Several Boardwalk casinos went dark early Sunday morning after a power outage hit Atlantic City, the Press of Atlantic City reports.
According to information provided by Atlantic City Electric, the widespread electrical outage was caused by lightning that struck a power line just before 1 am on Sunday.
Around 9,400 customers of Atlantic City’s casinos were reported to have been affected by the loss of power. Some guests of the city were left stranded in elevators, while casino players were left staring at dark slot machines.
Commenting on the Sunday morning incident, Atlantic City Fire Department Chief Scott Evans said that their resources were spread thin as the department was responding to various calls. Four casino properties – Bally’s, the Borgata, Ocean Casino Resort, and Resorts Casino Hotel – turned to the department for elevator extractions.
One person was reported trapped in an elevator at Harrah’s, but on-site facilities staff were able to safely and promptly remove the stranded individual.
The New Jersey State Police, which oversees Atlantic City’s casino floors, said Sunday that it did not receive any calls for emergency service during the widespread power outage in the popular gambling hub.
It is understood that Ocean Casino Resort was directly hit by a lightning strike just before 1:30 am on Sunday. Mr. Evans said that three Fire Department crews responded to the hotel and casino resort to address the issues caused by the electrical outage.
A spokesperson for Atlantic City Electric said that restoration of electricity supply to the affected casinos averaged four and a half hours.
Slot Machine Players Unlikely to Have Lost Money
Atlantic City casino patrons took to social media to share their experiences during the power outage. One player, who was playing poker at Ocean Casino when the property went dark, said that it was “really cool” playing with overhead lights only, but “sort of creepy walking thru a dark casino.”
Another player wrote on Facebook that the experience “wasn’t bad, just different” and that people seemed to have made the most of it.
While the power outage interrupted slot machine players’ play, they are not likely to have sustained any financial losses resulting from the incident. Slot machines at gambling venues are equipped with battery operated uninterruptible power supplies that quickly restore electricity in cases of power outage.
In addition, the gaming machines themselves as well as loyalty program cards record all play on each individual machine up to the moment power is lost for one reason or another. One patron played at Golden Nugget when her slot machine went out due to the power outage. She said that a casino attendant wrote her a credit slip, which she was able to cash before leaving the gaming floor.
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