“You’re never going to have another Revel,” said Steven Perskie, who was a 31-year-old state assemblyman when he wrote the New Jersey Casino Control Act, which led to the 1978 opening of Resorts, the first casino in Atlantic City. Less than 27 months later, Revel’s own lawyer would describe the casino as “ a melting ice cube” as it was scheduled to be put on the auction block for $50,000. EST on Monday, April 2, 2012, the skies outside were dark and cloudy - an ominous sign of the tough times awaiting the $2.4bn facility touted as a savior for Atlantic City’s struggling brick-and-mortar casino industry. With a giant white sphere nicknamed “Pearl” on its roof, the Atlantic City casino that opened as Revel and is now known as Ocean Casino Resort will celebrate its tenth anniversary on Saturday (April 2) after being saved by the success of internet gambling in New Jersey.
