ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- The closing of the Trump Taj Mahal casino on Monday will cost thousands of workers their jobs and bring a final end to Donald Trumps legacy in the seaside resort, but it will also mean the closure of what was once one of the premiere destinations for poker outside Las Vegas.The poker room in the casino on Atlantic Citys boardwalk long ago lost its luster, but in its heyday drew packed crowds of gamblers from around the region and country to dozens of tables around the clock.Around lunchtime Wednesday, the 24 remaining tables were empty. A security guard and two soon-to-be unemployed employees milled about, but there were no dealers, no chips being shuffled, no cards flying through the air.After opening in 1993 when poker was legalized in New Jersey, the Taj became the center of the East Coast poker world, certainly the legal poker world, said Brian Koppelman, who used the mix of locals, tourists and pros as inspiration for scenes in his 1998 film Rounders.It was the place that you could go play without violating any laws and where, if you were someone who wanted to get better at poker and study the best players, you were there, Koppelman said. If you were someone who wanted to hustle people, you could go there and find tourists to hustle.Koppelman, creator of TVs Billions on Showtime along with Rounders writing partner David Levien, said the scene in the film where Matt Damons character plays for more money than he should against poker legend Johnny Chan was inspired by him sitting at a table at the Taj with brash World Series of Poker champion Phil Hellmuth.Koppelman and Levien traveled there for research after deciding to make a film about the New York underground poker scene. When they shot there, none of us slept. We were shooting and then just playing cards.The steady stream of players from the New York and Philadelphia region made the room popular, but it was the U.S. Poker Championship in 1996 that turned it into a destination. Some of the games top players laid down $10,000 in what was the first tournament on the East Coast on the same financial level as the World Series of Poker.When we went there, the Taj Mahal poker room was kind of a mess, said former World Series of Poker tournament director Jack McClelland, who Trump hired to launch the tournament that was broadcast on ESPN. They ran the poker room like you run the blackjack pit. ... It was just a mess.McClelland says the tournament organizers helped to change some of the problems, and he said he enjoyed working for Trump, for whom he plans to vote in November.Connecticuts Foxwoods Casino had already begun splitting up the lucrative New York market, but it was the opening of Atlantic Citys Vegas-style Borgata casino in 2003 that started the end of the Taj poker room. It began drawing most of the citys big action, and the opening of poker rooms in Pennsylvania, Delaware and later Maryland took away most of the rest. The room closed for renovations in February 2015 and didnt reopen until this past May, less than two months before workers at the casino went on strike.Kevin Thompson, 38, was walking through the room on Wednesday, looking for one last game. When that didnt happen, he reminisced with a reporter about the good times. A full room. An attached horse racing and keno lounge. A place where the locals played and staffers treated you like family.There was always something to do. You could always enjoy yourself here, he said. Im going to miss it a lot. Sad, its real sad.---Follow Cornfield at https://www.twitter.com/JoshCornfield Air Jordan 11 Retro NZ .C. -- Rodney Hood connected from all over the court while freshman Jabari Parker was busy swatting shots and scoring in transition. Air Jordan 11 Sale NZ . Pirlo limped out of Sundays 1-0 win over Udinese after just 13 minutes. Juventus says Pirlo underwent tests on Monday which revealed he has "a second-degree lesion to the collateral medial ligament in his right knee. http://www.cheapairjordan11nz.com/ . -- Yogi Ferrell orchestrates pretty much everything in Indianas offence. Jordan 11 For Sale NZ . White came in fourth place in the event. He was the two-time defending gold medallist. The gold medal went to Swiss snowboarder Iouri Podladtchikov. Cheap Jordan 11 NZ . -- The Bishops Gaiters are showing they belong among the countrys top varsity football teams. MINNEAPOLIS -- After an 0-2 start in the Big Ten, the Minnesota Golden Gophers have fought their way back into the race for the West Division title. Heres where it starts to get interesting.Rodney Smith ran for 153 yards and three touchdowns and quarterback Mitch Leidner ran for 74 yards and two more scores Saturday