Atlantic City, as a whole, suffered in the year 2009 because of the tough economy across the country, but it really suffered in the gambling industry as each casino saw a decline in revenue. There is some good news out of Atlantic City though in terms of revenue reports. The month of March saw only a small decline in revenue for the casinos after double digit declines in revenue over a span of a couple of months. The revenue for the casinos fell just 5.6 percent in the month of March for 2010. The casinos saw a revenue of $300.8 million in March of 2010 compared to $318.4 million in March of 2009. The only casino in the city with higher revenue was Harrah’s, according to a report released by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission.

The first three months of 2010 has seen a decline in revenue of the casinos by 9.9 percent, down to $856.5 million. If revenue continues to decline in 2010, it will mark the fourth straight year that revenue has declined for an entire year in the gambling city on the East Coast. The last month where Atlantic City posted a higher monthly revenue was in August of 2008. In three of the previous four months, revenue declined on a monthly basis in Atlantic City casinos, before the results for March were released. Experts believe that driving rain in March and the massive snowstorms in February kept gamblers away from the city, damaging the revenue. The chairman of Morowitz Gaming Advisors LLC, Cory H. Morowitz, had the following to say:

“I think that when we’re still in a period of decline, it’s too early to say we’re having any turnaround. I think there has been some impact from the weather in the first quarter. Anytime there is rain or snow, people will not travel to Atlantic City. They will stay closer to home.”

President of Bally’s; Caesar’s; Harrah’s Resort and Showboat casinos, Don Marrandino, had the following to say about the revenue reports:

“I feel pretty darn good. I think we’re turning the corner here. Obviously, that hurt us, the Boardwalk and everything else. I’ll take rain over snow any day, but it didn’t help.”

Harrah’s recorded a revenue increase, the only casino with an increase in the city, of 4.9 percent to $38.9 million. The revenue declines at the other casinos were below the industry’s average.

A new, $75 million casino is in the works for Tunica, and Askew Nixon Ferguson Architects is the company that has been selected to design the brand new casino. The companies that chose Askew Nixon was Abston-McKay Ventures LLC and Lakes Entertainment Inc. The casino will be named the Sportsman Casino and Lodge. The design for the brand new casino is scheduled to be complete by the month of October, with construction on the new casino beginning towards the end of the 2010 year, and the casino could open to the public by the end of 2011. A representative from Askew Nixon had the following to say about the company’s biggest deal in a very long time:

“It was pretty grim for the first two and a half months (this year), but we’re starting to see some things come in. A lot of our big clients like FedEx and the University of Memphis are starting to crank up some things that were on hold.”

Abston-McKay is located in Oxford, Mississippi, and Lakes Entertainment is based in Minnetonka, Minnesota. The two companies are working together on the project. The new casino will be located on the site of the old Isle of Capri Casino, close to Sam’s Town Casino and Hotel on the casino strip. The Isle of Capri Casino left a 220 room hotel behind when it closed its doors in 2002, which will be remodeled by Askew Nixon. Askew Nixon will design and build a brand new building for the casino. The CEO of Abston-McKay Ventures, Kevin Hunter, had the following to say about the partnership:

“We went with them because (Askew has) a great vision of this area and world-class credentials in the gaming industry. There are a lot of people throwing out ideas on this project and he’s keeping us pulled together to keep the focus on this project.”

The brand new casino will feature a 40,000 square foot room for gaming, a 1,200 seat theater, and one of the largest buffets around the casino industry. There will also be a 5,000 square foot VIP players lounge, brand new swimming pools, a poker room and plenty of retail space. The hotel will also increase its number of rooms to 230. The Mississippi Gaming Commission approved the proposal for the project in March of 2010. Askew also said the following:

“We’re really going to gut it so everything will be brand new, from wall surfaces to fixtures and carpeting. You won’t even know you’re in an older building.”

Penn National Gaming has reported that it has experienced first quarter revenue of $592.3 million. In a press release from the company, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Penn National Gaming, Peter M. Carlino, had the following to say:

“First quarter revenue trends continue to reflect the current macroeconomic environment as well as a greater-than-anticipated impact of weather at several of our properties. Nevertheless, Penn National’s first quarter 2010 EBITDA exceeded guidance by $10.9 million. First quarter 2010 property level EBITDA margins of approximately 27.8% were approximately 80 and 70 basis points below comparable periods in 2009 and 2008, respectively. We believe that the implementation of strategies to strengthen margins in the current environment through a corporate and property level focus on effective marketing programs and spending, other cost reductions, and staffing rationalizations has eased our operating margin declines. We also believe there are areas for continued improvement at several Penn National facilities which will be carefully implemented to avoid impacting customer satisfaction and the competitiveness of our facilities in their respective markets. However, it will take some time to return margins to previous levels generally, and our historically high margins will not be attainable until revenues return to prior levels.”

