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Each of Atlantic City's dozen casinos , which also act as luxury hotels, conference centers and concert halls, has a slightly different image, despite the apparent uniformity of vast, richly ornamented halls, slot machines, relentless flashing lights and incessant noise, chandeliers, mirrors, and a disorienting absence of clocks or windows.

By far the most ostentatious (and "The Don" wouldn't have it any other way) is Donald Trump's Disneyesque Taj Mahal . Occupying nearly twenty acres and over forty stories high, this gigantic but oddly anticlimactic piece of Far Eastern kitsch stands opposite the arcade-packed Steel Pier at the north end of the Boardwalk, dotted with glittering minarets and onion domes. It is one of the largest gambling casinos on earth, precariously tottering on the edge of bankruptcy. At the other end of the scale, the Claridge , Indiana Avenue and the Boardwalk, dubs itself "the friendly casino" and is smaller, darker and more downmarket than the others. Sands , next door at South Indiana Avenue, is a noisy and popular venue with a vague circus theme. Both these properties are slightly off the Boardwalk, accessible by a glass-covered slow-moving sidewalk with accompanying taped music from the various stars who have played Atlantic City. Caesars , Arkansas Avenue and the Boardwalk, has an uninspired Roman theme, with statues of Greek gods, marble columns and laurel wreaths at every turn.

All casinos are open 24 hours a day, and have a strict minimum age requirement , so be prepared to show ID to prove you're 21 or older if you plan to gamble.