Caesars Atlantic City Hit in $181K Heist. Two thieves robbed at gunpoint

Things are not great right now in Atlantic City. Gambling enterprises are closing, revenues are dropping and profits are drying up after month month. It’s a right time when resorts are carefully monitoring every buck that comes in and out of their stability books. In a nutshell, it’s concerning the worst time possible for the six-figure sum to go missing in one regarding the city’s casinos.
According to police, two masked thieves walked out of Caesars Atlantic City with additional than $180,000 on Monday after a smash-and-grab raid on the casino. The robbery reportedly occurred on Monday early morning, though police did not immediately release much information about the facts of the crime. In accordance with USA Today, trooper Alina Spies stated that police were investigating the matter, but they don’t want to produce any information that may hinder the investigation that was underway.
Early Robbery morning
Neighborhood media, citing authorities sources, said that the robbery involved two suspects who entered Caesars Atlantic City around 6 am. At least one of them had a gun and pulled it before stealing two synthetic boxes that contained the stolen cash. Then they fled the scene in a motor car at approximately 6:20 am, according up to a police bulletin.
The scenario is being investigated by the New Jersey State Police Gaming Bureau, which suggests that the robbery happened inside the casino. If the crime had occurred in a resort or other general public area, it could be customary for city police to deal with the matter.
While $181,000 may possibly not be much in the grand scheme of things for a casino that is majorCaesars introduced $28.8 million in income during June alone), the theft comes during the worst possible time for an Atlantic City venue. The city has been struggling seemingly on all fronts, and that’s mostly driven by struggling casino properties. Revenues at the city’s gambling enterprises have been aussie-pokies.club falling for years, so when many as four casinos could find yourself closing throughout the length of 2013.
Among those casinos, the Showboat, is operated by Caesars and is scheduled to close at the end of August. Others include the Atlantic Club, which shut in January, the Trump Plaza, which is scheduled for closure later this present year, plus the Revel, which can be currently in bankruptcy court and could close if your buyer just isn’t discovered.
Caesars Atlantic City occupies a big, high-rise building that takes up a block between your famous boardwalk that runs along the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Avenue between Arkansas and Missouri avenues. It is uncertain the way the perpetrators exited or entered the building.
Casino Heists Not Unheard Of
While casino security is virtually second-to-none, that doesn’t mean that it’s impossible for crooks to pull a heist occasionally. The schemes, nonetheless, are rarely as complex as something you’d see in Ocean’s 11.
For example, this season, a gunman wearing a motorcycle helmet dashed in to the Bellagio in the Las Vegas Strip. He proceeded to take potato chips from a craps table while brandishing a handgun, fleeing on his motorcycle. The thief, Anthony Carleo, ended up being finally caught months later on and was sentenced to prison.
Atlantic City Casino Struggles Hurting Regional Economy
Atlantic City’s beaches may help attract tourists that aren’t thinking about gambling. (Image: ACHotelExperts.com)
As Atlantic City watches casinos close left and right, officials acknowledge that the populous city will have to find approaches to diversify as gambling revenues continue steadily to tumble. In addition they admit that this isn’t going to be a effortless transition: the city has gotten utilized to relying on the gaming industry, and that’ll be a hard habit to split. But exactly what might not be immediately obvious is the amount of this shift in priorities could hurt the whole Jersey shore.
Atlantic City’s casinos have long brought tourists to the region, gamblers and others who can then spend time at other venues along the shore. But it’s more than that: according to a 2008 study by Rutgers University, some 100,000 jobs in New Jersey were tied to the gaming industry in a single way or another. That accounts for around two percent for the state’s total workforce.
‚When Atlantic City suffers, the area that is entire,‘ said David Breeden, administrator for the city of Barnegat.
Several Casinos Closing This Year
Up to four Atlantic City casinos that were operating in 2013 may be closed by the end of in 2010. The Atlantic Club closed in January, while the Showboat and the Trump Plaza are both expected to close in the next few months. The Revel could also close this year if a buyer can not be found.
With casino profits under some pressure from competitors in neighboring states (particularly Pennsylvania, which recently surpassed New Jersey in regards to gaming revenues), Atlantic City is now trying to locate other methods to attract site visitors outside of slot machines and table games. That does not mean abandoning the casinos completely, but rather giving visitors more reason to cease by a city that is seemingly on the decline.
That could mean more tourist attractions for families, bringing larger conventions to the city, and making certain amenities exist for those who are only gamblers that are casual. But that’s planning to simply take some right time to perfect, and also the transition is expected to be rough.
