Atlantic City Casinos

Atlantic City has been the home of a rotating network of casino properties and resorts since gambling was legalized in New Jersey the late 1970s. The hotels offered by these resorts range from five-star luxury to basic economy. Here’s an overview of what you can currently expect to find as far as casino gambling, entertainment, and accommodations are concerned when visiting Atlantic City.

Try one of these Atlantic City online casinos

At present there are nine Atlantic City casinos open for business:

• Bally’s Atlantic City (opened 1979)
• Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa (opened 2003)
• Caesars Atlantic City (opened 1979)
• Golden Nugget Atlantic City (opened 1985)
• Hard Rock Atlantic City (opened 2018)
• Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City (opened 1980)
• Ocean Casino Resort (opened 2018)
• Resorts Casino Hotel (opened 1978)
• Tropicana Atlantic City (opened 1981)

Of these, Borgata is owned by MGM Resorts International and is the top-grossing property in terms of gambling revenue, often earning about twice its nearest competitor, Hard Rock Atlantic City, which is owned by Seminole Tribe of Florida. Among the casinos usually landing in the middle of the monthly revenue reports are the three properties owned by Caesars Entertainment, Caesars, Harrah’s, and Tropicana.

Looking at the other four properties, Ocean Casino Resort (AC Beachfront) and Bally’s (Bally’s Corporation) tend to earn a bit more than both Golden Nugget (Fertitta Entertainment) and Resorts (DGMB Casinos). For detailed information about gambling revenue in Atlantic City, click here.

Bally’s, Caesars, Hard Rock, Ocean, Resorts, and Tropicana are all on the famed Atlantic City Boardwalk, occupying about a two-mile stretch right next to the Atlantic shoreline. The other three casinos (Borgata, Golden Nugget, and Harrah’s) are not far away, about three miles north in the Marina District.

Atlantic City casinos in 2025

Here is a brief rundown of what you’ll find at each of the nine casinos in Atlantic City.

Bally’s Atlantic City

Bally’s is on the Boardwalk and the casino boasts over 1,100 slots and about 80 table games. Its hotel is perfect for budget-minded travelers, with a number of nightlife options including live entertainment Bally’s Showroom and The Yard for drinks and dancing.

Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa

Located in the Marina District, Borgata is the flagship casino of Atlantic City, a luxury resort destination with more than a dozen restaurants. The casino features a huge poker room (by far the biggest in AC), over 2,500 slots, and more than 150 table games.

Caesars Atlantic City

Caesars is on the Boardwalk, a middle-tier resort with more than a dozen restaurants, two showrooms, and another gaming venue, Wild Wild West, on its lower level. You’ll find over 1,700 slots and 100-plus table games at Caesars as well as one of the largest sportsbooks of all AC casinos.

Golden Nugget Atlantic City

Golden Nugget is a boutique hotel in the Marina District with several Landry’s restaurants on site, and there is a walking trail between Golden Nugget and Harrah’s. The casino features just over 1,000 slots and 80 table games.

Hard Rock Atlantic City

Hard Rock opened 2018, taking over the Boardwalk space formerly occupied by the Trump Taj Mahal. The casino features a variety of entertainment options and restaurants, with more than 2,400 slots and over 130 table games.

Harrah’s Atlantic City

Harrah’s is located in the Marina District and offers more than 120 table games plus a 28-table poker room as well as more than 1,800 slots on the casino floor. Amenities include an after-hours pool with the latest musical acts and DJs, plus a wide variety of dining establishments.

Ocean Casino Resort

Along with Hard Rock, Ocean Casino Resort also opened in 2018, taking over the location where the Revel Hotel & Casino had struggled previously before closing. Situated at the northern end of the Boardwalk, the property includes one of the more luxurious casino floors and a variety of high-end restaurants and shops. Meanwhile, the sizable casino features over 1,800 slots and more than 130 table games.

Resorts Casino Hotel

Resorts is the original Atlantic City casino, having opened on the Boardwalk way back in 1978. Resorts is smaller than its competitors, but still retains its playing power, especially among lower-limit players with close to 75 table games and over 1,200 slots.

Tropicana Atlantic City

The Tropicana casino resort has an old-school feel. Located on the far south end of the Boardwalk, visitors can enjoy plenty of shopping and restaurants while game players have 1,600 slots, about 80 table games, and a small 11-table poker room from which to choose.

