Casino analyst Anthony Marino points to inflation and falling profits as Atlantic City's nine casinos head into the slower fall season
ATLANTIC CITY — Atlantic City's casinos just posted their strongest summer for in-person gambling revenue in more than a decade.
Casino analyst Anthony Marino says there's more to the story.
The city's nine casinos generated more than $856 million in casino-floor win from June through August, the strongest summer total since 2012 and slightly ahead of last summer.
But Marino, a longtime South Jersey economic and casino industry analyst, cautioned Thursday that comparing today's dollar totals with figures from a decade ago without accounting for inflation can make the industry's performance look stronger than it actually is.
“The problem with those numbers ... he never adjusts for inflation,” Marino said on The Don Williams Show on News Talk 1400 & 92.3 WOND, referring to comments about the summer totals from New Jersey Casino Control Commission Chairman James Plousis.
“When you adjust for inflation, those numbers are not as good as they appear to be,” Marino said. “And I think it's necessary for someone to point that out.”
Marino's comments come as the latest state figures paint a decidedly mixed picture of Atlantic City's casino industry: strong summer gambling revenue, rapidly growing internet gaming — but declining operating profits and a disappointing August on the casino floors.
A Strong Summer — Followed by a Weak August
July was particularly strong.
Atlantic City's casinos won $304.2 million from in-person gamblers in July, up 7.1% from July 2025, according to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. Through July, casino-floor win was up 3.1% for the year.
August went the other way.
The casinos won approximately $294.9 million from in-person gamblers, down 5.5% from August 2025.
Borgata was the only one of the nine casinos to increase its in-person gambling revenue for the month, rising 6.4%. The other eight properties were down from a year earlier.
Marino described the summer as good — but stopped short of calling it exceptional.
“It was a good summer,” Marino said. “It could have been better. Unfortunately, it kind of flamed out in August.”
He said calendar differences and bad weather near the end of August could have contributed to the decline and cautioned against drawing too much from a single month.
“You can't expect a kind of forever, forever increase,” Marino said. “So we'll see what happens in the month of September.”
Stockton University's Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism has similarly pointed to calendar factors affecting the August comparison, including Labor Day falling later this year and August 2026 having one fewer Friday than August 2025.
Profits Tell a Different Story
Perhaps the biggest reason for caution isn't the August gambling total.
It's profitability.
The latest DGE financial reports show Atlantic City's casino licensees generated $1.57 billion in net revenue during the first six months of 2026, an increase of just 0.2% compared with the same period last year.
But gross operating profit fell considerably faster.
The casinos reported $269.6 million in gross operating profit through June, down 15.5% from the first six months of 2025.
During the second quarter alone, net revenue increased 0.9% to $844.5 million while gross operating profit fell 10.1% to $164.9 million.
Those figures help illustrate an important distinction in the continuing debate over the health of Atlantic City's casino industry.
Casino win is not the same thing as profit.
Casino win measures what casinos retain from gamblers after paying winning wagers. Gross operating profit takes operating expenses into account and therefore provides another measure of how the underlying businesses are performing.
The state itself cautions that comparisons involving internet gaming and sports wagering require consideration of the accounting notes accompanying the casinos' financial reports.
Marino Sees Three Different Atlantic City Casino Markets
Marino also argued that Atlantic City's nine casinos shouldn't necessarily be viewed as a single group.
He described Borgata, Hard Rock and Ocean Casino Resort as the market's strongest properties.
“They're clearly doing very well,” Marino said. “There is nothing gone wrong with those three properties.”
He placed Caesars Entertainment's three Atlantic City casinos — Caesars, Harrah's and Tropicana — in a middle category and described Bally's, Golden Nugget and Resorts as facing greater difficulty attracting customers to their physical casinos.
Marino emphasized that the properties remain operating businesses, but said the competitive gap between the casinos matters when evaluating the overall market.
“Gold Nugget, Bally's and Resorts are the three kind of at the bottom in terms of gross operating profits and actual revenues being generated by the in-person casino,” Marino said. “The three of them are really gathered at the bottom.”
The latest monthly numbers reinforce that the market is uneven. Through August, only Borgata, Caesars and Ocean had increased their in-person casino win compared with the same period of 2025.
The Online Gambling Question
Another complication is the explosive growth of internet gambling.
Internet gaming produced $259.3 million in August, up 4.4% from August 2025.
Marino cautioned that the headline internet-gaming number should not be interpreted as money flowing directly into Atlantic City's physical casino properties.
“The Division of Gaming Enforcement has done an analysis, and it just cautions that just because they're bringing in a lot of money on iGaming doesn't mean that iGaming revenue stays in the city,” Marino said.
He said the financial arrangements between casinos and their online gaming partners are generally not publicly disclosed in enough detail to determine a universal revenue split.
“The actual percentages” are closely held, Marino said.
That distinction becomes increasingly important as internet gaming approaches — and in some months exceeds — the amount won on Atlantic City's physical casino floors.
Casino Control Commission Chairman Plousis has warned that the trend bears watching as Atlantic City enters its traditional shoulder season, particularly as casino operators face higher costs and expenses.
What Happens After Summer?
Despite his concerns about the industry's longer-term financial picture, Marino said he does not expect a wave of extraordinary casino layoffs this fall.
Asked by Williams whether layoffs would be heavier than usual as the summer season ends, Marino predicted the typical seasonal workforce reduction.
“I don't think there'll be any major layoffs,” Marino said. “There'll be the normal reduction in force from the increases that occurred in, say, May, June, July and August.”
Marino estimated the industry could shed a couple hundred jobs a month over the next several months as seasonal staffing winds down.
“But that's normal,” he said. “Happens every year. Nothing to get concerned about.”
The larger question is whether Atlantic City's strong summer casino-floor numbers can carry into the fall — and whether higher gaming revenue will eventually translate into stronger profits for the businesses themselves.
For Marino, the distinction is important.
The casinos had a good summer.
But the headline numbers alone don't necessarily tell how healthy Atlantic City's casino industry really is.
Anthony Marino discussed the latest Atlantic City casino figures Thursday on The Don Williams Show, heard Monday through Friday from 6 to 10 a.m. on News Talk 1400 & 92.3 WOND.
About the Author
Scott Stephens
Scott has been an on-air personality, producer and newscaster for 30+ years. He has been a mainstay in the South Jersey Community and on the air across many different area stations. Scott can currently be heard on Kool 98.3 and News Talk 1400 & 92.3 WOND.