Carlino went on to say:

“Consistent with our goal of building long-term value for shareholders, Penn National Gaming is focused on optimizing operating results from our existing property portfolio, including the planned addition this year of table games at our facilities in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, while advancing our development and expansion pipeline of new growth opportunities in Maryland, Kansas and Ohio. We are aggressively deploying the Company’s strong cash flow, balance sheet and liquidity position — including cash of approximately $642.5 million at the end of the first quarter — to expand and diversify our operating base. At the same time, we remain prudent and opportunistic in the management of our capital structure, as evidenced by the repurchase during the quarter of 225 shares, or $22.5 million face value, of our Series B Redeemable Preferred Stock at a substantial discount.”

Penn National Gaming is one of the few casino companies in the country that has been successful over the past couple of years in the tough economy. Many casinos across the country have experienced losses in revenue to the point where some dealers are being laid off and others are having their hours reduced from full-time to part-time.

States across the country have been drafting legislation that would regulate and tax poker and gambling players on the Internet, with some of the states ratifying the new legislation and other states vetoing this legislation. One such state, that of Florida, has finally received new poker laws it had been anticipating for quite some time. The new poker laws have been passed by both the Florida Senate and the Florida House and poker players across the state are waiting in anticipation for the legislation to be signed by the governor and approved by the Department of Interior. The new laws would provide the state of Florida with uncapped poker.

The Florida House approved the new legislation with a 74-39 vote and the Florida Senate approved the new legislation with a 29-9 vote. The new legislation will allow the Seminole tribe to operate slots that are of Vegas-style in five of their seven casinos across the state. The new legislation will also lower pari-mutuel taxes, extend the hours of poker rooms across the state, and scrap the $100 restriction previously placed on tournaments. That is right; Florida previously had a $100 buy-in restriction on tournaments. Over the next five years, over $1 billion is expected to be earned for the state and the tribe. Representative Bill Galvano (Republican from Bradenton) had the following to say about the legislation:

“This is a big contribution and a big commitment. It’s not estimated, it’s not, ‘Well, we might be able to achieve this.’ This is a guarantee.”

The United States Department of the Interior needs to approve all agreements made between a state and a tribe, which means that the new legislation will not be put into action until the approval is met. The state of Florida has been operating under very strict poker laws for the past couple of decades and has fallen behind the rest of the country as the poker industry exploded in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Most poker players and other gamblers in the state of Florida had to limit all of their bets to $10 and under. Poker players and card rooms across the state pressed the Florida government to change the poker laws for years on end but failed each time. Former governor, Jeb Bush, enacted new poker laws in 2003 that pushed the betting past $10 but players could not bet more than $2 per any given action.

There has been plenty of arguing back and forth between state legislators regarding state revenue shares, renovations, and regulations of Delaware’s three casinos but an agreement has been made regarding table games. Table games in the state of Delaware first made their debut in the Harrington Raceway and Casino at the very end of May, on Memorial Day weekend. A trial run of the new table games at the casino took place four days prior to the casino opening them to the public. The table games available for play include blackjack, roulette, craps and poker. This was called a soft opening, which was required by the state’s lottery office, to allow the casino to fix any problems with the table games and the dealers. Harrington’s CEO, Patti Key, had the following to say:

“We’re right on time, it’s just what we expected; just a few bumps in the road to get where we are today. We’ve come a long way the past few days, the jitters are kind of out. It’s been very helpful, very instrumental in getting the bugs out and calming people’s nerves, people who’ve never dealt before.”

The middle of June will mark the debut of table games at Delaware Park while the end of June will mark the debut of table games at Dover Downs Hotel and Casino. Both of these venues will also participate in trial runs prior to opening the table games to the public to make sure all the kinks are removed. Many of the new dealers for these table games are brand new to the casino industry and have spent the previous couple of months training at the Delaware Technical and Community College. The dealers have been learning how to run poker, craps, roulette and blackjack games as well as all of their variants.

