The nine destination Casino Hotels and Resorts are now open. The Boardwalk and beaches are open for your enjoyment! The many hotels, retail shops, restaurants, and bars are all following the guidance of the State of New Jersey and the CDC to make sure you stay safe and healthy on your visit. Follow the links below for information on reopening.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Atlantic City tried Prohibition once before. It worked so well that Nucky Johnson, the legendary politician and racketeer, built a Boardwalk empire immortalized on HBO nearly a century later.
It also tried banning smoking, too. That lasted for 20 days as smokers stayed away, sending casino revenue plummeting.
But New Jersey will ban both, again, when Atlantic City's nine casinos reopen after more than three months of coronavirus-related shutdowns.
- Casino Association of New Jersey & State of New Jersey Reopening Orders: September 4, 2020: Administrative Order 2020-19 Casino Smoking Repeal: July 23, 2020: Order Reinstating Certificate of Operation of Borgata Casino.
- Even when they were allowed to reopen in July, they had to restrict operations to 25% of capacity — limits that remain in place today. Chair of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission.
The late-night announcements from Gov. Phil Murphy landed like a one-two punch on Atlantic City's casino industry, already reeling from lost revenue during the pandemic, and making plans to creak back to life at the state-mandated 25% of normal capacity.
'No booze? No one's coming,' said Bob McDevitt, president of a casino employees union. 'I really don't even think they should open. Why would they?'
Many casinos had planned to reopen Thursday, the first day the state will let them. But that was before they knew they could not let their customers smoke, drink alcohol or anything else, or eat inside the casinos.
The top-performing casino, the Borgata, almost immediately folded what it saw as a losing hand, announcing it was scrapping its reopening plans for the immediate future. Instead, it will wait until conditions are more favorable.
On Tuesday, casino executives huddled in staff meetings, looking for more information and trying to decide whether it made sense to reopen at all.
By mid-afternoon, all except the Borgata announced plans to reopen in the coming days. Resorts, Tropicana, Ocean, Golden Nugget and Hard Rock all said they will reopen Thursday. Harrah's, Caesars and Bally's will reopen Friday.
Borgata had no estimate of when it might reopen.
Jim Allen, president of Hard Rock International, said the company and its thousands of workers are eager to reopen and start making up for some of the losses they have experienced since March.
'People are really desperate for a job and a paycheck,' he said.
Murphy said Tuesday casinos will just have to endure a new reality until conditions improve.
'It's not a life sentence,' he said. 'We would like to be full-bore open; we're just not there yet.'
Before the pandemic, Atlantic City had started to regain its groove, reclaiming its former spot at the nation's No. 2 gambling market behind Nevada in terms of annual gambling revenue.
Nevada casinos reopened nearly a month earlier than those in New Jersey, with many of the same health protocols: temperatures checks for guests and workers, mandated masks after being optional for a time, and hand sanitizer stations. Smoking was still allowed.
Within minutes of Murphy's announcements, made in a news release issued shortly before 10 p.m. Monday, social media lit up with complaints.
It also tried banning smoking, too. That lasted for 20 days as smokers stayed away, sending casino revenue plummeting.
But New Jersey will ban both, again, when Atlantic City's nine casinos reopen after more than three months of coronavirus-related shutdowns.
- Casino Association of New Jersey & State of New Jersey Reopening Orders: September 4, 2020: Administrative Order 2020-19 Casino Smoking Repeal: July 23, 2020: Order Reinstating Certificate of Operation of Borgata Casino.
- Even when they were allowed to reopen in July, they had to restrict operations to 25% of capacity — limits that remain in place today. Chair of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission.
The late-night announcements from Gov. Phil Murphy landed like a one-two punch on Atlantic City's casino industry, already reeling from lost revenue during the pandemic, and making plans to creak back to life at the state-mandated 25% of normal capacity.
'No booze? No one's coming,' said Bob McDevitt, president of a casino employees union. 'I really don't even think they should open. Why would they?'
Many casinos had planned to reopen Thursday, the first day the state will let them. But that was before they knew they could not let their customers smoke, drink alcohol or anything else, or eat inside the casinos.
The top-performing casino, the Borgata, almost immediately folded what it saw as a losing hand, announcing it was scrapping its reopening plans for the immediate future. Instead, it will wait until conditions are more favorable.
On Tuesday, casino executives huddled in staff meetings, looking for more information and trying to decide whether it made sense to reopen at all.
By mid-afternoon, all except the Borgata announced plans to reopen in the coming days. Resorts, Tropicana, Ocean, Golden Nugget and Hard Rock all said they will reopen Thursday. Harrah's, Caesars and Bally's will reopen Friday.
Borgata had no estimate of when it might reopen.
Jim Allen, president of Hard Rock International, said the company and its thousands of workers are eager to reopen and start making up for some of the losses they have experienced since March.
'People are really desperate for a job and a paycheck,' he said.
Murphy said Tuesday casinos will just have to endure a new reality until conditions improve.
'It's not a life sentence,' he said. 'We would like to be full-bore open; we're just not there yet.'
Before the pandemic, Atlantic City had started to regain its groove, reclaiming its former spot at the nation's No. 2 gambling market behind Nevada in terms of annual gambling revenue.
