The supervisor drew his finger in a slashing motion moments after the final hand of blackjack had been dealt at Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino.
And with that, gambling was done.
The 30-year-old casino at the heart of the Boardwalk shut its doors at 6 a.m. Tuesday, becoming the fourth Atlantic City casino to close this year. Beset by crushing debt, fleeing customers and run-down facilities, Trump Plaza had been the town's worst-performing casino for years. This year, it has won about the same amount from gamblers that the Borgata takes in every two weeks. And at pennies on the dollar, no one wanted to buy it.
Trump Plaza thus became the latest victim of casino contraction brought on by competition in neighboring states in the saturated northeastern U.S. gambling market.
Atlantic City began the year with 12 casinos; it now has eight. The Atlantic Club, Showboat and Revel also closed, and the Taj Mahal could be next on Nov. 13.
Yomari Blanco, a housekeeper at Trump Plaza for 18 years, plans to file for unemployment this week, and may go back to school.
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