of the Atlantic City casino operator has been purchased by Contrarian Capital Management, L.L.C holding 1,449,783 shares and Contrarian Capital Fund I, L.P with 9.11% and 975,825 shares.

The firm that specializes in distressed investing now owns a higher percentage in the company than previous owner Donald Trump who was only able to maintain a 10% interest in exchange for the use of his name under the bankruptcy restructuring plan approved by the judge in April.

Avenue Capital led by CEO Marc Lasry remains the company’s largest individual shareholder with 21.7%.

TRMP last traded on July 16 when the company emerged from bankruptcy and dropped 66.5% to close the session at $0.005 on 51.17 million shares.

A leak in the water main that provides cooled air to the air conditioning unit of Trump Plaza and neighboring Caesars forced gamblers and hotel guest to other properties on one of the most profitable weekends of the year.

“It’s going to be a sizable impact,” said Mark Juliano, CEO of Trump Entertainment Resorts, “It happened on one of the five or six top weekends of the entire year — perfect weather, lots of things going on in town.”

Temporary cooling systems, provided by Pepco Energy Services which owns the plant where the malfunction occurred, brought temperatures inside the Atlantic City casino to acceptable levels. The gaming floor reopened at 4 pm on Sunday and the hotel began accepting guests shortly after however Pepco said that repairs could take four to six weeks.

On Friday morning the company who owns and operates three Atlantic City casino resorts, announced that the Judge has approved it to exit bankruptcy proceedings.

“Our company is now well-capitalized and possesses a long-term strategy for growth. Our new board of directors and ownership group have made it clear that they are dedicated to the success of the Company over both the short- and long-terms. We are excited about the new chapter that begins today for Trump Entertainment Resorts.” commented Mark Juliano, CEO and new member of the board of directors.

However shortly after 2 pm on Friday the Trump Plaza Casino and Hotel closed due to a leak in the water main that provides cooled water to the AC units of several Atlantic City casinos.

With temperatures reaching into the 90’s the resort was closed temporarily until repairs to the line could be made.

“We have decided to temporarily close both our casino and hotel because the utility issue that has shut down our air-conditioning has brought the quality of experience in our hotel below the standards to which we consistently hold ourselves,” Juliano said.

Hotel guests have been transferred to empty rooms at the Taj Mahal and Trump Marina.

While the hotel and casino is expected to be reopened late Sunday, the closure has been estimated to cost the newly emerged company more than $1 million.

Under the restructured company, a group of bondholders led by Avenue Capital will assume control of Trump’s three Atlantic City Casinos, Trump Marina, Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, and Trump Plaza Hotel Casino, despite attempts by investor Carl Icahn to appeal the Judge’s decision denying him the right to exchange mortgage notes on the property for controlling interest.

Trump Entertainment is expected to exit bankruptcy this week with debt reduced from nearly $1.8 billion to $334 million.

Donald Trump will continue to allow his name to be used in exchange for 10% of the company however Avenue Capital will assume 21.7%.

While negotiations are still under way to sell the Trump Marina, Avenue Capital’s CEO Marc Lasry says that they plan to invest additional capital if necessary to continue to operate the company for at least five years.

“We believe that five years from now, that equity (will be) worth a huge amount of money,” Lasry said. “That’s the bet we’re making.

Following Atlantic City’s lead, the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort has begun offering a calendar of events catering to the gay and lesbian market advertised as “fun and ‘gay’mes.”

The resort first hosted a gay bingo night last week where more than 300 customers participated in bingo games and events including dancing in a ballroom designed as a nightclub named “Club O 69”.

“We recognized a need to provide entertainment experiences to the GLBT community,” said Paula Mauk, vice president of marketing for Trump Entertainment. “We have amenities at the Trump Atlantic City properties that can attract and grow that demographic.”

More gay bingo nights are tentatively scheduled in July and August as the Taj Mahal continues to appeal to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender customer base.

Justin Nelson, president of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, commented on the campaign by saying “We enjoy good entertainment, we enjoy good food and we enjoy being catered to in a respectful way.”

Previous negotiations fell apart in 2008 with both parties accusing the other of breach of contract, which resulted in a lawsuit over $17 million that Coastal paid as a deposit on the original sale.

Under terms of the new purchase agreement, both parties agreed to drop all pending litigation upon closing.

Coastal Marina will purchase the 27 story hotel, 80,000 square feet of gaming space and 60,000 square feet of convention space, nightclub, three players clubs, four retail outlets, six restaurants, cocktail lounge and health spa for $316 million.

Richard Fields, chairman of Coastal Marina said that the casino hotel will be re-branded and refurbished to fit within their “Margaritaville” brand.

“Together with Jimmy Buffet’s team at Margaritaville, our plans are to create an exciting new property that we believe will tap its full potential and make it one of the most successful destination gaming resorts in Atlantic City,” Fields said.

“They are buying a wonderful building in a great location. It has been an important part of our company with a loyal customer base and a dedicated team.” responded Trump.

During a hearing yesterday, Icahn withdrew his motion to delay Trump Entertainment from moving forward with plans to obtain approval from the New Jersey Casino Control Commission next month, while he waited for his appeal to be heard.

Icahn has been fighting to gain ownership of the casino properties in exchange for the mortgage notes he holds on the properties, although the judge granted ownership to bondholders earlier this year.

Icahn dropped the motion because his attorneys said that the delay could jeopardize the mortgage payments.

Icahn however, did not withdrawal his appeal or his attempt to block a deal with the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority.

Further arguments on the CRDA dispute will be heard on June 24; in the meantime the judge prohibited Trump Entertainment from using the funds received from the CRDA.

Icahn filed court papers this week to prevent Trump Entertainment from receiving $9.6 million from the states Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA).