Nevada casinos reopened nearly a month earlier than those in New Jersey, with many of the same health protocols: temperatures checks for guests and workers, mandated masks after being optional for a time, and hand sanitizer stations. Smoking was still allowed.
Within minutes of Murphy's announcements, made in a news release issued shortly before 10 p.m. Monday, social media lit up with complaints.
Some grumbled that the governor had sucked the fun out of the casino experience, even as a smaller number defended the decision on public health grounds. Some said they were scrapping long-planned trips, and others said they would take their business to Pennsylvania casinos.
Some vowed to come anyway, mixing drinks in their rooms and bringing sandwiches for dinner.
The bans will also reduce the number of laid-off workers who will return. Drink servers and indoor restaurant workers were to comprise a significant portion of the force that had been envisioned.
McDevitt said 60% of his union members had been scheduled to return to work this week. Now, as few as 30% may go back.
Casinos can offer outdoor dining, and those with beach bars, outdoor decks or Boardwalk seating still plan to offer it. And alcohol will still be sold in liquor stores and non-casino businesses. But the last thing casinos want is their patrons leaving the premises, for any reason.
Murphy said he reversed course on indoor dining because of the continuing outbreaks in parts of the country, even though New Jersey has seen a significant reduction in the number of its virus cases.
A significant portion of Atlantic City's casino customers comes from New York, which leads the nation in total virus cases. Murphy also said crowds at popular spots at the Jersey Shore and elsewhere have not been following social distancing rules or wearing masks.
That angered many in the casino industry.
'This is like Catholic school: A handful of people misbehaves, and the entire class gets punished,' McDevitt said.
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Follow AP coverage of the pandemic at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey took nearly $1 billion worth of sports bets in December, an encouraging finish to a year in which coronavirus closures and restrictions sent overall gambling revenue down nearly 17%.
Over $6 billion worth of bets were placed last year in New Jersey, which won a U.S. Supreme Court case in 2018 that cleared the way for the ongoing expansion of legalized sports betting in America.
Figures released Wednesday by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement show the state's nine casinos and three horse tracks that accept sports bets took in over $996 million worth of such wagers in December, the latest in a string of monthly records for U.S. sports betting.
Slot and table games revenue for the casinos, including internet betting, was $2.64 billion in 2020. When sports betting revenue is added, New Jersey saw more than $2.88 billion in revenue for the year.
That represented a decline of 16.9% in a year in which the casinos were closed for 3 1/2 months. Even when they were allowed to reopen in July, they had to restrict operations to 25% of capacity — limits that remain in place today.
'Significant revenue was lost in those early months and, throughout the second half of the year, the resurging public health crisis continued to impact business in Atlantic City,' said James Plousis, chair of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission. 'Atlantic City's stakeholders have been working hard to build a strong foundation for recovery. As society begins to approach a return to normalcy, Atlantic City will be ready to restore its recent positive momentum.'
Only one casino, the Golden Nugget, took in more money in 2020 than it did in 2019. It won more than $415 million, an increase of nearly 10% over the previous year.
Harrah's had the biggest decline in 2020, down 46.8% to $166.3 million. Resorts was close behind, down 43.8% to $100.2 million. Caesars was down an identical 43.8% to $152.3 million.
Tropicana was down 33.8% to $231.5 million; Borgata, the last of the nine casinos to reopen last year, was down 27.6% to $577.3 million; Hard Rock was down 17% to $290.5 million, and Ocean was down 10.1% to $214.1 million.
Ocean CEO Terry Glebocki said 2020 was a challenging year.
'We're optimistic about the future as demonstrated by Ocean's 18% year-to-date growth in casino win during the year's eight operational months,' she said. 'In a time when many businesses in the country are ramping down operating schedules, Ocean is actively reinvesting in its property by debuting new venues likes our new high-limit slot experience, The Cove.'
Updates On Nj Casino Reopenings
Under two different owners in 2020, Bally's won nearly $97 million, compared with $181.5 a year earlier.
New Jersey has led the nation for months in the amount of money bet on sports within its borders. Yt clothing. With the NFL playoffs underway in the run-up to the Super Bowl, January 2021 is almost certain to eclipse the $1 billion mark for total amount of money wagered, known in the industry as 'handle.'
But that number is separate from, and much larger than, sports betting revenue, or the amount of money sports books keep after paying out winning bets and other expenses. New Jersey's casinos and horse tracks kept just under $400 million in sports betting revenue last year, an increase of over 33% from a year earlier.
And its dominance of the market appears to be in jeopardy: New York state announced last week it will legalize mobile sports betting this year, a move certain to cut into New Jersey's sports betting business. Industry experts say about 20% of New Jersey's sports bets are made by New Yorkers who cross the border to wager; that is money New Jersey soon will no longer be getting.
Internet gambling revenue more than doubled last year, going from $482 million in 2019 to $970 million in 2020, another bright spot for an industry still struggling to recover from the pandemic. Internet gambling had been on a roll for years in New Jersey, but increased even more this year as gamblers had no option but to bet on their phones or laptops from mid-March to early July, and even after they reopened, some felt more comfortable gambling from home.
Nj Casino Reopening
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Nj Casino Reopening Date
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