Revel lawyer: Casino still wants auction, but must close to stop $1M weekly losses

Revel Casino Hotel still hopes to auction off the property but needs to close to stop big losses, a lawyer for the resort said.

Attorney John Cunningham said in bankruptcy court Monday that the casino is losing more than $1 million every week, The Press of Atlantic City reported (http://bit.ly/1taMSHd ).

It's "still the debtors' goal and hope that we will have a successful sale," Cunningham said.

The casino wanted to close on Monday, but state regulators denied the request and told Revel to stay open until Labor Day weekend.

The hearing in front of U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Gloria Burns was scheduled to approve a sale, but an auction last week was canceled. Burns set a hearing for Sept. 2, the day the casino is scheduled to close, to approve a sale if a satisfactory buyer emerges.

Revel's hotel will close at 11 a.m. Sept. 1, and the casino will shut down at 5 a.m. the next morning. It is one of three Atlantic City casinos due to shut down in the coming weeks. The Showboat is due to close Aug. 31, and Trump Plaza on Sept. 16.

The shutdowns are part of a rapid contraction of what was until just a few years ago the nation's second-largest gambling market. Atlantic City, which now trails Nevada and Pennsylvania, has seen its casino revenue fall from $5.2 billion in 2006 to $2.86 billion last year. The city has lost thousands of casino jobs as more gambling halls open in the northeastern United States.

Atlantic City began the year with 12 casinos but will have eight before summer ends. The Atlantic Club shut down in January.

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Information from: The Press of Atlantic City (N.J.), http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com