Atlantic City casinos "won" $383 million last month, 12.7 percent less than in July 2008.

"It's the same sad song Atlantic City's been singing all year," Joe Weinert, an industry analyst with the New Jersey-based Spectrum Gaming Group, said Monday. "The sustained double-digit declines might indicate they've reached bottom. ... At some point, it will rebound."

The 11 casinos won $266.8 million at slot machines and another $116.2 million at table games, declines of 12.4 and 13.4 percent, respectively, according to figures released by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission. The 12.7 percent decline in total gaming revenues was the lowest monthly dip since January's 9.4 percent.

Analysts have long attributed the downturn in Atlantic City's fortunes to increasing competition from slots parlors in Pennsylvania and New York and, over the last year or so, to the economy. July's figures suggest little has changed.

For the first seven months of the year, the casinos' win totaled $2.3 billion, down 14.9 percent from the first seven months of 2008. Revenue from slot machines was down 15.3 percent and revenue from table games was down 14 percent.

Amid the downturn, several of the casinos sought bankruptcy protection and new ownership. Trump Entertainment, which owns three casinos that bear Donald Trump's name, has approved an offer by Trump and Dallas-based Beal Bank to buy it out of bankruptcy for $100 million. The deal is subject to court approval. In June, a bankruptcy court judge approved the sale of the Tropicana Casino and Resort to a group of investors headed by billionaire Carl Icahn, who once owned the Sands Casino Hotel in Atlantic City.

"They're astute businessmen who are very good at buying attractive assets at a very low price," Weinert said of Trump and Icahn.

One of the Trump properties, the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, reported an 8.7 percent increase in July gaming revenues. No other casino reported an increase and only three reported single-digit declines - Resorts Atlantic City (7.5 percent), the Tropicana (9.1) and The Borgata (9.7).

b.hallenbeck@theday.com