Las Vegas-based Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. may not be out of the running for a casino just yet.

A few months ago in a hot $2.75 billion bidding war for Tropicana, Pinnacle lost out to Columbia Sussex Corp.

Pinnacle had actually signed a merger agreement to purchase Aztar, parent company of Tropicana, but because they accepted Columbia Sussex's unsolicited bid, Pinnacle walked away with a $42 million breakup fee and $13 million in expenses.

Now it appears Pinnacle, still eager to enter the Las Vegas/Atlantic City market, is in the lead to purchase the Sands in Atlantic City.

Carl C. Icahn, owner of the Sands, has recently floated word that the casino is on the bidding block.

If the sale goes through, expect to see Sands imploded and replaced with a $1 billion megaresort to compete with the Borgata.

In early summer, Morgan Stanley spent $70 million for 20 acres on the Boardwalk for possible casino development.

There's also talk of municipal airport Bader Field -- all 130 acres of it -- being sold next month for $1 billion... and rumor has it Steve Wynn is interested.

We could very well be at the beginning of a desperately needed Atlantic City casino boom and makeover that could eventually give Las Vegas a run for its money.

Last year, Atlantic City brought in a record $5 billion in casino revenue from just 12 casinos... in the same timeframe, Las Vegas' revenue was $6 billion, with many more casinos.

(And let's not even mention Macau and their $5.6 billion in gaming revenue last year...)