Irene may have cost Atlantic City casinos millions in lost gaming revenues

Atlantic City’s 11 casino hotels escaped major physical damage from Hurricane Irene over the weekend.

The biggest hit was on the balance sheet.

One boardwalk gaming executive believes the “lost weekend” may have cost Atlantic City’s beleaguered casino industry between $40 million and $45 million in gaming revenues.

Tropicana CEO Tony Rodio told the Press of Atlantic City the hurricane cost his resort about $4 million.

All casinos are expected to reopen today after the shutdown, which began late Friday. Caesars Entertainment operates four Atlantic City resorts — Showboat, Caesars, Harrah’s and Bally’s — while Boyd Gaming Corp. is the 50 percent owner and operator of Borgata.

According to the Associated Press, there was some flooding from the storm, winds did minimal damage at the shore and the casino buildings were unscathed.

The weekend shutdown was only the third time in the 33 years since the first casinos opened that all were closed at the same time.