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When news of the spread of the coronavirus grew ever more dire in early March, every business in New Jersey was impacted. 

But for the Atlantic City casino industry, the news at first was especially cruel. 

The South Jersey tourism destination was about to reap the benefits of large gatherings for the annual NCAA men’s basketball “March Madness” tournament, with a second year of legal sports betting at each casino in the wake of a mid-2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that opened the door for such legal gambling anywhere in the United States. 

Beyond that, the spring and summer have always served as the bellwether months for the casinos ever since Resorts Casino Hotel opened its doors in 1978 as the first casino outside of Nevada. 

But, as the calendar turned to fall, for a variety of reasons the city’s casino industry held up better than most in New Jersey in the wake of the devastating effects of the pandemic. 

“All of the operators kind of have been able to turn on a dime and react to some of the moving goalposts,” Caesars executive Jim Ziereis said during a Stockton University-led panel called “The Jersey Shoreview: Fall Tourism and Business Panel Discussion.” 

Those “moving goalposts” included a sudden order from Gov. Phil Murphy for all nine casinos to close as of Monday evening, March 16. 

“I remember speaking to someone on that Saturday night who was questioning if a closing was really imminent — and then just like that, it was,” Ocean Casino Resort CEO Terry Glebocki said. 

But Glebocki noted that the casinos all benefited from the fact that state regulations have long required emergency casino closing planning for events such as Superstorm Sandy. So, the parameters already were in place, at least. 

Still, the casinos had to handle closures for half of March as well as all of April, May and June. 

It turned out to be fortunate that the Legislature in Trenton, unlike most in the United States, allows casinos to offer both online casino gaming (since 2013) and mobile sports betting (since 2018). 

So, in the second quarter of 2020, the casinos were able to salvage $276.1 million in revenues — mainly from online casino play, since major pro sports were sideline for most of that period. 

That pales, of course, in comparison to the $826 million those casinos collected in the second quarter of 2019. But commercial casinos in states such as neighboring New York received nothing at all in that span, because they don’t allow for supplementary online gaming resources. 

The casinos’ mobile sports betting partners improvised immediately beginning in mid-March, gaining some success in attracting sports-hungry bettors to try wagers on Ukrainian and Russian table tennis as well as soccer and ice hockey in Belarus. 

Table tennis — a rich man’s “ping pong” — proved appealing because of the fast-paced nature of the game and the growing popularity of “in-game betting” that allowed for dozens to hundreds of wagers in the course of a single match. 

But Atlantic City casinos continue to look to brick-and-mortar, in-person gambling as their financial bread and butter — and that action didn’t resume until July 4 weekend. 

“I was anxious to get reopened,” said Glebocki, whose “interim CEO” status was removed only two months before her casino had to close. “But it was helpful to see how casinos in other states were handling the crisis. 

“And when we reopened, we did it cautiously,” added Glebocki, who said that Ocean’s doors actually reopened a few hours ahead of the official announcement in an effort to avoid potentially dangerous lines. Other casinos did the same. 

One of those unexpected “goalposts” was the state’s requirement for so much plexiglass. Glebocki said that her casino had focused on face masks, shields and protective equipment — with plexiglass at first being in short supply. 

“We learned how to be flexible,” Glebocki said of those hectic days surrounding reopening. 

“We were surprised by the results. Once we got through July, we realized that this was working,” Glebocki said. “Our goal every week since then has been to find one or two new things to add for our guests.” 

July and August, meanwhile, brought the casinos $649.6 million in revenues — virtually identical to the $656.3 million in August/September 2019. The 2020 figures include just over $175 million from online casino gaming. 

Those figures are even more impressive considering that when the casinos did reopen — all but Borgata, which waited three additional weeks, welcomed patrons on July 4 weekend — there was no indoor dining until September. That capacity similarly was capped at just 25% capacity thereafter. 

That induced casinos to become more creative all summer, with outdoor beer gardens and entertainment that still had to adhere to mask-wearing and social distancing guidelines. 

Over at Resorts — the first Atlantic City casino, dating back to 1978 — CEO Mark Giannantonio said that the site’s Italian restaurant, Capriccio, added a veranda and eight heaters along with a clear, vinyl awning. 

