Revel Casino latest to close in Atlantic City

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - When the pressure of an oversaturated market became unbearable this year, some of Atlantic City's oldest casinos either closed their doors or announced plans to do so.

Now, Revel Casino Hotel, the city's newest casino - and one of its most opulent - is joining them in the casino graveyard.

Amid this dire scenario, New Jersey regulators were to release a report Wednesday on how much money the casinos and the state's Internet gambling operations won from gamblers during July.

Revel announced Tuesday it will shut down on Sept. 10, the victim of uncontrolled expenses, not enough revenue and an unforgiving market that has decided 12 casinos was four too many. The $2.4 billion resort that was widely seen as the last, best chance for Atlantic City's gambling market was unable to find a buyer for even pennies on the dollar.

In addition to putting 3,100 people out of jobs and hurting state and local budgets, Revel's demise shows just how cutthroat the East Coast casino market has become, and how difficult it is for even the newest and nicest gambling halls to survive in an oversaturated market.

The Showboat is set to close on Aug. 31, followed by Revel on Sept. 10, and Trump Plaza six days later. The Atlantic Club closed in January.

Despite the loss of nearly 8,000 casino jobs - a quarter of the gambling market's workforce - some analysts say that contraction is exactly what the market needs, and that Atlantic City cannot support 12 casinos any longer with newer options closer to home for gamblers in Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut and Maryland.