Few Atlantic City casinos were giving thanks in November: Revenue fell 7.7 percent from a year ago, as slots parlors in Pennsylvania and New York continued to gobble up some of New Jersey's best customers.
Nowhere was the pain felt more acutely than at the Tropicana Casino and Resort, which endured weeks of bad publicity about vermin and poor service that began scaring customers away last month. Its revenues fell 21.1 percent in November.
It marked the 10th down month out of 11 so far in this dismal year _ the first in the 29-year history of legalized gambling in Atlantic City that will show a revenue decrease from the previous year.
The casinos took in $374.7 million last month. Slots revenues came in at $260.8 million, a decrease of 12.2 percent from last November, while revenue from table games increased 4.4 percent to $113.9 million.
For the first 11 months of the year, the 11 casinos collectively have taken in $4.5 billion, down 5.3 percent from the first 11 months of 2006.
Only three casinos reported increases in November: Resorts Atlantic City (up 3.5 percent); The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa (up 2.1 percent); and the Trump Taj Mahal Casino resort (up 0.5 percent).
The largest decline was at the Tropicana Casino and Resort, which endured a nightmare month of bad publicity stemming from testimony at its hearings before the state Casino Control Commission in an effort to have its license renewed.
Numerous patron complaints about roaches, bedbugs, filthy conditions and poor service began scaring away customers after the hearings began last month.
The state Division of Gaming Enforcement has recommended that the casino commission only grant the Tropicana a one-year license instead of the usual five-year term. A decision will be made on Wednesday.
Caesars Atlantic City was down 15.1 percent, Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino was down 12.3 percent, and the Showboat Casino-Hotel was down 10.7 percent.
"It's very disappointing," said Michael Osanloo, senior vice president of marketing for Harrah's Entertainment Inc., which operates Caesars Atlantic City, Bally's Atlantic City, Harrah's Atlantic City, and the Showboat. "Our slots volume continues to be affected by competition from Philly and New York.
"We also had a bad month because we just played unlucky at Caesars in November," Osanloo said. The casino's "hold rate" _ the money it kept from gamblers _ was 16.8 percent in November 2006, compared with just 12.7 percent this year.
Other decreases were reported at Bally's (down 8.4 percent); Harrah's (down 7.2 percent); the Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort (down 3.6 percent); and Trump Marina Hotel Casino (down 0.3 percent).
November was the month that the former Sands Casino Hotel closed in 2006. Without factoring the Sands into the calculations, revenue for Atlantic City's casinos is down 6.6 percent this November compared with last November.
Casinos paid $30 million in taxes on their gross revenues in November, along with another $4.7 million in state-mandated economic reinvestment obligations.
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