The playing business misplaced a pioneer with the dying of Steve Norton at age 89 on Nov. 12. He is remembered as the primary to run a on line casino outdoors the state of Nevada, opening the Resorts Casino Hotel within the New Jersey gaming mecca of Atlantic City in 1978.
A large within the business, Norton spent greater than 5 many years in gaming and on line casino administration. He additionally worked in expanding gaming to different elements of the nation and helped discovered the Casino Association of New Jersey and the American Gaming Association.
“Steve was an early and influential gaming executive in Atlantic City and at Resorts,” Resorts President Mark Giannantonio instructed the Associated Press. “He was an important leader in the Atlantic City market dating back to the 1970s. He was always a pleasure to speak with over the years, and a true gentleman in our business.”
Adding Casinos In Atlantic City
When the Resorts debuted on May 26, 1978, Norton oversaw a large turnout as gamblers on the East Coast hoped to make the most of a brand new on line casino choice not simply regionally, however as the primary full on line casino choice outdoors of Las Vegas and Reno. More casinos would open up in Atlantic City within the coming years, however that first day noticed a mad rush of individuals simply hoping to get inside.
“It was incredible, it was a madhouse,” Norton instructed the AP final yr. “There were so many cigarettes stubbed out on the floor that before long you couldn’t tell what color the carpet was.”
A Leader In The Casino Industry
Prior to his work at Resorts, Norton labored at motels within the Bahamas earlier than shifting on to gaming with the Sands Corp. and different firms within the business. In the Nineties he additionally labored as a advisor to broaden riverboat playing all through the south and different areas.
Norton’s work additionally reached outdoors the U.S. in Singapore, South Korea, Kazakhstan, Andorra, and extra to assist set up casinos. Throughout these efforts, drawback gaming was all the time a spotlight as properly, in accordance with his son Rob, who now serves as president of Cordish Gaming.
“He recognized early that the industry’s biggest threat to growth was the issue of problem gaming,” he stated, “so he led the charge in changing the way the industry addresses the critical issue and helped create the first programs that embraced education, recognition, and treatment of the disease.”
Rob Norton stated that his father died after struggling an accident at his residence in Oceanport, California. He leaves behind six youngsters. This is the second main dying within the business lately after Don Laughlin handed away in October.