The shift manager at Harrington, Robert Howell, had the following to say about the employees:

“When they deal a crap game, there’s more than one dealer. But it’s always good to have local people in here, they know the customers better than we do. They’re a familiar face. We have to learn the personnel, what games they’re going to like and what limits they’re going to like. Most of that, we start learning when we open up and find what customers want. Table games mix is what we call it — what type of games are in each pit and on the total floor. That could change depending on to what the players want; table limits, whether we’re going to have $5 games or $500 games, until they get here and start playing, we don’t know for sure.”

There are millions of people across the world who play the game of blackjack, the traditional version and all of its variants, in casinos and on the Internet on almost a daily basis. This means that each player has their own strategy that they employ from hand to hand. Their strategy can change from hand to hand or stay the same. A player’s strategy might change as their game playing skill improves over the years but not every player will change his or her strategy as they get older. Some players stick with the very first strategy they used from day one because it has been successful since they began playing the game.

For every blackjack player around the world, the strategy they employ happens strictly by choice. The difference between informed casual players and students of blackjack is the ability of a player to remember the cards that have been played. The ability to do this allows players to make informed decisions about their hand as well as their bets. These decisions occur both strategically and financially. Most casinos will allow players to consult a small blackjack strategy chart while sitting at the green felt table playing the game. Learning basic strategy of the game of blackjack will cut the edge that the house (casino) has over the player.

Since each player has his or her own strategy to play the game of blackjack, No one can tell you what strategy to use in the casino or on the Internet. But, any great blackjack player will tell you that learning the art form of counting cards will increase your odds at winning hands greatly. There are various forms of card counting out there that can be learned by blackjack players, depending on which variation is easiest to learn for each player.

The best way to win money while playing blackjack is to take advantage of a situation that might have tilted in the favor of the players by increasing your bet. The only way to know when this opportunity arises is by keeping track of the cards that have been played up to this point in the hand. Increasing a bet simply by guessing or because the player feels he or she is lucky can work at some times but it can also backfire at times. The ability to keep track of cards that have been played requires concentration and discipline, which cannot be done by every player out there.

One of the newest versions of the game of blackjack is being played by thousands of gamblers at the Red Hawk Casino in El Dorado County. The newest derivative of the game of blackjack is known as Blackjack Switch. This new version of 21 allows gamblers to switch up some of their top cards between two hands, which helps the gambler maximize the percentage of winning, or even their percentage of losing, depending on how the cards fall. The beginning of the game starts with the players placing equal bets on two betting positions. The dealer then proceeds to deal two separate blackjack hands to each player at the table.

Once all the cards are dealt to every player at the table, each player has the option to play the hands exactly how they were dealt or to switch out the second card from one hand with the second card from the other hand. The switch can only occur after the dealer has checked every player’s hand for a natural blackjack. After this is complete the dealer must continue the game using the casino’s house rules for the traditional game of blackjack, which might vary from casino to casino. Players are allowed to double down and split before or after a switch is made. Any blackjack won by a player pays out even money. If the dealer comes away with a hard 22 then all remaining bets on the table are pushed.

Geoff Hall, the managing director of Customized Casino Games in Las Vegas, is the creator of Blackjack Switch. The idea started back in 2000 when Hall was playing two hands at one blackjack table when he realized that he could win if he was able to switch cards from hand to hand. The first table of Blackjack Switch debuted in the state of Iowa in 2001. The game has become widely popular in casinos all across the country, including those in Las Vegas. Blackjack Switch tables can be found at Wynn Las Vegas, MGM Grand, Bally’s and many other Las Vegas casinos.

Players all over the country have taken a liking to this fun version of the game of blackjack because two games are always better than one, especially when it comes to gambling. The one problem with Blackjack Switch is that amateur blackjack players should not play it until they master the original game. A ton of thinking is required in Blackjack Switch.

The iPad, the new newest piece of technology released by Apple, has sold thousands of pieces across the world since its debut a couple of months ago. The iPad allows people to do thousands of activities on this device no matter where they are located at the time of use. It has an e-reader, a map, the Internet and many other applications. One such application that is going to become one of the most popular is the blackjack application. This application, released by Spin3, allows iPad owners to play their favorite gambling game on the go whether they are sitting on a bus, riding a train, or flying across the United States.

