[5][6] The Brighton was the fourth property to open following the 1977 legalization of casinos in Atlantic City, and the first to be built from the ground up, rather than as a renovation of an existing hotel.

[7] The developers hoped that the Brighton's quiet atmosphere and small size, about half that of the city's other casino hotels, would prove attractive to high rollers.

[9] As the Brighton headed into its first winter, the city's low season, it faced severe cash flow problems, with lower monthly revenue than all its competitors.

[1] The Brighton was rescued in the first months of 1981 by $10 million in financing from Inns of the Americas (a Dallas-based hotel operator, owned by the Pratt brothers) and financiers Burton and Richard Koffman.

[17] The deal foundered when Drew's major shareholders, Robert Bass and his brothers, refused to make financial disclosures required by the gaming licensing process.

[18] At its peak, the Sands headlined top entertainers, such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Cher, Liza Minnelli, Bob Dylan, Robin Williams, Whitney Houston, and Eddie Murphy, among others.

The Sands joined with the neighboring Claridge Hotel and Casino to build an elevated moving sidewalk, opened in 1988, to bring visitors from the boardwalk to the two properties.

[27] The extra 26,000 square feet (2,400 m2), including a new racebook, gave the Sands the fourth largest casino in Atlantic City.

As the Sands's high debt load and poor cash flow dragged down its parent company, HWCC decided in 1996 to divest itself of the property.

[34] The Sands spent $10 million to buy the adjacent Midtown-Bala Hotel, which had separated it from Pacific Avenue, the main thoroughfare running parallel to the boardwalk.

[42][43] Icahn later transferred most of the interest in the Sands to another of his companies, American Real Estate Partners, sending GB Holdings into bankruptcy in September 2005.

[52] As of 1999, the Sands's buildings had 628,000 square feet (58,300 m2) of floor space on 4.5 acres (1.8 ha) of land, with facilities including:[53] Boxing matches were held at the casino.