Atlantic City: Only one casino reports an increase in January

2013-02-15

Reading time 1:48 min

(US).- Atlantic City’s casinos began the new year taking in less and less money from gamblers. Revenue at the city’s 12 casinos fell by 13.2 % in January, compared with a year ago. And Revel, the city’s newest casino - which had been viewed as a potential catalyst for an Atlantic City comeback - had its second-worst month ever. The Atlantic Club was the only casino to increase revenue. It was up nearly 15 percent to us$ 9 million.

It was an inauspicious start to what could be a seventh straight year of falling casino revenues in a market that used to be the nation’s second-largest but has since lost that title to Pennsylvania. Atlantic City’s casinos won us$ 205.6 million from gamblers last month. Table games revenue fell by us$ 5.1 million, to us$ 67.1 million. Slot machine revenue fell by us$ 26.2 million, to us$ 138.5 million.

The slots numbers were affected by an us$ 8.1 million decrease in promotional gambling credits that were wagered, which are a component of slot machine revenue totals.

The Atlantic Club, which is being bought by the parent company of the PokerStars website in anticipation of New Jersey legalizing Internet gambling, was the only casino to increase revenue. It was up nearly 15 percent to us$ 9 million.

Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, which has been looking for a buyer for several years, posted an alarming 40.8 percent plunge, to just us$ 4.8 million for the month. Bally’s Atlantic City was down more than 29 percent to $17.6 million; Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City was down 22.6 percent to $26.6 million; and Caesars Atlantic City was down 22.2 percent to $23.2 million.

The Trump Taj Mahal Casino resort was down more than 21 percent to us$ 19.2 million; the Showboat Casino Hotel was down 19.2 percent to us$ 13.6 million; and Resorts Casino Hotel was down nearly 19 percent to us$ 8.1 million. The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa was down nearly 9 percent but still led the city with us$ 47.1 million in revenue.

The Tropicana Casino and Resort was down 2.6 percent to $18.2 million, and The Golden Nugget Atlantic City was virtually unchanged at just under $9.6 million. Revel, which opened last April, took in just less than $8 million, which was the second-lowest total in its history.

Only November’s us$ 6.2 million total, during a month affected by Superstorm Sandy closures, was worse. Atlantic City’s revenues have fallen from a high of us$ 5.2 billion in 2006, just before Pennsylvania’s first casino opened, to just over us$ 3 billion last year. Casinos have since sprouted up in neighboring states, including New York, Delaware and Maryland.