Physical Skill Based Games Brings More Customers to Atlantic City Casinos

The brick & mortar casino industry in Atlantic City faced a significant decline in revenue as the number of customers dropped in 2014 and so did their spending. Market analysts had earlier predicted that 2015 will also be a slow year for casinos in Atlantic City. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement decided in October 2014 to allow casinos to conduct skill-based or social games to increase their customer base.

Casinos decided to take up the challenge, change their marketing strategy and try out new promotions in an effort to attract more customers. The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa decided to promote a completely different type of game at their Signature Room and marketed the event aggressively.

The casino decided to have a physical skill-based game that would be based on the game of basketball and consist of free throws. Participants were allowed to shoot a maximum of 15 balls during a 60 second period. Two of those balls were multi-colored and had a value of 2 points attached. Each foul shot was worth one point. The entry fee was priced at $20 per individual.

The casino expected around 750 people to turn up for their “Free Throw Shooting Challenge” and New Jersey residents did not disappoint. More than 1000 individuals showed up for the first ever skill-based game at a casino and caused a lot of excitement at the casino. In the end only 64 individuals were shortlisted for the final round.

Al Callejas, the son of a basketball coach won the event and took home $10,220 and Wayne Nelson, the basketball coach at Cedar Creek High School came in second and won $6,132.

Both Callejas and Nelson were thrilled with their win and were happy that their skills were able to bring them thousands of dollars. In a statement, Callejas said

I’m a coach’s son. That’s the bottom line. I’ve had a ball in my hand since I was 3 years old. I never win (in the casino). This is the perfect setting for me

Joe Lupo, senior vice president of operations at the Borgata was extremely happy with the response and the success of the event. He confirmed that the Borgata would 100% continue to conduct skill-based events but did not reveal what the next event would be based on. While the casino never made a lot of money from the event, it brought in new faces that ate and drank at the casino. The Borgata believes that in time these new faces would venture and try their hand at traditional casino games.