Atlantic City will be easing out of summer soon and although the fall season is usually a good one for this oceanside resort town, this year...well, this year and every year for almost a decade has seen Atlantic City's casinos hammered the way those great nor'easter storms hammer the shore from fall through early summer.

The economic hammering has been so bloody that casinos, such as ACH, Trump Plaza, Claridge, Showboat and Revel, have shuttered their doors. They are now the skeletons of the seashore.

The good news is that in the summer of 2015 no casinos have closed up shop. You still have Tropicana, Caesars, Bally's, Resorts and Taj Mahal on the Boardwalk, along with Borgata, Golden Nugget and Harrah's in the Marina district.

If the state of New Jersey remains stagnant in terms of casino expansion and development, then these eight Atlantic City casinos have a decent shot of hanging around through to next summer. However, if the New Jersey legislature allows other New Jersey communities to build casinos then --- as they say --- all bets are off. In fact, if new casino venues come to the Garden State then Atlantic City might become "weed world" by the water.

And such a movement (for good or ill) has already begun. The talk now is that three casinos might be built near the Meadowlands. This would undoubtedly drain a vast number of players from Atlantic City. You'd have everything there; a racetrack, football games, mega concerts by megastars with New Jerseyans, New Yorkers and a host of other states' men and women lining up for fun in and out of the Trinity of casinos.

The streets will be paved of gold --- or so the thinking goes. And the future of Atlantic City? Ugh!

Such a situation would probably see Taj Mahal and Caesars fold their tents fairly fast. It is conceivable that Harrah's would crumble fairly fast too.

Small hints are out there that Caesars is in trouble. Subtle headlines in the press bear this out: "Caesars Doomed!", "Goodbye Nero!", "Bankrupt Brass Bailing on Caesars!", "Caesars Going Bust!"

Reading between the lines of such headlines shows us that Caesars may even collapse without help from a Meadowlands Trinity. A big rumor has it that Tropicana, which is holding its own during these tough times, might just buy the Roman Empire if the price is right. Rumor has gone so far as to suggest that Tropicana might try to grab Harrah's as well.

Non-casino hotels in oceanfront communities might also want to get into the casino business. All of this rides on the movers and shakers of New Jersey.

Frank,

The summer in AC was fun. The beachfront and on-the-beach bars had decent action. It did not seem as if the town was going out of business wholesale. Yes, the empty buildings were somewhat depressing but after a while you kind of don't look at them. Selective blindness I guess you'd call it.

Dennis

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Dear Frank:

Atlantic City blackjack is mediocre but midweek some casinos such as Tropicana and Resorts, tend to have decent penetration of about 75 percent. These are marginally playable eight-deck games for a card counter. Just about every game, except maybe in the high-roller rooms which I don't play in, hit on soft 17. If you are a blackjack player this is about the best you can expect.

Alfred

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Hi Frank:

Tropicana has decent games if by decent you figure eight-decks with hitting on soft 17. But some of the afternoon dealers go to about 80 percent penetration but at night you get some real stiffs only going about 66 percent into the decks. By the way, I play a lot but I have not seen a single card counter except for me at the tables. I seriously don't think there are many card counters playing the Atlantic City games.

David Jr.

We thank many of our readers for helping us to stay as updated as possible. There may be some disagreements in ratings among our correspondents but all these reports are based on individuals' experiences. A word to the wise: it's always best to check out the casinos for yourselves.

The best games in terms of penetration and number of decks are invariably found in the high roller rooms.

Players can double on any first two cards; they can split two or three times (make sure you ask about this or read the signs on the table); aces can only be split once and each ace receives one card (the standard rule all across the country). You can usually play up to three hands but most of the casinos will let you play all the spots if you make arrangements beforehand - obviously the casino is looking for high roller action in such a case. Check out the new wording on many of the layouts - amazingly wordy and almost totally BS as opposed to BJ.