August up 4.6% for A.C. casinos
Tropicana, Showboat lead in gaming revenue gains
Press of Atlantic City

By J. STAAS HAUGHT

The casinos reported another month-to-month increase in gaming revenue on Friday, but failed to match July's blockbuster numbers.

The resort's gaming halls collected $473 million in slot machine and table game wins in August, a 4.6 percent increase over the same month last year, according to figures released by the Casino Control Commission.

Nine of the city's twelve gaming halls reported same-month win increases for the month, led by Tropicana Casino and Resort's 25.4 percent overall gain.

Tropicana won $42.9 million from gamblers, buoyed by a 43.6 percent jump in table game wins. The casino collected $13.6 million at the tables and $29.4 million at the machines - a 18.5 percent August-to-August increase.

Tropicana was the only casino to post double-digit overall wins for the month.

Pam Popielarski, Tropicana's President and General Manager, credited the casino's newest attraction for its recent success.

"Once again, The Quarter at Tropicana has proven to be the right type of investment in Atlantic City. The market's largest non-gaming expansion project has not only satisfied our loyal customer base but has attracted new visitors to our property. The Quarter at Tropicana has raised the bar for Atlantic City," she said.

The next strongest showing was by Showboat Casino Hotel with a 7.4 percent total gain. The Showboat won $41.4 million from gamblers.

The figures, though up, are somewhat of a letdown, given July's performance. Gamblers took advantage of five full weekends and a long holiday weekend that month and handed over $504.8 million to the city's casinos, marking the first time Atlantic City cracked the half-billion-dollar mark.

The August numbers also fell short of the previous best month, set in August 2003. On the heels of the opening of the $1.1 billion Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, the industry collected $474.9 million from players that month.

The Borgata collected the most in total dollars, with $64 million in wins, a 5.2 percent increase over August 2004. Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort matched that percentage increase, collecting a combined $46.2 million.

Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino also posted an increase, coming in 4.7 percent over last August, but the casinos' sister property, Trump Marina Hotel Casino was the city's biggest loser, collecting $22.9 million and falling 9.1 percent.

The Sands Casino Hotel, the resort's smallest casino, won from gamblers only $17.4 million, but still managed an August-to-August increase of 6.7 percent.

Tropicana, driven by the success of the Quarter is leading the city's casinos in year-to-date increases, at 20.4 percent through August.

Through the first eight months of the year, the casinos have won $3.4 billion from gamblers, a slim 3.1 percent increase from the same period a year ago.

Casino win, or revenue, is the net amount won by casinos. It is not a measure of profit.