Losing Streak: Power Company Cuts Service to AC Casino over $534K Unpaid Utility Bill

Just as Betty Jean and Hattie had settled into position in front of their favorite One-armed Bandits last Friday, a wave of heat (according to Betty) or cold (in Hattie’s view) swept through the Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, N.J.  Was it the onset of spring?  Was it the spirit of Lady Luck, hand in hand with a Leprechaun riding a unicorn, making her way across the casino floor and into the bingo parlor?  Or was it a group of those darned, ill-mannered youths who had once again held the great casino’s front doors open for too long? Whippersnappers!  Betty Jean and Hattie didn’t know, but for the moment the slots buzzed and chimed and their Preferred Players’ Cards worked just fine.

Neither holdin' nor foldin'...just sittin'

Unbeknownst to most of the gamblers inside Resorts Atlantic City, the casino’s current and former owners were in a battle over an unpaid utility bill.  A $534,771 bill, according to a recent story, that finally got to be too much for utility provider Marina Energy.  From 3 to 5pm on March 18, Marina sent a message to the bickering groups: it cut power to the casino’s cooling and heating systems just as the buffet line was starting to snake its way past the wall of Keno screens.

Power was restored after an emergency court order ended the shutdown.  The current and former owners will meet in court on April 1 to try to sort out the “But My Roommate Said She Was Going To Give Me Her Share Before She Left For South Padre Island With That Dude” mess.

Gamblers, outside of Betty Jean and Hattie’s brief flirtation with the uncanny, were not affected by the brief outage.