The 11 casinos were down 16.3 percent in revenue. That beats their June decline of 14 percent, and July decrease of 13 percent. By far, making it the worst summer performance for Atlantic City in its 31-year gambling history.
The casinos reported $391.7 million in revenue, down from $468.3 million in August 2008, according to figures released today by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission.
Every gambling house in town reported revenue declines, helping to make what usually Atlantic City's most lucrative season of the year a bust.
Even the revenue-leading Borgata reported a double-digit decline of 11.2 percent to $77.2 million. But eight other casinos had bigger percentage decreases. The Trump Plaza had the most severe monthly drop at 29.6 percent.
Only Resorts, which dropped 7.8 percent, and the Tropicana's 6.9 percent decrease, were lower than the Borgata's.
Meanwhile, a new $780 million casino in Pittsburgh helped spur a nearly 20 percent increase in slots revenue for Pennsylvania in the same month. The Rivers Casino, which opened on Pittsburgh's North Shore Aug. 9, took in $16.2 million for the month.
But cannibalization is clearly setting in. Of the seven Pennsylvania slots houses that have been open at least a year, five showed revenue declines last month.
PhiladelphiaPark Casino and Racetrack in Bensalem - the state's leading casino in terms of revenue and which will roll out a bigger facility in mid-December with 30 percent more slot machines - was down 4 percent from August 2008.
Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem, which debuted May 22 and generated $20.2 million in gross slots revenue last month, has taken a chunk of business from at least two nearby Pennsylvania competitors. Mount Airy Resort and Casino, located 40 miles from the Sands, was down the most among the state's nine gambling halls with a 19.2 percent drop, while Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs was down nearly 5 percent.
Pennsylvania, which now has just over 24,300 slot machines statewide and has no dealer-staffed table games, taxes gross slots revenue 55 percent. Most of the money goes toward property tax relief, local governments, and aiding the state's horse racing industry.
New Jersey has a 9.25 percent tax on slot machine and table game revenue that is applied toward a variety of government programs, including a prescription program for seniors, as well as projects approved by the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority.
But as monthly gambling revenues continue to slide in Atlantic City, so does that amount going to the state.
For the first eight months of the year, the Atlantic City casinos generated $2.7 billion in revenue, down 15.1 percent from the same period in 2008.
Justin Anderson, 35, from Manhattan, recently visited the Trump Taj Mahal on the Boardwalk and exemplified what the casinos there were up against.
The construction manager used to frequent Atlantic City once a week, when work was flush. Now he comes only occasionally. That afternoon Anderson got up from a $25 limit blackjack table to roam for a lower limit one.
"Maybe a $20 or $15 table, if I can find one," he said.
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