[ATLANTIC CITY] Inside the towering oval atrium of the Revel Casino Hotel, visitors are greeted with a plain printed sign at the base of a four-storey escalator, noting simply that the building will "cease operations" at 5am on Sept 2.

The impending shutdown of Atlantic City's newest casino, after little more than two years in business, will be another blow to what used to be the unchallenged gaming mecca of the East Coast. Not even the popularity of "Boardwalk Empire", the historical drama series on HBO, could stem the decline of the big-casino tourist attractions along the shoreline.

Revel's closing adds to a growing pile of empty gambling, hotel and resort space that the city will be left with when two other casinos close, as scheduled, by the end of September.