One news story today bravely tried to spin Atlantic City‘s flat May numbers as “marvelous.” Meh. Glass half-full: They weren’t off 2025’s pace. Glass half-empty: At a time when regional casinos are outperforming Las Vegas, you’d expect Atlantic City to get some love. Perhaps we are starting to see an incremental effect of Class III gambling in New York City, which is bound to skim off some of the Boardwalk’s cream. Let’s agree to say that Atlantic City is holding its own.
Table winnings were down 6% but slots were up 2.5%, so it was a wash. However, it’s a flattening of an Atlantic City trajectory that had been 5% higher this year. And iGaming set a monthly record. Hmmmm. People staying home to gamble in May? Not encouraging for the brick-and-mortar biz. Its future in doubt, Golden Nugget clung to last place and $12 million (3%), outpaced in the tortoise derby by Bally’s Atlantic City (above), which was up 6% to $12.5 million. Resorts Atlantic City dipped 1.5% to $14.5 million, to round out the grind joints.
The outperformer of the A.C. bunch was Ocean Casino Resort (again), jumping 10.5% to $47 million. That ought to spook Hard Rock Atlantic City, down 4% to a still-robust $50 million. Borgata, of course, was tops with $73 million, even if it was flat year/year. Caesars Atlantic City fared the best of the Caesars Entertainment troika, up 3% to $20.5 million. Harrah’s Resort sank 10% to $18 million while Tropicana Atlantic City was off 6.5% to $18.5 million. If Caesars/Fertitta Entertainment has to shed a casino (as it surely will), the Nugget remains the lowest-hanging fruit.
Sports betting had a bad month, as winnings sank 17% to $85 million and handle shrank 10% to $919 million (numbers that would be the envy of every other state except New York). Upstart Fanatics bested legacy operator BetMGM $7.5 million to $7 million, while BetRivers couldn’t even clear a million. FanDuel’s $36 million clobbered DraftKings‘ $21.5 million despite a 25% swing in DraftKings’ favor. (Are customers tiring of FanDuel’s super-tight holds?) Caesars Sportsbook ($2 million) and theScore Bet ($1.5 million) earned participation trophies. iGaming saw BetMGM ($57 million) continuing to battle gamely for market share opposite FanDuel ($64 million) and DraftKings ($59 million). Caesars Palace Online put in a brave fight with $22.5 million and Fanatics was a surprise also-ran with $13.5 million. BetRivers did almost as well, $12.5 million, but Hollywood Casino was well to the rear with $3 million.
We suspect that our Atlantic City correspondent is of AARP-eligible vintage but hardly ancient. Which causes him to have a sobering insight on the dim future of the Golden Nugget: “About 10 years ago, my wife earned her Chairman Card and we visited their Chairman Club Lounge. Except for the employees, we were the youngest people in the lounge. I now wonder if some of GN’s customers are ‘ageing out’ of casinos.” That’s as good a theory for the Nugget’s ongoing troubles as we can envision. After all, the Nugget isn’t as customer-hostile as Bally’s Atlantic City is reported to be.
Even more worrisome, in 2019, Tilman Fertitta was of the opinion that Atlantic City was a seven-casino market, at best. If we apply his logic to casino grosses, the marketplace is selecting Golden Nugget and Bally’s for extinction … certainly not any of the three Caesars Entertainment casinos Tilman aspires to own, even if their performance is but mediocre. How bad is it at the Nugget? Management only just got around to fixing a long-broken escalator—and had to warn customers not to take put their wheelchairs on it. Egad! (Yours truly has to use a cane to get around, which means we won’t be riding the Nugget’s escalator anytime soon … see below.)
Over at Resorts Atlantic City, the casino reported one of its biggest-ever jackpots. A couple from New York State was down to their last $10 when they hit a payday of almost $2 million. Admittedly, that pales next to the $10 million just won at Westgate Las Vegas on a slot machine, but good for the lucky winners all the same. Better they should go to the Boardwalk and not MetLife Stadium. Traffic to and from World Cup matches is reported to be a royal clusterfuck, what with embargoed rideshares at the stadium and overpriced tickets ($100!) to use the train.
