newjerseynewsroom.com

Profits down from February 2010, the snowiest month in Atlantic City's history

BY TOM HESTER SR.

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

How bad is business at Atlantic City’s 11 casinos?

In February 2010, three significant snowstorms made the month the snowiest in the city’s history and as a result, the casinos took a financial iceball down the neck.

Last month, the city was relatively free of snow and the casinos reported $258 million in win, a 1.4 percent decrease over February 2010.

Figures made public Thursday by the state Casino Control Commission show the casinos won $183.9 million at the slot machines and another $74.1 million at table games in February. Slot revenue increased by 4.4 percent while table revenues decreased 13.2 percent.

The casinos paid $20.7 million in taxes on their gross revenues in February. That money, 8 percent of gross revenue, goes into the state Casino Revenue Fund which pays for programs that benefit senior citizens and people with disabilities.

In addition, the casinos incurred another $3.2 million in reinvestment obligations. They are required to reinvest 1.25 percent of gross revenues in projects approved by the state Casino Reinvestment Development Authority.

For the first two months of the year, casinos won $513.4 million, down 7.6 percent from the $555.8 million won in the same period in 2010.

Win, or casino revenue, is the net amount of money won by casinos.

Detailed data on revenues from each individual casino can be found at the Casino Control Commission’s website http://www.njccc.gov/casinos/financia/mthrev/.