Text Box: CURSED FROM THE START
 
The hotel-casino known variously as Playboy, Atlantis, Trump Regency and Trump's World's Fair doesn't exist anymore. Talk about bad luck.
 
When the Playboy opened in 1981, Playboy's rabbit-eared trademark - placed atop a 22-story tower - was the most famous logo on the Boardwalk.
 
Hugh Hefner, publisher of Playboy magazine, had partnered with Vegas casino operator Elsinore Corp. for his Atlantic City venture, located next door to the old Convention Hall (now called Boardwalk Hall). But the venture wasn't a success.
 
The Casino Control Commission refused to make Hefner's temporary casino license permanent because, 22 years before, Playboy execs had made illegal payoffs to New York liquor officials.
 
And it turned out Bunnies weren't enough to lure gamblers, who disliked the casino's three-level design.
 
Elsinore bought out Hef and, in 1984, renamed the property the Atlantis. But money troubles continued, and the Atlantis declared bankruptcy and closed in 1989.
 
Then came Donald Trump. He bought the building to make extra hotel rooms for his Trump Plaza Hotel Casino, on the other side of Convention Hall. By 1996, it was legal to own four casinos, so Trump created Trump's World's Fair Casino there.
 
Still no dice.
 
In 1999, the World's Fair Casino didn't just close; the entire building was torn down. It's a vacant lot today.
Rose DeWolf

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