Atlantic City Revenue Drops

Perhaps due in part to the increasing popularity of online casinos and partly due to the lingering recession, New Jersey gaming revenues were down a substantial 13.2 percent in 2009.

According to figures released by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, the Atlantic City casinos brought in nearly $4 million in 2009, and while that figure looks good, officials say it shows a substantial drop in gaming revenues throughout the region.

“Casinos continued to suffer in 2009,” said Linda Kassekert, Casino Control Commission chairperson.

The commission reported that slot machine play dropped 13.1 percent in 2009 to $2.72 billion in revenues, while table games dropped 13.5 percent, to $1.22 billion in revenue.

Though revenues are down, Kassekert is optimistic about the potential Atlantic City has to draw in more revenue in the future.

“Atlantic City has a lot to offer visitors in addition to gambling,” she said. “When the economy improves and people have more money to spend on entertainment…”

In recent months, Atlantic City has hosted a number of events that have drawn a good deal of interest and, likely, money to the region. These included a stop by the World Series of Poker in December. The WSOP will return again in March.