‚It’s coming at a bad time,‘ said Stafford Mayor John Spodofora. ‚There are not numerous corporations that are big hire people down here. The gambling enterprises were a boon for individuals down here.‘
A transition that is painful
Even if Atlantic City does manage to rebound, it’s unclear as it was in its gaming heyday whether it will ever be the same. New companies may create jobs, but there is no guarantee that they’re going to function as same sorts of high-paying opportunities afforded by the casinos.
‚We will endure the pain that comes with transitioning from an economy overly reliant on a single industry,‘ said Atlantic City mayor Don Guardian.
The city does still draw about 27 million visitors each year, so there’s certainly plenty of disposable income to go around if the city can find the right way to capture it on the bright side. There are also plenty of resources which could help Atlantic City make this kind of transition: there’s still the boardwalk that is world-famous therefore the beaches are nevertheless a fantastic draw during the summers.
But while wanting to squeeze more out of tourism will certainly assist, some professionals believe Atlantic City should look for other opportunities for growth as well.
‚I’m all for trying to increase the size associated with the non-gaming pie, but not just hospitality and tourism,‘ Deborah M. Figart, professor of training and economics at the Richard Stockton university of New Jersey, told The Star-Ledger. ‚Cities that have diverse economies, that aren’t a single- or town that is two-industry those cities tend to prosper and prosper even yet in times of recession.‘
Nevada Casinos Could Ban Smoking in Near Future
More casino areas are getting smoke-free, and a total ban in Nevada casinos could be not far off. (Image: Mel Evans/AP)
The public image of the casino floor was one of smoke-filled tables and a cloudy haze throughout the halls in the old days of gambling. Within the years, that vision has largely changed: enter any major casino, and there will tend to be large swaths of smoke-free areas for patrons that would choose a somewhat more breathable gambling experience. Nevertheless, at the least in Nevada, there has still been room for smokers and non-smokers alike.
But based on some analysts, that might be changing soon. Many states with casino gambling have previously outlawed smoking in casinos, and Macau is currently about to implement a ban later this year. That and other indications have led Deutsche Bank gaming analyst Andrew Zarnett to predict that a smoking ban could come to Nevada within the next two years.
Zarnett cited a variety of the move by Macau, which could now be an industry trendsetter, as well as the study that is continued of risks of second-hand cigarette smoking as factors leading him to believe that this type of ban might be coming sooner in the place of later on.
Smoking Ban Could Be Costly
But he also warned that such a ban could price Nevada casinos a complete lot of cash. He noticed that other states have seen significant income declines after passing such laws into the past: Delaware’s casino profits fell 11.3 per cent after a 2002 ban, while Illinois saw a 20.9 percent drop after their very own 2007 ban. He predicted that Nevada could see perhaps a 7.5 percent decline if it had been to accomplish the same.
That might mean that such a ban wouldn’t be complete, and would still give smokers a location where they might sneak in several puffs that are good. In Macau, smoking cigarettes would nevertheless be permitted in the high-end areas where VIP gamblers congregate, and you will have unique smoking rooms with segregated ventilation systems. The latter is in fact the solution now set up in Las Vegas‘ international airport, McCarran, where smokers sit inside large lucite-surrounded free-standing ‚rooms‘ that are completely closed off from the airport that is main, where smoking cigarettes is forbidden.
The Macau ban goes into effect on 6, just after the Golden Week holiday ends october. Any smoking areas which are built in gambling enterprises must take into account fewer than half of this gaming that is overall in each venue.
No Immediate Push for a Ban
According to officials in Nevada, there’s no push that is immediate ban smoking in gambling enterprises anywhere in the state, and there has been no general public groundswell to do this. But even that it sounds like it could be if it were to happen, it may not be the shock to the system. In 2006, Nevada voters banned cigarette smoking in all public places other than casino floors. And some casino areas already are smoke-free, including poker that is many and activities books. The whole planet variety of Poker was played in a smoke-free environment this year.
Even though those projections of major losings may be scary, not everyone agrees that smoking bans are directly associated to casino profits.
‚Bad weather, gas prices, market saturation, competition, casino debt, the recession that began in 2008 that severely affected all gaming profits, including Vegas, will be the other cards lacking from this deck,‘ said Stephanie Steinberg, chairwoman of Smoke-Free Gaming of America. ‚Smoking bans are not the reason behind income decreases, rather, it’s poor business planning.‘
And even if the casinos aren’t likely to put a ban into place right away, Steinberg agrees it will come eventually.
‚Casino smoking bans are everywhere and inevitable,‘ she said. ‚Nevada is next and the gaming industry knows it.‘