Best Casinos in New Jersey: All 9 Atlantic City Casinos, Ranked

Every legal online casino in New Jersey runs under the license of one of the nine Atlantic City casinos on this page. The Division of Gaming Enforcement publishes the approved list, and any site that isn’t on it isn’t approved in the state. Online play now earns about as much as the casino floors, with $259.3 million in August 2026 against $294.9 million for the nine casino hotels, and over the year to date online is ahead, $2.13 billion to $2.01 billion. Our New Jersey online casino guide ranks the full field, and our US online casino guide covers the other states where it’s legal.

These are the top three from that ranking, and all three are on the DGE’s list. You need to be 21 to play, and because welcome offers change every few weeks, check the current one on the operator’s own site rather than trusting a number from a list like this.

BetMGM

BetMGM started as a 50/50 joint venture between MGM and GVC Holdings, now Entain, announced in July 2018. In New Jersey it runs under Borgata’s license, so the company behind the app is the same one running the busiest casino in Atlantic City.

That’s why I’d start here. If Borgata is where you’re headed for the weekend, it makes sense to keep your online play with the same company, and the DGE lists BetMGM’s casino and Poker sites together under the Borgata name.

Borgata Online

Borgata Online is the casino’s own site, and the DGE lists its casino and Poker products first among the brands that run under the Borgata license. It’s the most direct link on this list between a real casino floor in Atlantic City and an app on your phone.

It’s the one I’d pick if you already play at Borgata’s 62-table Poker room, because the brand, the building and the company are all the same, and nothing about the name is borrowed from somewhere else.

DraftKings

DraftKings runs its New Jersey casino under the Resorts Casino Hotel license. The Boston company launched its first legal online sportsbook in New Jersey in August 2018 and bought Golden Nugget Online Gaming in May 2022, which is why the Golden Nugget app and the Golden Nugget hotel in the Marina are now separate businesses.

I’d go with DraftKings if you already use it for sports, because the casino is in the same account, and Resorts on the Boardwalk has a DraftKings Sportsbook of its own for when you’re in town.

Here’s how the best casinos in New Jersey compare. Slots, Table Games, Poker and floor space are the DGE’s August 2026 figures, hotel rooms are the operators’ own, and the year is when the current casino first opened.

How I Picked the Order

Nine casinos means there’s no cut to make, so the job is putting them in the right order. To rank the best casinos in New Jersey, I weighed the gaming floor first, using the regulator’s counts, then what there is to do away from the tables, and then how each place has been run lately, including the money going into rooms in 2025 and 2026. Revenue helped as a tiebreak, because it tells you where people actually choose to spend their nights. No casino paid to be on this page.

The regulator’s Table Games count includes the other house-banked games on the floor, and Poker is counted separately. If you’re new to any of them, our Table Games guide covers the basics before you sit down.

• 2,520 slot machines: Borgata’s count in August 2026, the most of any casino in New Jersey.
• 150,189 square feet: Harrah’s authorized casino floor, the biggest in the state.
• Three Poker rooms: Borgata with 62 tables, Harrah’s with 28 and Tropicana with 14. Nobody else deals live Poker.
• $556.7 million: Borgata’s gross revenue from January to August 2026, more than Caesars, Harrah’s and Tropicana combined.
• $2.13 billion: online casino win through August 2026, ahead of the $2.01 billion won on the nine casino floors.
• 42,958 parking spaces: the total across all nine casinos at the end of 2025.
• 83 percent: the least any slot machine in the state is tested to pay back.

Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa is the best casino in New Jersey, and the numbers make the case on their own. It has the most slot machines in the state, 2,520 in the DGE’s August 2026 report, plus 157 Table Games and 62 Poker tables, and its gross revenue from January to August 2026 was $556.7 million, far ahead of anyone else.

It opened on July 2, 2003 at 1 Borgata Way in the Marina District, as a joint venture between MGM Mirage and Boyd Gaming, and MGM bought Boyd’s half in 2016. MGM Resorts runs it today, VICI Properties owns the real estate, and the loyalty card is MGM Rewards. The sportsbook is the BetMGM Sportsbook & Bar, and smoking is limited to designated areas, with no cigars within 15 feet of the gaming tables.

