Are Atlantic City's casino headed for hard times? That's the story I get from a childhood friend of mine who's lived in the resort all his life, has owned some nightclubs there, and is pretty plugged into the local scene. He even thinks there's a chance that The Donald, who has actually run a casino into bankruptcy, is making plans to bail out. Immediately below is the straight skinny from my friend, Glenn.: ' Some of the casino operators are trying to bail out now because of a stiff competitive breeze from Pennsylvania's brand new slot parlors. For the months of January and February, Atlantic City's 11 casinos reported and average drop of 8% in the take from slot machines. This is just the start, and it is occurring with only two minor and fairly distant Pennsylvania parlors in operation. When the huge slot casinos open in South Philly two years from now, all hell will break loose in Atlantic City. Trump is already considering selling and rumor has it that Colony, which operates Resorts International and the Hilton casino, will follow. (Click on image to greatly enlarge) 'The casinos evidently are not prepared to compete in a declining market, so all of those rosy real estate statistics and forecasts you've been seeing for this region are very old news. For the short- and long-term it's over for Atlantic City. We saw one casino, The Sands, sell this year, and a replacement isn't slated until 2012, if ever. I predict that we'll see a huge shakeout over the next few years, with the loss of up to a third of the present 12 casino licenses. That could ultimately mean the loss of 15,000 or more jobs. Tourism has thrived locally over the last thirty years because of casinos, but it's
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