Decline Continues To Slow For AC Casinos

WAYNE PARRY

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — After being pummeled by casinos popping up all around it for three years, Atlantic City is starting to roll with the punches.

October revenue figures for the nation's second-largest gambling market are down 6.5 percent compared with a year ago, when the nationwide recession hit.

The slowing rate of decline is what passes for good news nowadays in Atlantic City, particularly compared with double-digit declines that as recently as March approached 20 percent.

"I'm a half-full guy," said Don Marrandino, eastern division president of Harrah's Entertainment, which owns four Atlantic City casinos. "But two months does not a season make. I remain bullish, but I'm not ready to say the tough times are over."

The revenue plunge seems to be slowing, but casinos are still winning less than what they did before slots parlors started opening in Pennsylvania and New York.

Last month's results are only slightly worse than the September figures, which showed a 5.8 percent decline.