Atlantic City casino earnings down 35 percent in 2013

The latest numbers are in from Atlantic City, showing that overall earnings for 2013 fell by 35 percent from the year before.

It looks bad, said Israel Posner, executive director at the Levinson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism at Stockton College. But the news isn’t all bad, he said.

The figures from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement show huge variation among the 12 casinos that operated last year.

“Atlantic City’s casino industry is very difficult to describe as an overall industry because it’s very different from property to property,” Posner observed.

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So, while the Tropicana Casino saw profits rise by about 48 percent, the Showboat casino had a decline of about 28 percent. The Trump Taj Mahal Casino earnings fell by 55 percent.

Posner explained that the effects of Superstorm Sandy, which flooded the streets of Atlantic City in October 2012, continued to depress the market in the beginning of 2013.   The Atlantic Club Casino saw a loss of $12.7 million last year. Although that was an improvement over losses of $19 million in 2012, the Atlantic Club shut down in January.

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