ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - Atlantic City’s casinos were as cold as the weather in January, with gambling revenue down by nearly 10 percent.
Figures released Wednesday by the state Division of Gaming Enforcement show the seven casinos won $184.3 million in January, down 9.9 percent from January 2017.
Only one casino, the Golden Nugget, posted a monthly revenue increase. It was up by 1.7 percent from a year ago.
“What a difference a blizzard makes,” said James Plousis, chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission. “When people are stuck in their homes by more than a foot of snow and temperatures are dipping into single digits, they don’t come to Atlantic City. So, it comes as no surprise that casino revenues were down last month.”
A storm on Jan. 4 dumped snow throughout New Jersey and neighboring states, closing schools and businesses. Some communities in hard hit south Jersey got up to 2 feet.
Christopher Glaum, chief of financial investigations for the gaming enforcement division, said regulators don’t believe the slow start is indicative of how Atlantic City’s casinos will do this year, particularly with two casinos, Hard Rock (formerly Trump Taj Mahal) and the Ocean Resort Casino (formerly Revel) reopening this summer.
Caesars had the largest monthly decline, down 23 percent to $21.7 million; Harrah’s was down 16.3 percent to $23.5 million; Borgata was down 10.2 percent to $57.7 million; Bally’s was down 8.8 percent to $12.7 million; Resorts was down 6 percent to $11.6 million; and Tropicana was down 4.4 percent to $26.1 million.
The Golden Nugget also continued to pull away from the rest of the pack in New Jersey’s internet gambling market, with nearly $7.3 million in January. That was an increase of nearly 53 percent from a year ago.
Its closest online competitor was the Borgata at $4.1 million.
Overall, Atlantic City’s casinos saw their internet gambling revenue increase by 16.7 percent to nearly $22 million.
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