Atlantic City Casinos Suffer Drop in Profits

The New Jersey gambling industry has suffered a hit, with Atlantic City's 11 casinos reporting a 22.6 percent fall in gross profits for the second quarter of 2010.

Gross operation profits reached just $149 million for the months of April, May and June, down from $192 million for the same period a year earlier, the New Jersey Casino Control Commission said.

Net revenues dropped to $922 million in the second quarter, down 5.5 percent from the same period in 2009.

What is New Jersey's loss seems to have neighboring Pennsylvania and Delaware's gain.

Pennsylvania casinos recorded $211 million in gross slots revenues in July, up 17.8 percent from the previous year, according to figures from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. Revenues from table games are set to be announced in the coming days.

And in Delaware, gross gaming revenue rose 11.7 percent in July following the recent addition of table games at the state's three casinos.

Things are also moving strongly for online casinos, if figures from leading online company PartyGaming are anything to go by. The company recently reported a 26 percent increase in overall revenue for the first half of 2010, mainly on the back of its bingo site, which earned it 25.8 million Euros during that period, up from just 1.2 million Euros during the first half of 2009.