Atlantic City in Trouble

Remember how introducing gambling to Atlantic City, New Jersey, was going to revitalize that down-at-the-heels community, using eminent domain when necessary? Despite the rise of online gambling on sites like dewa-poker.net, people still flock to bricks and mortar casinos to get a taste of the glitz and glamour that traditionally accompanies gambling in such a setting. They remain a great way for governments to bring some money into their economy, but for Atlanta, it didn’t happen, did it? Sure, at first there as a flurry of new shoreline casinos, but that didn’t do much for the rest of the city. After an initial flurry, competition from Indian casinos and casinos in nearby states kicked in, and casino profits declined around 25%. Online casinos, as reported on this site, have also become extremely popular. After all, most of these allow people the comfort of staying at home whilst also giving some of that thrill that more often than not those going to casinos are chasing. This has contributed to the downfall of the traditional casino as more and more people turn away from scattered spots around the country for gambling in lieu of big trips to Las Vegas for the experience, or manage to find fair casinos online in order to scratch the itch. That’s not to say the area didn’t try to keep up momentum for new pundits. In 2003, a new casino, Revel, was proposed and the state government ponied up $261 million to help it along. Now, Revel is in bankruptcy. And so it goes. Thankfully, although some casinos are closing down, people are still able to play casino on phone for entertainment instead which has the benefit of being played wherever from a mobile device.

For the whole story, see Kate Zernike, Casinos Ailing, New Jersey Tries New Ways to Bet, N.Y. Times, Feb. 28, 2013, at p. A21 — click here .