In Maryland, which has embarked on its own massive gambling expansion, casino revenue tripled in the latest fiscal year. Pennsylvania, which first allowed casino gambling in 2006, surpassed New Jersey last year as the second-largest US gambling market (after Nevada), with players choosing convenience (a single casino close to home) over critical mass (there are a dozen casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey's only gambling locale). Now there are 55 – with more casinos coming in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. In 2006, when gambling in Atlantic City reached record levels, there were 27 commercial and tribal casinos, slots parlours and racetrack casinos in the mid-Atlantic and north-east, according to the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's Centre for Policy Analysis. Now states from Maryland to Maine are lining up to join the high-stakes game for tax revenue and middle-class jobs. Once the city that inspired the board game Monopoly had its own gambling monopoly in the eastern US. Atlantic City, the US's erstwhile east coast gambling mecca, is on an epic losing streak over the past six years, competitive and economic forces have crushed the local casino economy, driving revenue down more than 40%. But Revel Casino Resort's slogan resonates loudly throughout this struggling seaside resort. The billboard hard by the Atlantic City Expressway is supposed to speak for a single casino, not an entire town.
