Surge in Atlantic City

As consumers breathed a sigh of relief over tariffs that were more rhetorical than real, Atlantic City casinos spiked 5% in June. Boardwalk casinos grossed $259 million. It would have been even larger had the calendar not been short a weekend day. Borgata leapt 19.5% to $76.5 million and continuing supremacy. In a startling development, Ocean Casino Resort not only vaulted 30% but it nearly caught a slumping (-5.5%) Hard Rock Atlantic City, $43.5 million to $46 million.

It strongly appears that, if people are going to spend their money in Atlantic City, they’re going to do it overwhelmingly at a premier property. All the grind joints lost ground. Resorts Atlantic City only ceded 2% to hit $14.5 million, while the Golden Nugget (below) fell 7% to $11.5 million and last-place Bally’s Atlantic City ($11 million) plunged 18%. Of the Caesars Entertainment threesome, only Caesars Atlantic City gained ground, up 7.5% to $20.5 million. Harrah’s Resort slipped 3% to $17 million and Tropicana dropped 10% to $18 million. The Boardwalk really has solidified into three clear winners and a half-dozen also-rans.

iGaming takings jumped 23% to $230.5 million, with a three-way battle for supremacy. FanDuel narrowly prevailed with $54.5 million, overtaking DraftKings‘ $52 million and BetMGM‘s $50 million. Caesars Palace Online had $21.5 million and BallyBet showed up with $10.5 million. Other measurable operators were BetRivers ($7.5 million), Fanatics ($3.5 million) and Hollywood Casino ($3 million). Sports betting handle tailed off to $789 million after a hot spring, engendering a tightly held $91.5 million. FanDuel skunked DraftKings, $36.5 million to $24 million, whilst Fanatics made its presence felt with $12 million. Participation trophies went to BetMGM ($6 million), Caesars Sportsbook ($3 million), ESPN Bet ($1.5 million) and BetRivers ($1 million).

We never expected to have to write about defunct and destroyed Trump Plaza again. Ever. But it has forced its way into the headlines, returning from the grave, so to speak. Former Trump Plaza prexy/COO Jack O’Donnell says that Donald Trump once showed up on the casino floor in tandem with Jeffrey Epstein … and a 19-year-old girl. Perhaps more explosively, O’Donnell says New Jersey regulators knew about the presence of underage women on the property—and did nothing.

O’Donnell claims he berated his boss directly: “I had to call him and say, ‘Look, they’ve given you a break this time, but if this happens again, the fine is gonna be substantial and it’s gonna be on your head. And oh, by the way, it’s not gonna look good, you and this guy Epstein, coming down here with these young women.’” One of the girls in question seems to have been tennis prodigy Gabriela Sabatini and this may not have been the only time minors were found on the casino floor chez Trump.

The White House lashed out at long-tenured exec O’Donnell in characteristic style, saying, “Jack O’Donnell is a stone cold loser who is a liar and fraud. This is completely fabricated story from his warped imagination as he suffers from Trump Derangement Syndrome that has rotted his pea-sized brain.” The question we have is: If O’Donnell is “a stone-cold loser [with a ] pea-sized brain,” what was he doing running Trump Plaza for four years—and what does that say about the judgment of the man who hired him?

On a happier note, the most George gesture of the year has to go to Hard Rock Atlantic City, which owned up to an expensive mistake. We’ll let our Atlantic City reporter tell the story: “The Live Trivia game awards people who answer at least seven out of 10 questions about Hard Rock-themed questions to win an equal share of $5,000. Hard Rock Bet gave all 353 people $5,000 each! The total was $1,765,000. Rather than ‘claw back’ the money, they put their customers first and are allowing all 353 people to keep the money, (Could you imagine if that happened with MGM? they would claw back the money and demand interest on the $5K.)” True that.

Speaking of MGM Resorts International on the East Coast, it “appears to have overestimated the market. One or twice a month, they send an email about their charter air flights to Beau Rivage in Biloxi, usually one Philadelphia flight per month. Today, 6/27, we got a postcard for the August 7 flight from Philly and the August 15 flight from Richmond. The cost is $60 per person. Looks like Sun Country airlines will save some jet fuel with empty seats.” In other MGM news, it has shed/lost Sebastian Maniscalco to Ocean Casino. He’s featured in the latter’s TV spots. Caesars Entertainment displays all three of its A.C. casinos on TV and asks, “Why stay anywhere else?” Judging by the last several years of business, it might not like the answer to that question.

The rise and fall of developer Bart Blatstein continues its downward trajectory. Blatstein narrowly missed the pokey after an arrest warrant was issued for nonpayment of bills: “After falling behind in agreed payments, an electrical contractor got an arrest warrant for Bart at any location including his home in (nearby) Margate. Bart made a payment. The contractor said there was a three-day waiting period to confirm the wire transfer.” Too bad. We always regarded Blatstein as one of the good guys in Atlantic City.

Also falling on evil days is the former Atlantic City Hilton/ACH/Water Club/[your name here]. Saying, “I never expected the corruption that exists in Atlantic City,” the owner is selling one of the two ex-Hilton towers for $55 million, which sounds optimistic. He also asserted, “the property is expected to secure a casino license within 48 months.” Said our man on the Boardwalk, acidly, “Sounds like the owner has been spending too much time in a cannabis shop.”

In hot water with regulators is Ocean Casino. It had to pony up $10,750 for laxity that included allowing a patron to repeatedly add to and remove gambling chips from wagers already placed at a mini-baccarat table … nine times. The nicest thing we can say is that sounds like extreme carelessness, but it smells more like connivance in a scheme to cheat the house. Ocean also got dinged for failing to shuffle its blackjack decks, another suspect move.

Change may be afoot at Caesars Entertainment‘s New Jersey outpost. Either that or somebody at HQ got sloppy: “My wife got an email this week from a host at the Caesars group. She promised her some benefits if she would stop by. ~ The email had Caesars, Harrahs and Horseshoe (not Tropicana). Does that suggest Tropicana will become a Horseshoe brand?” Boy, that sure has the ring of plausibility to it. After all, the brand equity of Horseshoe far aways that of the faded Trop imprimatur. Also, the Atlantic City Trop (the only one left) could use a boost of some sort and this sounds like a good play.

Finally, we leave you with this priceless item, gleaned by our correspondent from social media …