New Jersey Casino To Close Next MonthSome Of Atlantic Club's Assets Sold To Tropicana And Caesars |
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Online gambling has come to New Jersey, but yet a casino has shut its doors. The Atlantic Club Casino Hotel will be no more by mid-January, the Associated Press reported on Friday.
Tropicana Entertainment and Caesars Entertainment have purchased some of the casino’s assets. Caesars will own the property itself and its hotel rooms. There is no word yet on what Caesars, owner of the World Series of Poker, will do with the place.
The Atlantic Club was once coveted by online poker giant PokerStars, but that deal became a mess and never went through. PokerStars was looking to buy it for just $15 million. The online poker operator still has not been successful in finding a way to offer web poker within New Jersey. It’s unclear if it ever will.
The Atlantic Club’s closure marks the first time since 2006 that a casino in Atlantic City has drifted off to sea. State officials, media and other industry insiders have bemoaned the gaming revenue decline that Atlantic City has experienced over the past seven years.
In 2006, casinos there won $5.2 billion from gamblers. This year they will likely siphon off less than $3 billion. Hence, the impetus to legalize online games and see if that could stop the bleeding. It remains to be seen if web games will be a savior.
Die hard opponents to online gambling actually say that it will hurt the brick-and-mortar business, but advocates argue directly against that, saying web games will not online increase overall gaming revenues, but help bring people into the real-life door.
The AP pointed out an incredible stat: Half of the 12 casinos currently operating in Atlantic City have filed for bankruptcy in the last six years.
The Atlantic Club filed for bankruptcy this year.
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