ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Gamblers at two Atlantic City casinos got in their final bets over Labor Day weekend as Revel Casino Hotel and the Showboat Casino Hotel became the latest victims of Atlantic City’s drastic slide.
Atlantic City, which started the year with 12 casinos, will have eight before summer is over. Trump Plaza received final state approval Tuesday to close on Sept. 16, and the Atlantic Club closed in January.
Staffers shut Revel down Tuesday morning, pulling yellow chains across its entrances and herding the small handful of gamblers that remained toward the doors.
The casino broke ground just before the Great Recession. It ran out of money halfway through construction and had to drop its plans for a second hotel tower while scrambling for the remaining $1 billion or so needed to finish the project. When it opened, Revel was so laden with debt that it couldn’t bring in enough revenue to cover it.
The Mardi Gras-themed Showboat shut down Sunday after 27 years on the Atlantic City Boardwalk. It was one of four casinos in the city owned by Caesars Entertainment.
One of the final songs piped in over the Showboat’s loudspeakers: Queen’s “Another One Bites The Dust.”
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