Wild Wild West cuts casino table game hours

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Wild Wild West cuts casino table game hours

By DONALD WITTKOWSKI Staff Writer, 609-272-7258

Published: Thursday, November 13, 2008

ATLANTIC CITY - Sorry, pardner. You'll have to mosey along. Them thar gaming tables are closed.

In another sign of Atlantic City's prolonged casino slump, the Wild Wild West Casino is closing its gaming tables in the wee hours of the morning in a cost-cutting move by parent company Harrah's Entertainment Inc.

Harrah's spokeswoman Alyce Parker said the Wild Wild West has been shutting down tables at 4 a.m. on some weekdays, depending on business volume. They reopen at 11 a.m.

The Old West-themed gaming hall and its fake frontier town storefronts are part of the Bally's Atlantic City complex. In addition to Bally's, Harrah's Entertainment owns Harrah's Resort, Caesars Atlantic City and the Showboat Casino Hotel.

Parker said no other Harrah's Entertainment properties have been shutting down their table games.

Limiting table games hours at the Wild Wild West is the latest cost-cutting move by Harrah's Entertainment amid the worst slump in Atlantic City's 30-year history of casino gambling. The Harrah's casinos have laid off hundreds of employees in recent weeks in response to declining business.

Revenue at the city's 11 casinos fell 9.9 percent in October and is down 6.6 percent for the year. The sluggish economy, competition from Pennsylvania's slot parlors and Atlantic City's casino smoking ban are blamed for the decline.