The purpose was to extend the “outdoor” dining season while still providing ocean views. 

“That wasn’t something we had previously planned, but it has worked out well,” he said. 

Hard Rock CEO Jim Allen said on his casino’s reopening day that he benefited from seeing how earlier reopenings at Hard Rocks elsewhere in the country turned out.  

For instance, he said that many of the biggest spenders were continuing to stay in luxury suites, which meant that the fine dining and high-end cocktail amenities simply could be accommodated that way. 

Glebocki and her colleagues did walkthroughs of the entire Ocean property with a goal that no matter where a guest stood, a hand sanitizer station was within the range of vision. 

Allen’s Hard Rock property announced a “Safe + Sound” program that features more than 100 employees involved in daily cleaning as well as more than 200 sanitizing stations and 750 signs informing casino visitors of how to act during “the new normal.” 

Hard Rock also is one of a number of casinos that require employees to complete a health questionnaire before beginning each work day. 

Giannantonio, whose casino has completed $160 million in upgrades in his eight years as CEO, said that safety protocols at Resorts also became one of the highest priorities of reopening.

Resorts spent more than $1 million, he said, on upgrades such as “bipolar ionization” technology that was installed into the casino’s HVAC systems to deactivate bacteria and allergens, and in particular, expelled breath droplets that could transmit COVID-19. 

Giannantonio said he was challenged by Resorts owner Morris Bailey to implement “the best protocols in the country.” And in this pandemic, the safety efforts have become a key part of Resorts’ marketing as a way to ease the minds of wary regulars.

And while a resumption to as close to “normal” as possible has been a goal, Giannantonio also said that his casino has added a popular new electronic roulette game and scheduled three-hour “slots tournaments” on Friday nights, among its new wrinkles. 

Ocean Casino, Glebocki said, has several advantages that helped the property be the only one in Atlantic City in September to report an increase in on-site casino revenues — up 27% compared to September 2019. 

An independent property, there are no distant higher-ups dictating policy that might not completely mesh with the unique challenges that Atlantic City casino properties face. 

Another is somewhat ironic for Glebocki, who worked for the ill-fated Revel predecessor on the same site as Ocean during its brief existence from 2012 to 2014. 

One of the criticisms then was the sheer size of the property. But now, extra space for social distancing and the highest ceilings in the city are proving to be a comfort to pandemic-averse visitors. 

Hotel room bookings were robust over the summer, Glebocki said, while both Glebocki and Ziereis said that the clientele over the summer was not quite business as usual. 

“We had a different mix. There were core customers who might usually have a comped room, and they didn’t flock back because some of the typical amenities weren’t being offered,” Ziereis said. “We had more cash rooms than before.” 

Glebocki said that many of the summer’s hotel patrons were not necessarily gamblers at all. With air travel severely limited, some visitors who live in the region opted instead for Ocean’s wall-to-ceiling windows with iconic views of the Atlantic Ocean as somewhat of a “staycation.” 

Leading casino executives, having survived a tumultuous summer and fall, had hoped for a relaxation of some state restrictions to make the winter manageable as well. 

Among those were an increase in dining capacity, perhaps to 50%, as well as resumption of scaled-down conventions and meetings. 

Such adjustments not only would bring in more revenue, but also more jobs. Resorts alone has “400 to 500” employees out of work, a scenario Giannantonio describes as “heartbreaking.” 

But a rise in COVID-positive cases across the state led the governor in November to place further restrictions on businesses. Among them were the closing of indoor restaurants in casinos from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. — although the casino floors can remain open for gambling.

Meanwhile, it’s only natural for casino leaders already to start thinking about a better 2021. 

“By next summer, hopefully there already is a vaccine, and we’ll all feel a lot better than we did before,” Giannantonio said. 

“But this town has always been about evolution. And as crazy as this has all been, our casinos have proven once again that we are adaptable.” 

This article originally appeared in the Winter 2020 issue of Jersey’s Best. Subscribe here for in-depth access to everything that makes the Garden State great.