How Many Casinos Are in Atlantic City?

Atlantic City is widely regarded as the second most important gambling center after Las Vegas. People from New York, New Jersey, and all nearby states who are into gambling are eager to visit AC whenever they feel like playing slots and table games.

Las Vegas is much bigger than AC, though. And if you’ve never been to New Jersey, you might be wondering this: exactly how many casinos are in Atlantic City? As you know, the number changed over the years, and it’s not easy to give the exact answer to how many casinos are in Atlantic City now because New Jersey was one of the few states to allow online casino gambling. Therefore, in addition to the land-based offer, Atlantic City has the largest online casino industry in the US, with many casinos offering their service both online and offline.

But before we analyze the current number of AC casinos, let’s quickly go through the history of the second most popular gambling mecca in the US.

History Of Casinos in Atlantic City

Unfortunately, before gambling was legalized and regulated, there was plenty of illegal gambling going on throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Finally, gambling was legalized in 1976, which paved the way for casinos to start blooming all over the AC.

The building boom took place between 1980 and 2000, as many casinos started opening their doors to visitors, including the following:

• Golden Nugget
• Harrah’s Casino Hotel
• Sands Hotel & Casino

Even Donald Trump started casinos in AC in the 80s.

In 2013, New Jersey became the first state officially to legalize online casinos, meaning many land-based operators decided to offer their services online. NJ was the only state with legal online casinos for years before other states started doing the same, such as Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Michigan.

How Many Casinos Are Left in Atlantic City?

Now it’s time to deal with numbers. If we include all of the New Jersey online casinos, Atlantic City currently has 31 casinos. However, if you only wanted to know the number of land-based casinos, that number is somewhat lower. 

Namely, there are only nine land-based platforms at the moment, which still places AC in second place after Vegas based on the number of casinos per square mile. However, only Las Vegas Strip has 31 casinos, with 60 more in the area. On the other hand, Nevada still hasn’t legalized online casinos. 

What Is The Oldest Casino in Atlantic City?

The oldest casino in Atlantic City is Resorts International, which officially opened on May 26, 1978. A year after that, Caesars Atlantic City opened as the second casino in the city, featuring a 52,000 square feet gaming space.

Final Thoughts

Even though Atlantic City is much smaller than Vegas, it’s still the second-largest gaming area in the US. With nine land-based casinos operating in AC and more than 20 casinos to play blackjack online, it’s safe to say that NJ residents and visitors have plenty to choose from.