It was supposed to be the savior. People in New Jersey still talk about the morning in April 2012 when the Revel Hotel Atlantic City NJ finally opened its doors, shimmering like a giant blue curved mirror at the north end of the Boardwalk. It cost $2.4 billion. Read that again. Two. Billion. Dollars.
For a city that was already feeling the squeeze from Pennsylvania casinos, Revel was the "all-in" bet on a luxury future. It didn't have a buffet. It didn't allow smoking. It didn't even have a bus lobby for the day-trippers who keep the rest of the city alive. Honestly, it was beautiful, but it was also a disaster waiting to happen.
The Vision That Ignored Reality
If you ever stepped inside Revel during those first few months, you felt the disconnect immediately. Most Atlantic City spots are loud, cramped, and smell like a mix of stale cigarettes and hope. Revel was different. It was airy. The ceilings were massive. You had to take an escalator that felt like it was ascending to heaven just to get to the casino floor.
Kevin DeSanctis, the man behind the vision, wanted a "lifestyle resort." He wasn't just looking for gamblers; he wanted the South Beach crowd. He wanted people who would spend $400 on a tasting menu at Jose Garces’ Amada or dance all night at HQ Nightclub.
But here’s the thing about Atlantic City: it’s a drive-in market.
While Revel was busy being "too cool" for the average gambler, those gamblers were just taking their money to the Borgata or staying home in Philly. The "no smoking" rule alone was a death sentence in a town where the core demographic loves a puff while they play the slots. They eventually rolled that rule back, but by then, the vibe was already tainted.
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A Financial House of Cards
The money part is where it gets truly messy. You can't spend $2.4 billion and then make $20 million a month in gaming revenue. The math just doesn't work. By the time Revel opened, it was already carrying a mountain of debt. Morgan Stanley, the original backer, had walked away years earlier, eating a $1.2 billion loss just to get out of the deal. That should have been a warning sign.
Instead, the state of New Jersey stepped in with tax incentives. Everyone wanted this to work. It had to work.
It didn't.
Two Bankruptcies in Two Years
Revel Hotel Atlantic City NJ holds a record no one wants: it filed for Chapter 11 twice in its first two years of existence. It was basically a zombie casino.
The first bankruptcy in 2013 was an attempt to shed debt. It didn't fix the underlying problem: nobody was coming. The second one in 2014 was the end of the road. On September 2, 2014, just over two years after its grand opening, the lights went out. Thousands of people lost their jobs. The north end of the Boardwalk became a ghost town.
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Enter Glenn Straub and the Power Struggle
What happened next was a bizarre, multi-year legal soap opera. A Florida developer named Glenn Straub bought the place for $82 million in 2015. Think about that discount. He paid pennies on the dollar for a brand-new skyscraper.
But then came the fights. Fights with the utility company (ACR Energy). Fights with the city over taxes. Fights with the state over gaming licenses. For years, the building just sat there, dark and empty, a literal monument to hubris. Straub had wild ideas—like housing Syrian refugees there or turning it into a university for geniuses—but none of it happened.
The Ocean Casino Resort Era
If you go there today, you won't see the name Revel anywhere. It’s now Ocean Casino Resort.
In 2018, Bruce Deifik bought the property from Straub and finally reopened the doors. He fixed the most obvious mistakes. He added a smoking section. He built a high-energy sportsbook. He made it feel like a casino again instead of a sterile art gallery.
Sadly, Deifik passed away in a car accident in 2019, but the momentum he started stayed alive. Today, under the ownership of the Ilitch family (the Little Caesars empire) and Luxor Capital, the property is actually thriving. It’s the ultimate irony. The building that was a $2.4 billion failure is now one of the most successful casinos in the city, frequently ranking second in revenue only to the Borgata.
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Why It Finally Works Now
The success of Ocean proves that the building itself wasn't the problem—the strategy was.
- The Sportsbook: They leaned into the New Jersey sports betting boom early.
- The Rewards Program: They actually started catering to local "grinders" instead of just looking for high rollers from New York.
- The Vibe: It’s still luxury, but it’s approachable. You can get a slice of pizza now. You don't have to wear a blazer to feel comfortable.
Lessons for the Future of Atlantic City
The story of Revel Hotel Atlantic City NJ is a cautionary tale about "over-leveraging." You can't build a business based on who you wish your customers were; you have to build it for the people who actually show up.
It also highlights the incredible resilience of the Atlantic City market. Any other city would have demolished that building. Here, it just waited for the right management to catch up to its potential.
If you’re planning a trip or looking at the AC market, keep these insights in mind:
- Look past the gloss. A fancy building means nothing if the math behind the debt isn't sustainable.
- Location matters. The "North End" was a desert when Revel opened. Now, with Ocean and Hard Rock (the old Taj Mahal) side-by-side, that part of the Boardwalk is the place to be.
- Adaptability is king. The reason Ocean is winning where Revel lost is simple: they listened to what the people wanted (smoking, sports betting, and better rewards).
To truly understand the Atlantic City landscape, your next step should be to look into the NJ Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) monthly reports. These documents aren't just for nerds; they show exactly which properties are growing and which are struggling in real-time. If you’re interested in the business side, compare the "Total Gaming Revenue" of Ocean today against the old Revel numbers from 2013. The delta between those two numbers tells the whole story of the most expensive mistake in New Jersey history.