These are hard times for Atlantic City, which recently recorded its sixth consecutive year of falling gambling revenues and saw an ambitious new casino prepare for bankruptcy.
You can blame the economic downturn as well as the rise of competing casinos in neighboring states.
Hurricane Sandy didn't help either. The casinos were ordered to remain closed for almost five full days, and lost an estimated $5 million in gambling revenue combined each day.
But you know what? The "World's Playground" is still an awesome place to visit, with plenty of exciting new attractions aimed at targeting leisure travelersinstead of gamblers, and revitalizing its boardwalk. Atlantic City is also getting buzz from HBO's hit show, Boardwalk Empire.
Atlantic City is huge, but most people only think about the boardwalk and pier.
It reached its boom period in the 1920s thanks to prohibition and illegal gambling — it even called itself the World's Playground.
Source: Press of Atlantic City
The '20s were so glamorous that they are even the subject of HBO's Boardwalk Empire, starring Steve Buscemi as the political boss and racketeer Enoch "Nucky" Thompson.
Source: HBO
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