Atlantic City Casinos Post Best July in 14 Years — But Analyst Says Numbers Don’t Tell Whole Story

ATLANTIC CITY — Atlantic City’s casinos just recorded their best July for in-person gambling revenue since 2012, but longtime casino analyst Anthony Marino says the headline-grabbing number doesn’t necessarily tell the full story about the health of the resort’s gaming industry.

Atlantic City’s nine casinos generated $304.2 million in casino win during July, a 7.1% increase from $284.1 million in July 2025, according to figures released by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. It was the strongest July for the city’s brick-and-mortar casinos since 2012.

Slot machines generated $226.1 million, up 6.2%, while table games produced $78.1 million, an increase of 9.5%. Through the first seven months of the year, casino win totaled $1.72 billion, up 3.1% from the same period last year.

But Marino, appearing Monday morning on The Don Williams Show on WOND, cautioned against interpreting the strong revenue numbers as evidence that all is well with Atlantic City’s casino industry.

“Revenues don't mean a thing unless profits they do bring,” Marino said.

Marino said the claim that Atlantic City had its best July since 2012 is factually correct, but he believes the comparison needs context.

“The heading reads the head. Yeah, that's factually true, but very misleading when you just look at the brick and mortar performance,” Marino said. “It was up for the month of July 7.1% over July of last year.”

Marino noted that the gaming landscape was substantially different in 2012. Internet gambling did not launch in New Jersey until 2013, and legal sports betting followed in 2018.

“In 2012 there was only one form of gaming and that was in-person brick and mortar gaming,” Marino said.

Today, New Jersey’s gaming industry is much larger when internet gambling and sports wagering are included.

Statewide gaming revenue reached $678.1 million in July, up 11.9% from a year earlier. In addition to the $304.2 million won inside Atlantic City casinos, internet gaming generated a record $276.9 million and sports wagering produced $97 million in revenue.

Marino Says Profits Are the Number to Watch

Marino said he is more interested in the casinos’ profitability than monthly gaming revenue.

“The problem is when the gross operating profits come out, there's a constant decline,” Marino said during the WOND interview.

He identified Borgata, Ocean Casino Resort and Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City as the properties that have been performing particularly well, while expressing concern about the longer-term performance of much of the rest of the market.

Marino said the next important indication of the industry's financial health will come when second-quarter gross operating profit figures are released.

“At least six of our nine casinos have been losing ground in that particular area and that's what we really have to talk about,” Marino said.

Those figures could provide a clearer picture of how much of the industry's growing revenue is translating into actual profitability after expenses.

Eight Casinos Increased July Revenue

The July numbers nevertheless provided plenty of positive news for Atlantic City.

Eight of the city's nine casinos posted year-over-year increases in casino win. Borgata led the market with $81.6 million, followed by Hard Rock and Ocean. Caesars recorded the largest percentage increase, climbing 34.6% to $25.3 million. Bally’s was the only casino to post a year-over-year decline, falling 13.7% to $12.2 million.

July was also the first month this year in which revenue generated inside Atlantic City's casinos exceeded internet gaming revenue.

Still, Marino cautioned that inflation makes comparisons with Atlantic City's casino industry of more than a decade ago difficult.

“The dollars of 2012 were worth a lot more than the dollars of 2026,” Marino said.

For Marino, the bigger question isn't whether Atlantic City casinos can continue generating impressive revenue numbers during the peak summer season.

It's how much money they're actually making.

That answer should become clearer with the release of the industry's second-quarter profit reports.

South Jersey NewsBeat will follow those numbers when they are released.