Rooms, Food and Shows

The Borgata Tower and the MGM Tower, which used to be The Water Club, hold 2,727 rooms and suites between them. A $107 million renovation of the Borgata Tower started on September 13, 2026, with rooms coming back floor by floor from October 2026, so it’s worth asking which floor you’re on when you book. The MGM Tower has no gaming.

Dinner is half the reason to come. B-Prime Steakhouse, Angeline by Michael Symon, the Old Homestead Steak House and American Bar & Grille are the fine dining picks, shows play the Event Center and The Music Box, and Spa Toccare has 31 treatment rooms. You have to be 21 to book a room. If I had one night in Atlantic City and wanted the full production, a steak, a show and the busiest floor in town, this is where I’d spend it.

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City is the comeback story of the Boardwalk. It opened on June 27, 2018 in the former Trump Taj Mahal, which first opened on April 2, 1990 and closed on October 10, 2016, after Hard Rock International and the Morris and Jingoli families spent about $500 million converting it.

It’s second only to Borgata on Slots, with 2,296 slot machines and 128 Table Games, and its gross revenue through August 2026, $376.4 million, is second in the city too. There is no live Poker room. The Hard Rock Sportsbook is at the north end of the casino, and the loyalty program is Unity by Hard Rock, which works across more than 200 locations worldwide.

Rooms, Food and Shows

The resort covers 17 acres at 1000 Boardwalk with 2,000 rooms, and the North Tower renovation finished with more than 700 standard rooms, more than 60 suites and eight penthouses. Hard Rock is putting $50 million into 2026 upgrades, and Sitar and Federal Donuts & Chicken both opened this year.

Council Oak Steaks & Seafood, Il Mulino New York and Kuro are the sit-down picks among more than 20 places to eat, and the big names play Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena. The resort fee is $30 a night, and the hotel won’t honor a booking for anyone under 21. It is the one I’d pick for a concert weekend, because the arena is inside the building and the Boardwalk is right out the front door.

Ocean Casino Resort is the tallest building in Atlantic City, a 710-foot tower at the northern end of the Boardwalk, and in 2026 it changed hands. On August 3, 2026 the Ilitch Companies, which had owned half since 2021, took full control after buying out Luxor Capital Group, and the DGE approved the deal.

The building opened as Revel on April 2, 2012 and closed on September 2, 2014, then reopened as Ocean Resort Casino on June 27, 2018 and took its current name in April 2019. The floor has 1,757 slot machines and 145 Table Games, more tables than anywhere except Borgata, across 132,752 square feet. There’s no Poker room, and the sportsbook is Fanatics Sportsbook in The Gallery.

Rooms, Food and Shows

All 1,860 rooms were renovated by 2025, and Ovation Hall seats 4,500 for concerts. Amada, Chez Frites, Linguini By The Sea and Ocean Steak cover dinner, Exhale Spa + Bathhouse runs to 40,000 square feet, and the loyalty card is Ocean Rewards.

It also has what Ocean calls the largest Topgolf Swing Suite in America, and the only dress code on site is at HQ2 Nightclub, not on the casino floor. I’d pick Ocean for a couples’ weekend, with a sea-view room, the spa and a good dinner, and a few hands of Blackjack whenever the mood takes you.

Caesars Atlantic City is where the Boardwalk’s glamour years still show. It opened on June 26, 1979 as the Boardwalk Regency, the city’s second casino, took the Caesars Atlantic City name in 1987, and stands at 2100 Pacific Avenue in the middle of the Boardwalk.

The DGE counts 1,722 slot machines and 102 Table Games on 114,759 square feet, and there is no Poker room anymore. Caesars Entertainment runs it on a lease from VICI Properties, the loyalty card is Caesars Rewards, and the Caesars Sportsbook is on site. It was the only casino in the city to grow both revenue and profit in the first quarter of 2026.

Rooms, Food and Shows

The hotel has 1,140 rooms, and the food is the draw, with Gordon Ramsay Hell’s Kitchen, Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill and Nobu Atlantic City under one roof. The Circus Maximus Theater seats over 1,500, and The Hook opened in 2023 in the restored Warner Theatre.

