Atlantic City casinos revenue expected to drop 50% in 2011

What started during the economic recession of 2008, has continued throughout 2011. By the end of the year, there is a strong possibility that revenue at the city's eleven casinos will be less than half of what it was back in 2006. That is something that baffles residents of the city.

"I remember when Atlantic City was the place to be," said Mario Bentanini, sitting outside of a nearly empty Resorts Casino on the Boardwalk. "Nowadays, we are lucky when a holiday rolls around and the casinos are half full. It's sad what has happened to this place."

That is a sentiment that is shared not only by casino officials, but also lawmakers in the state of New Jersey. Governor Chris Christie has made it a priority to try and resurrect the gaming industry over the past year. When Christie had the ultimate change, however, to make a difference, the governor turned his back on the casino industry.

Earlier this year, Representative Raymond Lesniak pushed a bill through the House and Senate that would have allowed AC casinos to offer online gambling. The casinos would have made millions of dollars, and the city would have been rejuvenated. Christie vetoed the legislation after receiving pressure nationally from his Republican Party.

Without the online casinos, AC gaming facilities have resorted to gimmicky promotions to try and lure gamblers back to the second largest gaming market in the US, behind only Las Vegas. The gimmicks have not worked. In September, revenue dropped at AC casinos to us$ 294.7 million. The decrease was less than one percent, but it represented a bigger problem for Atlantic City, it no longer was a go to area for gamblers.

"Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York, these states are are stealing customers from us," said Bentanini. "These casinos and this state has to do something or else they are going to lose the rest of the business they have."

Down the Boardwalk, the Showboat was experiencing similar attendance problems as Resorts. On this Tuesday night, only a handful of gamblers could be found at the craps tables, and even less at the roulette wheel. The two games for decades have been staples of stability in AC, but now the casinos are lucky when they are running two tables of each game on a given night.

Walking back and forth on the Boardwalk, it becomes easy to see that the city does not have the same feel as when it was hopping with people. Many of the businesses that made AC a great destination have closed, or reduced their hours so that even when people do come, there is not much going on at night.

"I just want to go back to the days when the lights shined bright and the party was on the Boardwalk," said Rachel Beaker, who was visiting on this night with her family from Connecticut. "If things don't change, it's sad to say, but this may be my last trip here, and I've been coming every year for the past decade."