Games at Atlantic City casinos

When visiting Atlantic City casinos, you’ll find the same varied selection of slots and table games found in Las Vegas casinos and elsewhere. These include:

• Slots
• Blackjack
• Roulette
• Craps
• Baccarat
• Carribean Stud
• Ultimate Texas Hold’em
• Let It Ride
• Three Card Poker
• Four Card Poker
• Mississippi Stud
• Spanish 21
• Pai Gow Poker
• Video Poker

You’ll find a similar selection of real money online casino games you can play at the many different sites available in the state.

Three Atlantic City casinos additionally have poker rooms — Borgata, Harrah’s, and Tropicana.

Atlantic City sports betting

New Jersey legalized sports betting in January 2012 after voters passed a nonbinding referendum instructing the New Jersey Legislature to pass it. But the major sports leagues took issue with this. New Jersey was not exempted under the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA). Even Delaware, which was exempted under PASPA, lost its own fight with the sports leagues in 2009 and was forced to only offer parlay cards.

The fight between New Jersey and the sports leagues finally came to an end on May 14, 2018, when the US Supreme Court ruled that PASPA was unconstitutional. After that, the floodgates opened, and AC casinos and NJ online gambling sites got quickly up and running with sportsbooks once the NJ sports betting law and regulations were finalized.

There are currently nine casinos with retail sportsbooks in Atlantic City up and running. You can also find in-person sports betting elsewhere in NJ at two of the three racetracks.

Which Atlantic City casinos have closed?

For several years, Atlantic City had 12 casinos open. Then suddenly over a two-year stretch during the mid-2010s, no less than five casinos shut their doors.

Various factors led to the swift downturn of fortune for these properties, several of which had once thrived during the city’s heyday years of the 1980s and 1990s:

• Atlantic Club Casino Hotel (opened 1980, closed 2014)
• Revel Casino Hotel Atlantic City (opened 2012, closed 2014)
• Showboat Resort Atlantic City (opened 1987, closed 2014)
• Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino (opened 1984, closed 2014)
• Trump Taj Mahal (opened 1990, closed 2016)

The closing of the Trump Plaza was followed by years of legal wrangling and (finally) the building’s dramatic implosion in early 2021. On the occasion of the Trump Plaza being demolished, PlayNJ’s own David Danzis was on hand with a report on the property’s storied history:

A couple of years later came the closing of the Trump Taj Mahal (site of a memorable poker scene in the 1998 film Rounders), and suddenly the number of open casinos had been whittled down to seven. But the openings of both the Hard Rock and Ocean Casino Resort in 2018 brought that total back up to nine where it remains today.

A brief history of Atlantic City gambling

New Jersey voters amended the State Constitution in 1976 to allow casino-style gambling.  It became the second state after Nevada to legalize casinos.  They were restricted to Atlantic City. No other parts of the state could build casinos. On May 28, 1978, Resorts International opened as the first casino in Atlantic City. Over the next 25 years, several more casino resorts were built culminating with the Borgata in 2003.

It was over a decade before a new casino arrived, the Revel in 2014, but after a difficult two-year run it closed with the Ocean Casino Resort eventually taking its place in 2018. The Hard Rock casino also opened in 2018, taking the spot vacated by the long-closed Trump Taj Mahal, and today nine retail locations remain open for business on the Boardwalk and in the Marina District.

According to the American Gaming Association’s most recent State of the States annual report, NJ casinos collectively reported close to $5.78 billion in revenue in 2023. That was up 10.9% from the year before and placed NJ in third overall among US states for commercial casino revenue, just behind Pennsylvania in second and ahead of New York in fourth, with Nevada well in front as usual.

Former Gov. Chris Christie signed online gambling into law on Feb. 26, 2013, legalizing both NJ online poker and online casinos in the state. Christie had actually vetoed similar legislation two times before finally signing it into law. Only after the legislature agreed to raise the tax rate from 10 percent to 15 percent and add more funds to the problem gambling services provided under the law did Christie finally add his signature.

While sports betting, including online sports betting, is now legal in a majority of states, New Jersey is one of only a handful of states with legal online casinos. Each year NJ online gambling revenue (including sports betting, casinos, and poker) rivals that of Michigan and Pennsylvania as the largest in the country.