The Pool at Caesars is adults only, and Qua Baths & Spa is 21 and over. Caesars says plainly that it has no kid-friendly amenities and points families to the Tropicana. I’d book it for a grown-up food weekend, dinner at Hell’s Kitchen and a show at Circus Maximus, rather than for the floor itself.

Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City has the biggest casino floor in New Jersey, 150,189 authorized square feet in the DGE’s August 2026 report. It was also the first casino in the Marina District when it opened in 1980.

The floor carries 1,766 slot machines, 96 Table Games and 28 Poker tables, the second-biggest Poker room in town. Caesars Entertainment runs it, VICI Properties bought the real estate for $599 million in 2020, and it uses Caesars Rewards like its two sister casinos. The Caesars Sportsbook has a lounge here too.

Rooms, Food and Shows

There are 2,580 rooms, and the 525-foot Waterfront Tower is the second-tallest building in Atlantic City. The Pool at Harrah’s is 21 and over and turns into The Pool After Dark, a nightclub with DJs, and there’s a separate indoor pool for families.

Gordon Ramsay Steak leads more than 13 restaurants, and The Concert Venue handles the shows. The Poker room keeps hours, from 11 a.m. to 6 a.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays, then straight through from Friday at 11 a.m. to Monday at 6 a.m. I’d pick Harrah’s if you want a proper Poker game and a pool on the same trip, and our Poker guide covers the games you’ll find there.

Tropicana Atlantic City is the family pick on the Boardwalk. It has more than 25 restaurants, more than 25 shops in The Quarter and the only IMAX theater in southern New Jersey, all at 2831 Boardwalk.

It opened in 1981, and Caesars Entertainment runs it on a lease from Gaming and Leisure Properties, which bought the real estate in 2018. The DGE counts 1,599 slot machines, 80 Table Games and 14 Poker tables on 120,329 square feet, and the Poker room runs 24 hours on weekends.

Rooms, Food and Shows

There are 2,360 rooms, and the Solana Tower, the rebuilt former west wing, opened in February 2026 with 598 rooms and suites. Carmine’s, il Verdi, Chelsea Five Gastropub and Ossu Japanese Tavern make my dinner shortlist, and the Tropicana Showroom seats about 2,000.

The Caesars Sportsbook lounge has 180 seats, and the Jade Palace deals Asian Table Games. It is not the flashiest floor in town, but with a family indoor pool, an arcade, an escape room and IMAX, it’s the first place I’d send anyone traveling with kids.

Resorts Casino Hotel is where it all started. It opened on May 26, 1978 in the old Chalfonte-Haddon Hall at 1133 Boardwalk as the first casino in Atlantic City, and it calls itself the first American casino outside Nevada.

It is a smaller floor, with 1,219 slot machines and 62 Table Games on 76,662 square feet and no Poker room. Morris Bailey owns it through DGMB Casino, LLC, and Mohegan, whose management deal ended at the end of 2024, keeps a 10% stake. The sportsbook is a DraftKings Sportsbook, the same company whose online casino runs on the Resorts license.

Rooms, Food and Shows

There are 942 rooms across two towers, the Ocean Tower from 1927 and the Rendezvous Tower from 2004. Capriccio, Dougherty’s Steakhouse, EastWind and Mukashi Sushi & Raw Bar are the sit-down restaurants, and the Superstar Theater holds up to 1,300.

Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville and the LandShark Bar and Grill, the largest beach bar in Atlantic City, face the sand, and the loyalty card is the Star Card. I like Resorts for the history and the beach bar more than the gaming, and on a summer afternoon that isn’t a bad trade.

Golden Nugget Atlantic City is the quiet one in the Marina, a bayside hotel on the Frank S. Farley Marina with free self-parking every day, which counts for a lot in this town.

It opened in 1985 as Trump’s Castle, became Trump Marina in 1997, and Landry’s took over on May 23, 2011 and renamed it. Tilman Fertitta’s Fertitta Entertainment owns it, and it’s the smallest floor in the state, with 927 slot machines and 62 Table Games on 66,679 square feet and no Poker room. DraftKings bought the online brand in 2022, but the casino itself stayed with Fertitta.

Rooms, Food and Shows

There are 716 rooms, a seasonal rooftop pool and a spa. Chart House, Dos Caminos, Vic & Anthony’s Steakhouse and Bill’s Bar & Burger lead the restaurants, the sportsbook reopened on January 29, 2025 after a revamp, and the loyalty card is the 24K Select Club.