Under the terms of the deal Trump Entertainment will pay the CRDA $28.4 million, of which one third will be returned under the authority’s policy. However Icahn is arguing that the deal violates the bankruptcy plan and that the money should be used to help pay off the mortgage that Icahn and Beal Bank hold on the Atlantic City properties instead.

“An actual and justiciable controversy exists with respect to the return to the (casinos) of the $9.6 million in CRDA cash and the resulting donation of $18.8 million of the CRDA investments,” Icahn’s papers say.

Icahn contends the CRDA deal will take some of the financial pressure off the bondholders and put it on “the backs” of Icahn and his financial partner, Beal Bank. Icahn alleges the CRDA agreement violates a bankruptcy order because it was never approved by Beal Bank in its role as the mortgage agent.

“The CRDA donation is not permitted without the prior written consent of the agent, which has not been obtained,” the papers say.

The CRDA approved the deal at its May 18th board meeting.

Icahn filed an appeal on Monday, challenging the Judge’s ruling.

“The court erred in several key respects with respect to one of the most central issues in the nine-day confirmation hearing; namely, whether the AHC/Debtor Plan is feasible,” attorneys for Icahn and Beal said.

Icahn is questioning whether the company will have enough money to “to survive beyond a few months” claiming that Trump Entertainment fell $6.6 million short of its projected first quarter revenue.

Trump Entertainment filed for bankruptcy in February of 2009 after struggling with a heavy debt load and losses in gaming revenue, however the Judge ruled in their favor because the plan would allow investors to recover some equity, although Icahn’s plan “was more feasible” and “would eliminate Trump Entertainment’s debt”.

The company posted a loss of $24.4 million or $0.78 a share compared to a loss of $50.1 million in the same period last year.

Net revenue from the three Atlantic City casinos fell 12.3% to $168.4 million.

Gaming revenue for the quarter was also down nearly 18% to $170.8 million.

The company was able to offset losses by cutting corporate costs and expenses, as well as reducing the amount of comps given to gamblers.

Trump Entertainment plans to exist bankruptcy in the third quarter, with an infusion of $225 million from bondholders that won the right to purchase the company out of bankruptcy.

Ivanka Trump, daughter of Donald Trump and executive vice president of development & acquisitions for the Trump Organization will become one of the main public faces of the company.

“We’re going to include her in a lot of things, marketing, advertising,” Donald Trump said. “The bondholders, they’ve really gotten into Ivanka.”

Ivanka’s image has already been associated with the Atlantic City casinos, but now she will play an even larger role to appeal to a younger demographic by allowing her image to become a legal right of the company.

“She’s a very bright, attractive person who resonates with the new market that Atlantic City needs to attract,” commented a New Jersey casino consulting firm “Atlantic City has skewed older with its customers. The younger market is where the new dollars are at. They spend cash and they come to Atlantic City looking for a good time, not just to gamble.”

“We are obviously disappointed in the decision,” attorney Edward Weisfelner said. “We will reserve and pursue our rights.”

Icahn claims that the judge made “fundamental errors” in her ruling.

Icahn and banker Andy Beal submitted their own reorganization plan to the bankruptcy court in an attempt to win control of three Atlantic City casinos by converting the properties mortgage into ownership.

Bondholders, led by Avenue Capital Group are attempting to secure a new $45 million bankruptcy loan to keep the casinos operational while they begin preparations for a rights offering to help fund the $225 million needed to exit bankruptcy.

Under the bondholder plan the money will be used to reduce the company’s debt from $1.7 billion to between $325 million and $335 million.

“We are making this investment in this company because we firmly believe in the future of the gaming business in Atlantic City and the strength of the Trump brand,” said Marc Lasry head of Avenue Capital Group.

Earlier this week the New Jersey Casino Control Commission released March revenue numbers that showed improvement over past years.

However Trump Entertainments Taj Mahal Casino showed the largest decline of 21.6%. The Trump Plaza and Trump Marina also saw a continued decrease in revenue.

In order to successfully keep operations going, Juliano said that they will attempt to revive a broken deal with New York developer Richard Fields to purchase the Trump Marina Hotel and Casino.

However if Fields is not interested in continuing failed negotiations the company will actively begin seeking another buyer.

Juliano has also said that they will begin seeking opportunities in other gaming markets to lessen their dependence on Atlantic City, pending the sale of Trump Marina.

The federal bankruptcy Judge issued a ruling on Monday that the three Atlantic City casinos will be led by New York-based Avenue Capital Group and Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka after some changes are made to the re-structuring plan submitted.

The bondholders will buy the gaming properties out of bankruptcy for $225 million and debt reduced to $334 million from nearly $1.8 billion.

“This time we really cut the debt,” Donald Trump said. “It was never really cut enough. We’ve cut the debt down to a low level, and we now have a company in good financial shape.”

Investor Carl Icahn also bid on the property hoping to swap the $486 million mortgage he holds on Trump Entertainment for ownership of the company. Icahn’s plan would have eliminated all of the debt but would also wipe out bondholders’ investments.

In additional Trump Entertainment will retain the use of the Trump brand giving Donald Trump and his daughter as much as 10% equity stake in the company.

According to attorneys for both parties, Icahn will have 10 days to appeal the court’s decision after a formal hearing on Thursday.

The City’s 11 gambling properties reported a combined 5% decline in slot winnings to $207.3 million and a 6.8% drop in revenue at the tables to $93.5 million.

If downward trends continue, this will be the fourth straight year that revenue has declined. The last time Atlantic City posted higher monthly revenue was August 2008.

Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Entertainments flagship casino suffered the largest decline of all three, down 21.6%.

Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino also dropped 6.5% and the Trump Marina Hotel Casino was down 4%.