Mohegan extends casino empire to Boardwalk

Mohegan Sun will take over operation of the Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, N.J.

In what is reportedly the first entry by a Native American group into a traditional U.S. gambling Mecca, the Mohegan Gaming Tribal Authority will take over operations at the venerated Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, N.J.

The Mohegan Gaming Tribal Authority runs the Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino in eastern Connecticut, as well as Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. It has proposed another expansion north of the Connecticut border in Palmer, Mass.

The Resorts, which opened in 1978, was the first legally sanctioned casino in the United States outside Las Vegas, and its owners at one point included entertainment titan Merv Griffin. In 2010 the casino was bought by DGMB Casinos L.L.C. for a reported $34 million, which renovated it to reflect a theme of the Roaring ”™20s era, on the heels of HBO”™s hit series “Boardwalk Empire.”

DGMB partner Dennis Gomes died last February, with his son assuming his duties alongside original partner Morris Bailey.