as Minnesota defeated Purdue 44-31.The Gophers (7-2, 4-2 Big Ten) opened conference play with an overtime loss at Penn State and a home loss to Iowa. But theyve rattled off four straight wins over admittedly lesser foes -- Maryland, Rutgers, Illinois and Purdue, who have combined for five conference victories this season.Now the schedule gets tougher, with road games at Nebraska and Wisconsin sandwiched around a visit from Northwestern. Minnesota can win the Big Ten West if it wins out, which seemed and unlikely position for them to be in four weeks ago.After our first two conference games nobody gave us a chance ... to be in here, Gophers coach Tracy Claeys said. They kind of said the season was over. We just kept battling one game at a time and we fought our way back into this thing.Smith and Leidner put the points on the board on Saturday, but the Gophers resurgence in the past month and against Purdue was due in large part to its defensive effort. Trailing 28-23 at halftime, Minnesota forced three second-half turnovers, and the offense turned each of them into touchdowns as the Gophers outscored the Boilermakers 21-3 in the second half.We cant keep beating ourselves like that. Its frustrating, said Purdue quarterback David Blough, who threw four touchdown passes in the first half but was held in check after the break. They gave us every single coverage in America in the second half, they kept throwing wrenches in (our offense).Purdue (3-6, 1-5) again was competitive but continued to be plagued by second-half woes in its third game since head coach Darrell Hazell was fired. The Boilermakers have been outscored 83-10 in the second half in their last three games.It puts tears in my eyes not to be able to get them to a point they can finish, Purdue interim coach Gerad Parker said. Thought it was a chance for us, got into the third quarter and had a chance to win the game. We got to do that and relay to them its not okay to finish short and just be close.As Purdue tries to regroup, Minnesota gets ready for the most important stretch of its season, beginning with a game Saturday night at Nebraska. That leaves little time to celebrate its recent success.It feels good, but we have bigger goals, Smith said. This week is a big weeek coming up for us and we know that.ddddddddddddSTREAKINGPurdue receivers racked up more than 100 yards after the catch in the first half thanks to two long touchdowns off short passes. In the first quarter, Cameron Posey caught a ball one step ahead of Minnesota safety Damarius Travis and ran the last 60 yards untouched for an 89-yard touchdown. De Yancey later shook off a tackle and ran the last 45 yards of a 60-yard touchdown playYou never know until you get into the games how youre going to match up, Claeys said. Speeds hard to tell on video -- it really is. So after those two big plays we went to more safety help on them.OFF TARGETMinnesota linebacker Nick Rallis was ejected after being called for targeting in the fourth quarter. Hell miss the first half of the Nebraska game as a result. Replays appeared to show that Rallis made a clean hit with his shoulder but the replay official confirmed the ejection.That was the sixth targeting call against the Gophers, and though Claeys admitted to frustration over the inconsistent way the rule has been interpreted and implemented, he knew better than to say anything about it after the game.I would add more but Christmas is coming up and I would much rather use my money on Christmas presents than send it to the Big Ten, he said.THE TAKEAWAYPurdue: Blough ended the day with 391 passing yards, the fifth time hes passed for 300 yards this year. . Yancey and Posey each topped 100 receiving yards with a touchdown for PurdueMinnesota: Smith topped the 100-yard mark for the fourth straight game and sixth time this season. . Gophers running back Shannon Brooks missed the game due to an unspecified injury. . Minnesota rushed for five touchdowns for the second straight game. . Sophomore Emmit Carpenter became the first Gopher in 19 years to kick two 50-yard field goals in a game. Carpenter converted from 52 and 53 yards in the first half. . Sophomore linebacker Blake Cashman, a walk-on filling in for two injured teammates, finished the game with two sacks.LAST WORDI know to you guys it seems like a theme: Purdue cant finish in the second half. But we were just as ready in the second half as we were in the first half. It was not anything about lack of effort. They just made more plays in the second half. -- Boilermakers linebacker Markus BaileyUP NEXTPurdue hosts Northwestern on Saturday afternoon.Minnesota travels to Nebraska for a Saturday night clash with the Cornhuskers. ' ' '