Spin3 is the leader in providing mobile gambling applications for items such as cell phones, PDAs, the iPhone, the iPad and the iPod Touch. The application that Spin3 created for the Apple iPad Tablet Computer is strictly play for fun, which means that you do not have to submit a fee to play nor do you win any prizes if you win a hand of blackjack. The application is called 21 Blackjack Party. Spin3 uses Microgaming, one of the world’s largest online gaming software creator and provider. The blackjack application is available through the Apple iTunes store for both the iPhone and the iPad using iTunes. This application is the first of its kind to track its players stats and upload them to a live scoreboard for other players to see. This creates a level of competitiveness for the player even though he or she does not have the ability to win any prizes.

The press release, featuring CEO of Spin3, Matt Zinder, had the following to say about the application and its association with the iPad:

“The iPad is the first of a new category of ‘mobile’ devices and will have a huge impact on the way mobile content and entertainment is consumed. It’s fantastic that Spin3 can move quickly to support the newest mobile devices and platforms as they are launched, allowing customers to access and play mobile casino games using the latest technology such as the iPad. We are dedicated to offering our clients a dynamic and advanced portfolio of games to support their mobile casino business and keep their customers entertained. The launch of 21 Blackjack Party as well as the development of our portfolio of advanced games for the iPad is an exciting prospect for the mobile casino industry.”

Designing and building a casino is a large task for the company chosen to complete the job but it is an even tougher job when you are in charge of designing appealing restaurants for new casinos or existing ones that need a fresh start. Designing a restaurant in a strip mall is difficult enough without the added pressure of having it be located in a casino where millions of people will see it each year. Floss Barber is one of those restaurant designers who is responsible for some of the venues located in the Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and the Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Barber is the chief executive officer and interior designer of Barber Inc. Barber is in the midst of designing the entire SugarHouse Casino, including its entire gaming floor and food and beverage venues.

“You must psych a city. You must feel the pulse of it. Philadelphia is a blue-collar, gritty city. You have to do something quirky – something it can call its own. If the brand, marketing goal, and vision are not in sync, you send a mixed message to the customer, and it’s wasted energy. You end up needing more signs and staffing to overcome the disconnect.”

The casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City have begun to push their restaurants, shopping malls, and entertainment venues more than their gaming floors in order to attract as much business as possible. This is why Barber pays so much attention to detail when it comes to designing new restaurants for casinos across the country. In 2009, close to 62 percent of total revenue for the 38 casinos on the Las Vegas strip came from non-gambling attractions. Just ten years ago that percentage was at 54 percent. In Atlantic City, the numbers are not as common, with 15 percent of the total revenue coming from non-gambling attractions. That number was at 8.4 percent just as recently as the year 2000.

The customer at a casino, no matter what city it is in, wants to have a meal, gamble, be entertained by a show of some sort, be able to buy something and then relax. The goal of Barber’s company is to keep as many customers in the casino and its venues as possible for as long as possible so that they are more inclined to spend money while they are there enjoying themselves at the resorts.

There have been heated debates over the past couple of years across the country regarding the regulation of online poker websites and online gambling. Those arguments have occurred in almost every state’s Congress and even in the Nation’s Congress. Some states want to regulate gambling on the Internet so that the players are protected from scams and other misfortunes, while other states do not want to touch the online gaming industry. Some states are only interested in regulating online gambling for the sole purpose of accumulating more revenue for their state in hopes of fixing their state’s budget deficit. A bill from the state of Maryland might allow the public residing in the state the opportunity to vote on table games.

One Baltimore senator wants to create a bill that would bring table games such as roulette, poker, craps, and blackjack to Maryland in order to help the state’s tourism industry. The senator in question is Catherine Pugh, a Democrat from Baltimore, wants the Senate panel to urge the public to vote on the matter. The vote would be whether or not the state should amend the Maryland constitution in order to allow table games. Pugh is also supporting another bill that would study the financial impact on the state should gambling be expanded. Pugh had the following to say:

“If we’re talking about Maryland being the tourism state, if we’re trying to attract different conventions and conferences where people are now traveling to other parts of the country to get that kind of entertainment, seems to me we’d want to do that in the state of Maryland.”

Maryland voters approved an amendment to their state’s constitution in 2008 that allowed for 15,000 slot machines at five different spots throughout the state. Licenses have been approved for three of those five sites so far. The proposal from Pugh would also allow the sites who hold licenses the opportunity to also have table games. Two of the slots locations in the state, a race track near Ocean City and the other off of Interstate 95 in Cecil County could open as early as the fall season. Pugh wants to increase the gambling allowance in the state in order to improve tourism. She claims that people travel all over the country to gamble and she figures why not travel to Maryland as well. Opponents to slot machines in the state are worried about a rush to expansion of gambling.