Last month was good for Atlantic City in the sense that revenue was only 4% off last year’s pace. The upper-tier properties fared exceptionally, with Borgata ascending 19%, driven by a two-third increase in table win, and Revel, fueled by its “You Can’t Lose” promotion, up 33%. At $23 million, Revel was firmly in the middle of the pack, no longer helping to bring up the rear. It’s obviously not impinging on Revel’s 
business, but some of the middle-market properties were hurt, particularly Tropicana Atlantic City (-26%), Showboat (-19%), Bally’s Wild Wild West (-14%, right) and Harrah’s Marina (-11%). Resorts Atlantic City actually posted a 6% increase, besting all the other middle- and low-end casinos. And would the last person to leave Trump Plaza (-25%, $8 million) please turn off the lights?
Cosmo query: We’ve received a Question of the Day submission about the poor performance of the Cosmopolitan‘s casino floor, so I’m throwing it open to you. Have you played at The Cosmo once, maybe twice but never again? If so, why? Thanks for any insights you care to lend.
Twice I played a lot of video poker at Cosmo. I’ve stopped playing there because they eliminated their decent paying schedules and because the whole place, while beautiful, feels like a glorified hallway. One doesn’t linger, one moves, at Cosmo.
I also played at the Cosmo just once. I played video poker and I noticed two things that I found uncomfortable. First the screens were not sensitive enough to my touch. I might have to touch (hit) the screen multiple times in order to hold a card. It doesn’t take long for that to get really annoying. The second thing was the space of the buttons. Since the screen was such a pain in the ass, I opted to use the buttons to hold cards and I could be wrong but the buttons seemed to be further apart than on machines in other casinos. I constantly had to take my eyes off the screen to find the button I wanted to hit. One last thing, the VP machines have advertising that alternates with a graphic of the game description. How long do I have to stare at a machine before I know what it isn and if I might want to play it? Often it is the small things that make or break your experience with a business. In the case of the Cosmo, I have no desire to enter their casino based on my first experience.