ATLANTIC CITY — Gone are the roulette tables and slot machines that were once at the Showboat Atlantic City Hotel. In their place is a sea of arcade games stretching across more than 100,000 square feet.

During a press event Thursday afternoon, Bart Blatstein, CEO of Tower Investments Inc. and owner of the Showboat, donned an albino Burmese python, named Banana Peel, around his shoulders to introduce the first completed stage of his family-friendly entertainment venue: The Lucky Snake at Showboat.

“The name of the arcade and sports bar is The Lucky Snake, and friendly snake, why is he looking at me like that?” Blatstein said while Banana Peel got closer to his face.
 
The venue, slated to open May 15, will include an arcade — the largest in the state — a sports bar, performance stages, a speakeasy and improved meeting spaces.

“Atlantic City was always America’s playground,” Blatstein said. “What better way to kick off the family-friendly resort, the Showboat, than to open up the largest arcade and sports bar in New Jersey?”

The venue, which is expected to create 100 jobs, will also complement Showboat’s proposed 103,000-square-foot, $97 million indoor water park. Blatstein said he hopes to break ground on the project by the end of next month.

“We couldn’t be more excited,” Blatstein said. “Atlantic City is deserving of it (the venue), and we’re thrilled to be here.”

Blatstein has been a developer for more than 43 years and has overseen large-scale projects across Philadelphia.

In Atlantic City, however, Blatstein hasn’t always had the best luck. His venture to transform The Pier Shops at Caesars into an entertainment-and-shopping facility failed, resulting in him eventually selling the property back to Caesars.

Asked to compare his experience developing in Philadelphia versus Atlantic City, Blatstein said it’s similar.

“It’s similar. Everybody wants progress,” Blatstein said. “Everybody wants good development.”
 
Blatstein invested $7 million into The Lucky Snake.
 
“These are the types of development opportunities that we always talk about,” Mayor Marty Small Sr. said. “When we talk about diversifying the great city of Atlantic City, this is a complete and total game changer.”

Small described the new venue as “Dave & Busters and more, on steroids.”

“I’m thrilled that we’ll have this family attraction here,” Small said. “When you talk about families and diversifying the economy, once again this is it.”

The arcade will feature games including a large crane, classics from the 1980s, virtual reality, basketball, pinball and skee ball. Prizes will range from candy to designer purses, jewelry, cars, motorcycles and all-inclusive vacations, officials said.

The arcade’s reward program will be comparable to the most advanced and favored customer loyalty programs in the casino industry, they said. Packages offering guests unlimited game play or game play with food and beverage also will be available.
 
The 25,000-square-foot sports bar will include an esports gaming area and a boxing ring.

Live entertainment will be programmed seven days a week at the indoor entertainment venues, which will have host areas for music performances and street performers.
In addition to the water park and Lucky Snake, Blatstein plans to build a domed outdoor concert hall next to the hotel along with a beer garden and a sun deck.
 
Blatstein said those projects should be open by summer 2022.

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