Atlantic City losing 2 casinos, 5K jobs in 3 days

ATLANTIC CITY -- The show is ending for the Showboat Casino Hotel in Atlantic City.

The Mardi Gras-themed casino is shutting down at 4 p.m. Sunday after 27 years on the Boardwalk.

Its owner, Caesars Entertainment, is closing the still-profitable Showboat to reduce the number of casinos in Atlantic City, which has been struggling with plunging revenue and increased competition. Caesars will still own three other casinos in Atlantic City.

"The Showboat has been in business in Atlantic City for 27 years, and all of us at Caesars are extremely proud of the 16 years that our company operated the property," Caesars Entertainment CEO Gary Loveman wrote in a letter to employees. "I want to thank the Showboat Atlantic City team for their dedication, professionalism, and commitment to our guests - both throughout the years and especially over the past several weeks.

"When considering the legacy of the Showboat, I have no doubt that it will be the pride and resilience of the property's team members that remain as indelible images in the hearts of our customers and colleagues for years to come," he wrote.

More than 470 of the casino's 2,000-plus workers are transferring to other casinos the company owns here or in other states.

Showboat is one of three Atlantic City casinos shutting down over the next two weeks. Revel will begin a two-day closing Monday, and Trump Plaza is closing Sept. 16.

The Showboat opened March 30, 1987, with the idea of taking the party atmosphere to a new level. It was designed as a New Orleans-style riverboat casino with a Mardi Gras theme. It even had a bowling alley for folks who needed a break from the slot machines and table games.

Kurt Williams of Seaville was a young boy when his family brought him to the Showboat soon after it opened.

"There was a fun vibe to the Showboat, especially for a wide-eyed young kid like me at the time, and it was the only resort in town that had a bowling alley," he said. "It's really a shame all these resorts are going belly up, and I feel awful for the surrounding communities and the families it will affect."

Jeffrey Compton, publisher of CDC Gaming Reports, visited Atlantic City in the late 1980s and was struck by how much the casinos resembled one another.

"Breaking that rule was the Showboat," he said. "It was longer and more spread out than the other casinos, and it had a wonderful party atmosphere, with a Dixieland band."

Elizabeth Scarnati of Cortland Manor, New York, is still excited about a $12,000 jackpot she won last year playing slots at Showboat.

"I always loved this little casino, especially those suites in the Bourbon Tower," she said. "I was lucky enough to stay in the one on the top floor, oceanfront, with the wraparound balcony. I will miss the Mardi Gras casino a lot."

Atlantic City began the year with 12 casinos, but before summer is over, it will be down to eight. Nearly 8,000 casino workers will have lost their jobs.

"We never thought this would happen," said Chris Ireland, who has been a bartender at the Showboat since it opened. His wife works there, too, as a cocktail server. Before dinnertime Sunday, neither will have a job.

What makes it even tougher to swallow is that the Showboat - one of four Atlantic City casinos owned by Caesars Entertainment - is still turning a profit. But the company says it is closing Showboat to help reduce the total number of casinos in Atlantic City. Caesars also teamed with Tropicana Entertainment to buy the Atlantic Club last December and close it in January.

"They just want to eliminate competition," Ireland said. "Everyone's in favor of a free market until it doesn't exactly work for them."

Yet many analysts and casino executives say the painful contraction now shrinking Atlantic City's casino market is exactly what the city needs to survive. Since 2006, Atlantic City's casino revenue has fallen from $5.2 billion to $2.86 billion last year, and it will fall further this year. Atlantic City will end the year with eight casinos after beginning the year with 12.

New casinos popping up in an already saturated Northeastern U.S. gambling market aren't expanding the overall pie but are slicing it into ever-smaller pieces. Fewer casinos could mean better financial performance for the survivors.

Resorts Casino Hotel, which was on the verge of closing a few years ago, completed a remarkable turnaround in the second quarter of this year, swinging from a $1.3 million loss last year to a $1.9 million profit this year.

"I truly believe that eight remaining casinos can all do very well when the gambling market is right-sized," said Resorts president Mark Giannantonio.

That may be true, but it is little comfort to workers who are losing their jobs. By the time Trump Plaza shuts down in two weeks, nearly 8,000 jobs - or a quarter of Atlantic City's casino workforce - will be unemployed. A mass unemployment filing due to begin Wednesday is so large it has been booked into the city's convention center.

When casino gambling was approved by New Jersey voters in 1976, it was billed as a way to revitalize Atlantic City and provide stable, lasting jobs. The first casino, Resorts, opened in 1978, kicking off three decades of soaring revenue and employment.

But the Great Recession hit just as new casinos were popping up in neighboring Pennsylvania and New York, cutting deeply into Atlantic City's customer base.

"There was a promise when casinos came in here that these would be good, viable jobs, something you could raise your family on and have a decent life with," said Paul Smith, a cook at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort. "I feel so bad for all these people losing their jobs. It wasn't supposed to be like this."

Mayor Don Guardian says his city is remaking itself as a more multifaceted destination, where gambling is only part of the allure. But he acknowledges the pain this weekend will bring.

"This is going to be a difficult few weeks for many of us in Atlantic City," he said. "People will lose their jobs, and that is never good news. Our hearts go out to our neighbors and friends. We still have difficult waters to navigate."