Next door to New Jersey, casinos in the commonwealth that is Pennsylvania got some deserved good news this week when the state Supreme Court ruled that “skill games” are merely slots by another name. That means they’ve either got to go (70K machines at risk) or pay taxes on the order of 54%. “Sauce for the goose, Mr. Saavik,” as Spock would say. We applaud the Supremes’ Solomonic ruling, which Keystone State politicians may try to subvert with some legislative jiggery-pokery on behalf of the sleazy, convenience-store slots and to the detriment of casinos. Let’s hope for the best.
In the meantime, Pennsylvania’s gambling halls were up 1.5% when new Happy Valley Casino (the source of some very unhappy burghers) was subtracted from the mix. The newcomer opened April 27 and booked $3.5 million in May, not bad for a brand-new satellite casino. With two exceptions, results from around the Keystone State were pretty mild. Smoke-free Parx Casino was flat at $52.5 million but continued to crush the Philadelphia market. Next-best in Philly was Philadelphia Live with $24 million as it jumped 13% and put a hurt on Rivers Philadelphia, tumbling 7.5% to $19 million. Harrah’s Philadelphia slipped 2% to $11.5 million, bested yet again by smaller Valley Forge Resort ($13 million, -1%). Across the state in Pittsburgh, despite a 3% slippage Rivers Pittsburgh was still potent with $30 million. Pittsburgh Live was up 3.5% to $10.5 million, while Hollywood Meadows hopped 5.5% to $18.5 million.
Most puissant of the outstate casinos was Wind Creek Bethlehem, up 6% to $46 million. Mohegan Pocono was up a point to $19 million, while Mount Airy Resort gained 1.5% to $18 million. Presque Isle Downs dipped 2% to $9 million, Hollywood Penn National gained a point to $14.5 million and cult casino Lady Luck Nemacolin regained its mojo with $3 million (4.5%). Amongst the satellites, Hollywood York led with $9.5 million (2.5%), followed by Hollywood Morgantown‘s $7 million (below, 4%) and Parx Shippensburg‘s $4 million (7%).
Like the Garden State, Pennsylvanians were so-so about sports wagering. Books plunged 11% to $68 million, as handle slumped 9% to $596 million. FanDuel outpaced DraftKings, $28 million to $19 million, with Fanatics ($4 million) the best of the unimpressive rest: Bet Rivers ($3 million), BetMGM ($3 million), theScore Bet ($2 million) and Caesars Sportsbook ($1 million). iGaming was 9% higher to $255 million, led by $70 million. BetMGM was next with $42.5 million, then BetRivers ($41 million) and DraftKings ($40.5 million). Then came Caesars Palace Online ($15 million) and, way back, Hollywood Casino ($6 million).
Before we go, we should note a “blue” state that is falling down on the responsible-gaming job. That’d be Michigan. It’s not as bad as Texas, where gambling addicts are welcome to go to hell. But that’s a low bar to clear. Out of a $27 million annual tax haul from casinos, OSB and iGaming, only $9.5 million goes to addiction treatment. Mind you, Michigan is one of the biggest states in the U.S. for gambling. In fact, the Center for Addiction Science, Policy & Research doesn’t just give the Wolverine State an F. It gets an F-minus. According to the Center, Michigan “allows online gaming platforms to offer bets even to people exhibiting addictive behaviors.” Yup, collect the taxes and look the other way.
The inception of OSB has caused reported addiction problems to balloon and it’s a situation predominantly afflicting those low on the income scale. In 2025, Michigan’s Gambling Disorder Helpline was swamped with 3,933 calls. Self-exclusion, meanwhile, has grown exponentially (to put it mildly) since 2021. $9.5 million may sound like a lot of money to spend on responsible-gambling programs but only three U.S. states and territories do less than Michigan. Clearly, they’ve got a gambling problem up there.