Last year, casino gambling revenue dropped in the US for the first time since the state of Nevada legalised gambling in 1931. Over the space of two years it dropped by over $1.5 billion to $32.5 billion, and a bigger drop is expected this year.
Both Las Vegas and Atlantic City have been hit by severe job cuts and closed casinos brought about by bankruptcies and lack of visitors for neighbouring states.
The Philadelphia Reporter has carried out an investigation into why. Atlantic City has, over the latter years of the decade, become a lot less lucrative thanks to new casinos having opened in Pennsylvania. Other states which have recently legalised casino gambling include Kansas and Delaware, and Atlantic City, Pennsylvania and Connecticut with its tribal casinos will face stiffer competition over the next few years, as Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire are all set to follow the trend of keeping gamblers happy at home.