"The positive win results are an encouraging sign of economic recovery for Atlantic City casinos," said Acting Director David Rebuck. "This is an exciting time for Atlantic City as we see more visitors enjoying the casinos and the wide-array of attractions."

Acting Director Rebuck also said, "This has been the highest monthly percentage increase since December 2006. With the regulatory reforms in place and the upcoming opening of the Revel Casino, we are hopeful that this positive trend will continue and reinvigorate the excitement that is part of Atlantic City and its casino venues."

Casinos paid $17 million in taxes on their gross revenues in December. That money, 8 percent of taxable gross revenue, goes into the Casino Revenue Fund, which pays for programs that benefit qualifying senior citizens and people with disabilities. In addition, the casino industry incurred $3.1 million in reinvestment obligations based on their gross revenues for the month. Casinos are required to reinvest 1.25 percent of gross revenues in projects approved by the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority.

For the year, casinos won $3.3 billion which is down 6.9 percent from 2010. Win from slot machines was down 5.4 percent and win from table games was down 10.4 percent from the prior year.

Win reflects the net amount of money won by casinos. It is not profit.