It's all legal. New Jersey law, which used to place strict limits on how much tickets could be scalped for, was changed this year to allow ticket buyers to re-sell their tickets on the Internet for whatever they can get.

Registered ticket brokers are limited to a 50 percent profit over what they paid - not necessarily the original sale price - for the tickets.

That frustrates Boardwalk Hall General Manager Greg Tesone. He understands that some fans just can't make it to the show and need to sell their tickets, but he doesn't like the speculation aspect of secondary ticket sales. Each ticket bought by a broker leaves one less available seat for fans unwilling to pay a broker's mark-up costs.

"The high resale costs are caused by people who have no stake in the artist or the venue, and they're raising ticket prices to a ridiculous level," he said.

On www.stubhub.com, the most popular secondary ticket source, the cheapest Madonna Atlantic City tix are marked at $230 - nearly $150 above the cheapest box office tickets, after processing fees. On web auction site eBay, where some sellers seem to make a good living reselling tickets to concerts and sporting events, the cheapest tickets hover around $200.

Stubhub head of communications Sean Pate said secondary sites give fans a chance to find the perfect seats, particularly those who want to buy them closer to the show date.

"Stubhub has created a competitive marketplace for any live event in the country, and in doing so, is offering a great deal of supply for people trying to find tickets at the last minute," Pate said. "Some people still look at the resale market as the problem and not the solution, but if you don't buy from the resale market, you don't have many other options."

Dollak isn't phased by secondary ticket sales - she's more upset that she didn't think of it first.

"Everybody's trying to make a dollar these days, and if brokers are doing it that way, I say go for it," she says.

Len Ward used to be a Wall Street investment banker, one of those prestige jobs people hold in high regard, but six years ago Ward left investment banking to create the ticket brokerage company BroadwayKings.com with a buddy. When he started the new job people looked at Ward funny, thinking he was a smarmy scalper - someone who walks in stadium shadows the day of the event looking to unload one, two, maybe four tickets to strangers.

Response to Ward's new job has warmed. Ward says sites like his guarantee buyers the right tickets, or they will be replaced or refunded. That's a big step from the pre-Internet days, when scalpers were the main source for secondary sales.

"We're a long way from the guy in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" offering his classmates tickets to the Van Halen concert," Ward said.

BroadwayKings.com offers cheap tickets for everything - AC/DC shows, Dallas Cowboys games, even performances of "Billy Elliot" at New York's Imperial Theater.

But cheap has various meanings, so Madonna tickets posted on the site this week range in price from $275 (Section 307, Row E) to $1,250 (floor level, row two). Those tickets originally cost $150 and $350, respectively. Ward says the face value of Madonna tickets contributed to the bloated re-sale costs - Madge's "Sticky & Sweet" tour tickets are some of the year's most expensive, forcing brokers to jack up prices to break even.

"I do believe this will be the last high face value tour in the next two years," Ward said. "Are you going to pay the payment on the Ford or pay $500 to see Madonna sing some songs?"

The economy isn't helping people choose the Madonna songs. Tickets for this show became available in June, so brokers bought tickets before the Stock Market slide or government bank bailout. Now, some brokers are faced with taking a loss - or not selling their tickets at all.

"I don't know if the brokers are going to get the prices they're requesting," Ward said. "The secondary market is feeling the direct blunt force trauma of the economy right now."

Pam Dollak thinks Madonna is strong and creative and savvy, but her price ceiling to watch tonight's performer live is $350.

"You have to draw the line somewhere, I guess," she says.

She saw three other Madonna concerts, and she thinks it's worth a couple hundred bucks to see Madonna again. She wants Madonna to sing some older hits like "Papa Don't Preach," the songs that return Dollak to those middle school days of the lace gloves and rubber bracelets and neon everything - and of course, the fake eyeliner mole.

E-mail Dan Good:

DGood@pressofac.comMadonna concert information

The concert starts at 8 p.m. in the Boardwalk Hall Arena.

This is Madonna's first visit to Atlantic City since 2006.

The visit is part of her "Sticky & Sweet" tour, a three-continent, 58-show jaunt that runs through Dec. 21.

The concert is broken into four sections: pimp, old school, gypsy and rave.

Some tickets are still available through www.ticketmaster.com, or by calling 609-348-7000.

Stubhub is the official ticket reseller for Madonna's tour, but her tickets can be bought and sold on other sites.