Maybe it’s the fact that it’s a new year, or maybe it’s a simple case that Atlantic City is having a change in fortunes but no matter what it is 2015 has started with a bang at the New Jersey resort with casino revenue up almost 19% compared to last years numbers. There’s no getting away from the fact that 2014 was a terrible year for AC with four casinos closing their doors and we said goodbye to The Atlantic Club Casino, The Revel, The Trump Plaza and the Showboat, however with just the eight casinos that remain, the tide has turned...at least in the short term.
The eight Atlantic City casinos held $197.5 Million in January 2015, 18.8% up on the same month last year and a positive Matt Levinson, Chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission believes that maybe the worst is over. He stated that, "Seven out of them were up, and six reported double-digit increases, even when you include the now-closed casinos in last year's results, the total gaming win is still up. While it is always risky to say we've turned a corner or that there is light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, let me say that January's results are very encouraging."
Mr Levinson mentioned that seven casinos were up, and the only AC casino that lost in January was the Trump Taj Mahal, down 21.2%, with the Golden Nugget posting the largest win, at $18.3 million, a huge increase on the $10.8 million from January 2014.
There were also slightly better signs as far as online gambling in New Jersey is concerned with an increase from $10.7 million earned in December, to $11.5 million in January, and those figures also show that the Borgata Hotel still leads the pack when it comes to online poker and casino revenue in the Garden State. In total across all gaming channels, the state of New Jersey collected $15.1 million in taxes from Atlantic City casinos in January.
