Trump Taj Mahal Closes After 26 Years In BusinessLast Casino With Trump Brand Closes For Good |
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After nearly three decades taking bets, the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City closed its doors for good on Monday morning. It leaves Atlantic City with just seven casinos.
In early September, billionaire casino boss Carl Icahn rejected a last-ditch union bid to keep the property open. Icahn, who acquired the casino through Chapter 11 bankruptcy early this year for $300 million, said the casino couldn’t stay open unless it reduced labor costs.
Some people thought he was bluffing, but he went through with the plan to close the storied casino.
The property won $116.5 million from gamblers through August, a 7.9-percent decline compared to the same period a year prior.
That made it the worst performing of the remaining casinos. The casino was the highest grossing in the city until the opening of Borgata in 2003.
In 2014, four Atlantic City casinos closed, including Revel, the most expensive casino ever built there.
The Taj Mahal reopened its poker room this past spring.
According to the casino’s Facebook page, gaming vouchers and casino chips can be redeemed at Tropicana Atlantic City, which is also owned by Icahn.
In early July, Atlantic City’s main casino workers union went on strike against the casino over health insurance and pension benefits. More than 3,000 jobs were lost when it closed.
Icahn’s acquisition wiped out the small ownership stake that Donald Trump still had in the casino’s parent company. Though Trump originally tried to get his name off the casino, a deal was worked out for the Taj Mahal to keep the presidential candidate’s name.
Gaming win in Atlantic City hit a high of more than $5 billion in 2006, only to be slashed in half over the next decade. However, the market is stabilizing. Through the first eight months of this year, Atlantic City gaming revenue was $1.76 billion, up two percent compared to $1.73 billion a year prior.
An effort by Governor Chris Christie and the majority of state lawmakers to put casinos in north Jersey is losing steam. Atlantic City will likely retain its casino monopoly in the Garden State.
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