You live by gambling, you die by gambling. Remember how gambling was the magic bullet that was going to cure all of Atlantic City's (and New Jersey's) fiscal woes? New figures show revenue at Atlantic City casinos down by more than 13 percent in 2009 as Pennsylvania slot parlors continue to eat into A.C.'s profits. Now that Pennsylvania has approved table games like poker and blackjack for its slot parlors, look for a more dramatic decline in Atlantic City casino revenues.
And as more states approve gambling, Pennsylvania will eventually see a decline as states chase the same gambling dollar.
From OnlinePoker.net:
On Monday, the New Jersey Casino Control Commission released figures showing revenue for Atlantic City's 11 casinos was down 13.2% in 2009 to $3.9 billion, the lowest levels seen since 1997.Read the full story here.
"The numbers released today are no big surprise," commented Steve Schwartz, a Gaming Analyst. "The casino industry as a whole has been suffering through the recession in the US, and those troubles were most visible in Atlantic City and Las Vegas."
Originally, Atlantic City had only Las Vegas to compete against in the casino business, but recently has had to endure Pennsylvania slowly eating away at its profit margins, since it opened up its first slots parlor in November 2006. Last week's news that Pennsylvania was about to pass a Gambling Bill legalizing table games like poker and blackjack at its casinos, will have added further to Atlantic City's woes. Pennsylvania was forced into the move in order to help generate $250 million in revenue so as to balance its state budget, all representing a loss of potential profit for Atlantic City.
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