NJ Casino Operator Dennis Gomes Dead at 68
By David Madden
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (CBS) -- Longtime Atlantic City casino executive Dennis Gomes has died at age 68.
You may not know him, but you might be familiar with some of his work. Between Atlantic City and Las Vegas, Gomes spent four decades in the business, starting as a Nevada casino investigator whose probe of a scam inspired the Robert DeNiro film "Casino."
In our area, he ran things at the Taj Mahal and opened "The Quarter" at the Tropicana. Then he partnered up to buy Resorts a little over a year ago.
Linda Kassekert, chair of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, recalled Gomes's excitement at that last deal:
"He would say, 'This is a great property. It's got such great bones. It's really in great shape,' and he just had all these great ideas."
And figures show that he was starting to turn the place around, in part by adopting a "Roaring '20s" theme to capitalize on the popularity of the HBO show "Boardwalk Empire."
Last September, Gomes made headlines when he helped his own casino security staff chase down and catch a man accused of stealing from another patron (see related story).
Business partner Morris Bailey, in a statement, called Gomes "an industry leader and visionary."
