With no winter storm to compare to last January’s Jonas, Atlantic City’s casinos saw more patrons and produced more revenues last month.
Tradition casino revenues rose to $185.9 million compared to $175.5 million in Jan. 2016, while online revenues climbed from $14.6 million in Jan. 2016 to $18.8 million last month. Total gaming taxes to the state Treasury for the month were $16.5 million.
“A year ago I said winter storm Jonas, which paralyzed much of the eastern seaboard, was one reason why casino revenues fell in January of 2016,” Casino Control Commission Chairman Matthew Levinson said in a statement. “The same storm that effectively wiped out a full weekend last year is one of the big reasons why revenues for the current casinos jumped by 15.2 percent last month.
“Even though there were fewer weekend days this year, and most of the New Year’s holiday weekend fell in December, revenues still increased at slots, tables and from internet operations. Every single one of the current operators won more this January than in the same month last year, and Borgata had its best January ever.
“Also, casinos were a lot luckier than a year ago,” Levinson added. “Thanks to a big swing in the hold percentage, table game revenue increased by 18 percent while internet gaming revenue increased by 28.6 percent. Even when results for the now-closed Taj Mahal are included, revenues are up by 7.7 percent.”
Borgata, with $60.6 million in casino revenues, accounted for nearly one-third of the dollars for the seven remaining casinos.
Online poker, which has tended to be flat in the last year or two, was up almost 9 percent in January.