The machines will be located in a private room at Hard Rock Atlantic City, with Softweave’s technology being implemented to allow slot players to experience some of the most popular land-based slot games that are not available in the virtual world.

Kresimir Spajic, senior VP of online gaming and sports betting at Hard Rock International, stated: “We are excited to introduce an entirely new way to play floor favourites without being there. With live slots, you can control real, physical slot machines located at Hard Rock Atlantic City from anywhere in New Jersey using your PC, Mac, tablet or mobile device. It is a first-of-its-kind experience unavailable anywhere else on the planet.”

As a result, in the live slots section of HardRockCasino.com, players will see a row of real slot machines, as if they were walking through Hard Rock Atlantic City. This true-to-life experience means that players can find their own personal lucky slot machine and continue to return to it if the machine is not occupied.

Roy Greenbaum, CEO of Softweave Ltd, added: “The partnership with Hard Rock creates optimal settings for the delivery of the live slots product. Our cutting-edge technology will enable HardRockCasino.com to extend the real gaming experience from the casino floor directly to the players fingertips.”

Traditional land based slots such as Leprecoins, Buffalo, Spitfire Multipliers, Hotter than Blaze and 3x4x4x Double Times Pay are set to now be featured as a result of this new innovation. 

Joe Lupo, president of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City, concluded: “We are thrilled to present ground-breaking and innovative technology as real-money, online gaming continues to evolve in New Jersey. 

“Similarly, to live table games dealers, live slots enables our players to have one seamless experience to earn wild card rewards including hotel rooms, entertainment and dining at Hard Rock Atlantic City. Bridging the gap to provide a ‘live’ experience to our online consumers is something we are not only excited for, but very proud to be the first in the world.”

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Set to strike on Sunday, workers were in a dispute over pay due to high levels of inflation, demanding a pay increase to fend off increasing prices in fuel, food and rent. 

Securing the agreement meant that Atlantic City could remain open to capitalise on a busy weekend following tough economic conditions for the casino industry throughout the last two years. 

A Unite Here statement announcing the deal read: “The union’s worker negotiating committee at the property have approved the agreement and will set a date for a ratification vote from the entire membership soon. 

“Seven of the nine casinos in Atlantic City now have agreements in place with the union Local 54. Golden Nugget and Resorts have yet to reach new agreements.”

Speaking to Yahoo, Jim Allen, Chair of Hard Rock International, expressed his delight at securing a new deal with the casino’s workers. 

He noted: “We are extremely pleased that we were once again able to reach a successful settlement with Unite Here Local 54 to increase wages and benefits for our deserving team members.

“We look forward to further expanding this excellent relationship at both the national and local levels as we expand our iconic brand.”

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Neither party has confirmed the deal publicly, but the correspondence notes that Hard Rock Atlantic City and bet365 both signed a letter of intent on 19 June. The correspondence was signed by DGE Director David Rebuck on 25 June.

The letter serves as a temporary approval for bet365, and it will remain valid until 31 July as the British bookmaker obtains a licence to operate in the East Coast state.

The all-encompassing $375 million renovation of the former Trump Taj Mahal building, subsequently rising to $500 million, opened its doors last Thursday, with two nights of entertainment – for which a first-year budget of $30 million has been set aside.

Hard Rock Chairman Jim Allen previously noted: “The brand itself is about entertainment.

“Within these amenities we certainly offer hotel, dining, and other experiences. But there is one universal language and that’s music. We are the only brand that works to bring people together through music.”

Allen later added: “We could have re-carpeted and put some memorabilia up and that would have been fine.

“But we made a commitment to making sure Atlantic City grows, so it was important to make sure guests got to come see something completely new and re-done.”

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The Casino Control Commission granted a license to the worldwide hotel, gambling and entertainment company owned by Florida’s Seminole Indian tribe.

The casino is set to reopen on 28th June — the same day as another shuttered boardwalk casino, the former Revel property, will reopen as the Ocean Resort Casino. Together, the new casinos will restore as many as 6500 of the 11,000 jobs Atlantic City lost when five of its 12 casinos went out of business since 2014. Casino officials say Hard Rock has received 50,000 applications for 4,000 jobs.

“What we have in store is going to blow people away,” said Jon Lucas, Chief Operating Officer of Hard Rock International. “It’ll be a boost for the reinvention of Atlantic City.”

Four casinos — The Atlantic Club, Showboat, Trump Plaza and Revel — went out of business in 2014, with the Trump Taj Mahal following suit in 2016.

Hard Rock is now renovating the casino resort that Trump opened in 1990.

“We could have just re-carpeted and put up some [memorabilia]. But we want to grow Atlantic City rather than just moving people from an existing facility,” said James Allen, CEO of Hard Rock International.

The casino has budgeted $30 million for entertainment in its first year, Allen noted. That will fund over 300 nights of live music, comedy and drama. Carrie Underwood and Pitbull will be the first acts to perform there.

The casino will have no debt, being self-financed by Hard Rock and its local investment partners, Allen added. The resort also plans to offer internet gambling and sports betting, if it is legalised.

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Figures released by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement show a total revenue increase of 0.9% to $3.54bn for the full year of 2017, which rises a further 0.5% to $3.73bn with third party sales factored in.

The regions casino gaming saw a 1.6% gain year-on-year, reaching $2.5bn, while takings from ‘entertainment and other’ saw a 6% increase to $164.5m.

Food and beverage sales were down 0.8% to $427.2m, while room revenue also saw a decline of 3.6% to $391m, despite a 5.4% rise in occupancy rates across Atlantic City’s casino hotels, with a figure of 86.9% reported for the 12 month period.

Furthermore, the region reported a 23.7% gain in gross operating profit for FY2017, aided by a 39% increase in the final quarter of the year, with six of the seven properties all headed in the right direction.

It’s Borgata who highlight the largest numbers, with a 19.5% rise shooting its profit from $244.7m in 2016 to $292.4m, trailed by Caesars who also reported a 19.5% increase to $92.1m.

The biggest percentage gain on the other hand was shown by Tropicana, with a profit of 71 percentage points to $91.9m, while Harrah’s was the only property to report a decline, showing a 2.7% decrease to $115.8m.

Of the remaining trio Bally’s rose 8.1% to $42.1m, Golden Nugget climbed 38.3% to $40m and Resorts gained 23.6% to $23.1m, while Atlantic City’s duo of operators in the United states regulated online market, Resorts Digital and Caesars Interactive Entertainment, also reported profits of $14.4m and $11m respectively.

Later this year two new entries make their way into the fold, with Hard Rock Atlantic City opening at the former Trump Taj Mahal, and Ocean Resorts Casino welcoming guests to the ex-Revel.

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