In April 2026 it added a Lightning Link Lounge and 17 new Slots. I’d stay here for a relaxed weekend by the water, then take the jitney over to Borgata and Harrah’s when I want a bigger floor.

Bally’s Atlantic City is right in the middle of the Boardwalk at 1900 Pacific Avenue. It opened in December 1979 as Bally’s Park Place, took its current name in 2000, and Twin River, now Bally’s Corporation, bought it in November 2020.

The DGE counts 1,042 slot machines and 78 Table Games on 82,461 square feet, with no Poker room, and its gross revenue through August 2026, $89.6 million, ties with Golden Nugget for the lowest in the city. The sportsbook is Bally Bet Sportsbook, and the loyalty card is Bally Rewards.

Rooms, Food and Shows

There are more than 1,100 rooms, with the Bally Tower’s penthouse suites on floors 45 to 48. Park Place Prime is the steakhouse, Jerry Longo’s Meatballs & Martinis and Macau Kitchen are the other sit-down options, and headline shows play the Grand Ballroom.

The thing I’d go out of my way for is Phil’s Carousel Bar, a 24-seat rotating bar that’s open 24 hours and was the first of its kind in New Jersey. The resort fee is $28 a night. It ranks last here because the floor and the numbers are the smallest on the Boardwalk, not because it’s a bad night out.

The best casinos in New Jersey split into two groups, six on the Boardwalk facing the ocean and three in the Marina District on the bay. Which side you stay on shapes the whole trip.

The Boardwalk Six

From north to south, Ocean at 500 Boardwalk, Hard Rock at 1000 Boardwalk and Resorts at 1133 Boardwalk come first, then Bally’s and Caesars in the middle at 1900 and 2100 Pacific Avenue, and the Tropicana at 2831 Boardwalk. I walk between most of them, and the Boardwalk ties the whole row together.

The Marina Three

Borgata, Harrah’s and Golden Nugget are grouped together by the bay, a short ride from the Boardwalk. The jitney has served the city since 1915, its Blue route 2 links all three Marina casinos, three routes run at all hours, and a one-way ride costs $3.00. If you’re staying in the Marina, that’s the easy way to hop to the Boardwalk and back.

Getting to Atlantic City

Atlantic City International Airport is in Egg Harbor Township and is served by American Airlines, Allegiant and Breeze Airways. From Philadelphia, NJ Transit’s Atlantic City Line has 12 departures a day in each direction, and the jitneys meet the trains at the station. If you drive, the nine casinos have 42,958 parking spaces between them, with Golden Nugget’s self-parking free every day.

Is There a Casino in New Jersey Outside Atlantic City?

No. The 1976 vote allowed casinos in Atlantic City only, and when a 2016 ballot question asked to add casinos in two more counties, voters said no by 77% to 23% on November 8, 2016. For Slots and Table Games you’re driving to the shore, or playing online under one of these nine licenses.

Borgata is the biggest casino in New Jersey on most measures. It has the most slot machines at 2,520, the most Table Games at 157, the most Poker tables at 62 and by far the most revenue. Harrah’s has the largest authorized casino floor, though, at 150,189 square feet against Borgata’s 137,185, so the honest answer depends on what you count.

Behind those two, Hard Rock has the next most Slots with 2,296 and Ocean the next most tables with 145. Golden Nugget is the smallest on every count, with 927 slot machines on 66,679 square feet. If you want to know why the house wins on all of them, read how casinos make money.

The Numbers You’ll See Elsewhere

A lot of the figures floating around online are badly out of date. Borgata still gets described with about 4,000 slot machines, 180 Table Games and 50 Poker tables on a 161,000 square foot floor, when the DGE’s August 2026 report counts 2,520 Slots, 157 Table Games and 62 Poker tables on 137,185 authorized square feet. Harrah’s is credited with 5,500-plus slot machines when the report shows 1,766, and Caesars with over 3,000 against 1,722.

You’ll also see Poker rooms listed at Ocean, Resorts, Golden Nugget, Caesars and Bally’s. None of them reports a single Poker table, and only Borgata, Harrah’s and Tropicana deal the game live.

