CasiNotes: Bally's starts beer pong tonight at Wild Wild West
ARE YOU ready for some beer pong? If you are, the Wild Wild West casino at Bally's Atlantic City is the place to be as the town's first bee- pong facility opens tonight.
ARE YOU ready for some beer pong?
If you are, the Wild Wild West casino at Bally's Atlantic City is the place to be as the town's first bee- pong facility opens tonight.
In case you just got back from an extended trip to Saturn, beer pong is a college-campus and sports-event tailgating staple. It's played on a regulation pingpong table, but no paddles are involved. The object is to toss a pingpong ball into a plastic cup filled with beer on the opponent's side of the table. (The game generally involves 10 cups per side, arranged in a triangular shape.)
If a player is successful, his opponents (the game is usually played two-on-two) must drink all the beer in the cup where the ball landed. The first team to get all of its opponents' cups drained wins the match.
Overseeing the 12-table beer-pong area at Wild Wild West is Las Vegas-based Bpong.com, sponsor of the annual World Series of Beer Pong, which carries a $50,000 grand prize for the winning duo. The company has placed a dozen tables in the Western-themed casino, all of which will be in operation 24/7.
The beer-pong area is part of a larger space dubbed the Main Stage, which also contains mechanical bull rides and a performance stage.
The $15 fee per round for beer pong includes a pitcher of beer. Beer refills are $10 a pitcher. Obviously, you must be 21 to play.
Oldies but goodies
The summertime classic-rock explosion ramps up tomorrow evening with three properties showcasing baby-boomer musical heroes.
Caesars Atlantic City is hosting Jethro Tull. Led by singer-composer (and founding member) Ian Anderson, rock's pre-eminent flautist, Tull has spent the past 42 years confounding expectations with a singular sound that blends delicate British folk, baroque, gritty American blues, jazz, Third World modes and riff-heavy hard rock (supplied primarily by lead guitarist Martin Barre, who joined the band in time for the recording of the landmark 1969 LP "Stand Up").
Showtime is 9 p.m. Tickets are $105, $85 and $75.
Tull isn't the only English progressive-rock act on the Boardwalk tomorrow night. Down at Tropicana Casino and Resort, there is the tasty double-bill of Procol Harum and Renaissance.
Procol Harum, which still features lead singer-keyboardist Gary Brooker, is credited in some circles for igniting (along with the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" LP) the British prog-rock explosion of the late '60s and early '70s with its iconic 1967 hit, "A Whiter Shade of Pale," which incorporated a melody by J.S. Bach.
Though not as famous or successful as Procol Harum, Renaissance has plenty of prog cred as well, thanks to its complex musical structures and the still-soaring vocals of lead singer (and Bucks County resident) Annie Haslam. So if you're going to the show, make sure you get there in time to catch the openers' set.
Showtime is 8 p.m. Admission is $59, $49 and $39.
If something a little more mainstream is your classic-rock cup of tea, then head to the Atlantic City Hilton, where the Steve Miller Band will be cranking out such FM radio hits as "Fly Like an Eagle," "Take the Money and Run" and "The Joker."
Showtime is 8 p.m. Admission is $85.
To order tickets for any of these concerts, call 800-736-1420, or go to www.ticketmaster.com.
Elvii alert
Also being staged tomorrow is the annual Ultimate Elvis Presley Tribute Artist contest at Resorts Atlantic City. The winner will score a 12-week deal with the "Legends in Concert" celebrity mimic-fest. Showtime is 8 p.m.; admission is $20. For tix, call 800-736-1420, or go to www.ticketmaster.com.
And if you're in AyCee around 4 this afternoon, the men who would be King will face (hipping?) off in a hula-hoop concert on the Boardwalk in front of Resorts.
My bad
A couple of weeks ago, we had the wrong date for the Mount Airy Casino Resort performances by Mark Lindsay (former lead singer of Paul Revere & the Raiders) and ex-Monkees drummer Mickey Dolenz.
They will be at the gaming hall's Gypsies venue June 26. Lindsay hits at 6 p.m., while Monkee Mickey takes the stage at 9. Admission for each gig is $50 and $35. For tickets, call 877-682-4791.
Chuck Darrow has been covering Atlantic City and casinos for more than 20 years. Read his blog http://go.philly.com/casinotes.
E-mail him at darrowc@phillynews.com. And listen to his Atlantic City reports Saturdays at 1:45 a.m. with Steve Trevelise on WIP (610-AM) and 4:05 p.m. on Atlantic City's WOND (1400-AM) with Marc Berman.