One Gambler’s Blackjack Hot Streak Wipes Out Casino’s Profit

A high-roller walked away with $5.8 million leaving

the Tropicana with a monthly loss for its blackjack tables.

April was a bad month for casinos in Atlantic City but a great one for a blackjack player whose winnings resulted in an unprecedented monthly loss for the Tropicana Casino and Resort.

The Tropicana lost more than $1.86 million at its blackjack tables in April thanks mostly to a single patron who won $5.8 million at the casino’s high-stakes tables.

A spokesman for New Jersey’s Casino Control Commission told The Star Ledger that the proportion of the Tropicana’s loss was unprecedented in the state since the inception of casino gambling in 1978. “It’s extraordinarily unusual for a casino to lose money at the game of blackjack in a particular month,” he told the paper.

It was a rough month overall for New Jersey’s oceanside casinos whose revenue fell by 7.1 percent in April continuing a 4 1/2-year slump for the nation’s second-largest gambling market.

The Tropicana Casino and Resort was at the bottom of the list with April revenue falling 19.8% percent to $19.2 million. The Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino was not far behind with a 19.3 percent decline in revenue to $13.2 million.

Tropicana’s outgoing president, Mark Giannantonio, told The Press of Atlantic City, “We ran very unlucky,”

He added, “We had the single-largest winner in our history. If it hadn’t been for bad luck at the tables, we would have had a good month.”

He didn’t disclose the name of the blackjack winner.