The same rules apply at all the best casinos in New Jersey. State law bars anyone under the legal drinking age, which is 21, from entering or betting on a casino floor, and the fine for trying is $500 to $1,000. You can walk through a casino to reach another room, but you can’t stop and play. Several hotels set the same age for rooms, with Borgata, Hard Rock, Bally’s and Golden Nugget all requiring guests to be 21.

Are Atlantic City Casinos Open 24 Hours?

The Casino Control Act lets every casino operate 24 hours a day, but the Poker rooms keep their own hours, so check Harrah’s and Tropicana before you plan a late session. Carry a photo ID, because you can be asked to prove you’re 21. Ocean says there’s no formal dress code on its casino floor, and the only one on the whole property is at HQ2 Nightclub. I’d still dress for dinner rather than the beach if you’ve booked one of the steakhouses.

Can You Smoke in Atlantic City Casinos?

Casinos are the big exception to New Jersey’s Smoke-Free Air Act, which lets them set aside 25% of the gaming floor for smoking with no barrier required. Workers pressed Governor Mikie Sherrill in 2026 to end that, and she wants the Legislature to settle it, so it could change. For now, Borgata bans cigars within 15 feet of the gaming tables, Hard Rock bans them at tables and bars, and Resorts fines guests $500 for smoking in a non-smoking room.

Loyalty Cards and Resort Fees

Each group runs its own card. MGM Rewards covers Borgata, Caesars Rewards covers Caesars, Harrah’s and Tropicana, and the rest are Unity by Hard Rock, Ocean Rewards, the Star Card at Resorts, the 24K Select Club at Golden Nugget and Bally Rewards. Budget for resort fees too, which run $30 a night at Hard Rock and $28 at Bally’s.

The Division of Gaming Enforcement polices New Jersey’s casinos, and its monthly revenue reports are where every count on this page comes from. It was set up in 1977 under the Casino Control Act, which Governor Brendan Byrne signed on June 2, 1977, and it investigates every license applicant and reports to the Casino Control Commission, which grants or denies the license at a public hearing. DGE investigators watch the floors on site around the clock. Our US gambling laws guide covers how that compares with other states.

How Atlantic City Got Its Casinos

New Jersey voters turned casinos down in 1974, by 60%, when the plan was statewide. Two years later they approved them for Atlantic City only, by 56%, as a tool to rebuild the city, and Resorts opened in 1978. That Atlantic City-only rule is why every casino in the state is in the one town today.

Who Owns What in 2026

MGM Resorts runs Borgata, and Caesars Entertainment runs Caesars, Harrah’s and Tropicana on land owned by VICI Properties and Gaming and Leisure Properties. That could change. Fertitta Entertainment, which already owns Golden Nugget, agreed to buy Caesars in a deal worth about $17.6 billion, and Caesars shareholders approved it on September 22, 2026, but regulators still have to sign off. Until they do, Caesars Entertainment keeps its three, and if the deal closes Fertitta would control four of the nine.

Elsewhere, the Ilitch Companies took full control of Ocean on August 3, 2026, Hard Rock is run by a partnership of Hard Rock International and the Morris and Jingoli families, Bally’s Corporation owns Bally’s, and Morris Bailey owns Resorts.

How Fair Are the Games?

The DGE’s Technical Services Bureau tests and approves every electronic game before it can go on an Atlantic City floor, and every slot machine has to pay back at least 83 percent. That’s the legal minimum RTP rate, not a promise of what you’ll get back on any one night. Our guide to how Slots work explains the difference.

New Jersey’s gambling helpline is 1-800-GAMBLER, or 1-800-426-2537, run by the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey, and you can call or text it 24/7 for free, confidential help. The national line is 1-800-MY-RESET, and it takes calls, texts and chats around the clock.

The state’s self-exclusion program lets you ban yourself from the Atlantic City casinos, the racetrack sportsbooks and every online casino and sportsbook, for one year, five years or life. The DGE’s self-exclusion hotline is 1-833-788-4DGE, and the Council works with the DGE to run it. Online, once your lifetime deposits pass $2,500 you have to acknowledge it before you can bet again.

The simplest tool still works best. Decide what you’re willing to lose before you walk in, take that much in cash and leave the cards in the room safe. Our Responsible Gambling guide covers the rest.