Steve Perskie, Former State Senator and Chairman, New Jersey Casino Control Commission, Atlantic Count.
Atlantic City was a mess int he 1960s. Visitors were avoiding the town because of run-down hotels, the growth of air travel, and increasing crime. Steve Perskie was an assemblyman in the New Jersey state legislature and was joined by a group of city businessmen seeking a solution.
In the Early 1970s, the idea of legalizing casino gambling was floated. It made the ballot in 1974 but failed because it would have legalized gaming all over New Jersey, not just Atlantic City. Two years later a second referendum that limited gaming to Atlantic City passed. Perskie played a large role in that effort and was tasked with writing the Casino Control Act.
With nothing but Nevada regulations to go by, Perskie and his team created a document that is today the template for most gaming regulations around the country and the work, and Atlantic City remains to this day the largest producer of U.S. gaming revenue outside of Nevada.
Perskie went on to become state senator, chairman of the state’s Casino Control Commission, and later a judge and is a member of the AGA Gaming Hall of Fame. He spoke with GGB Editor at Large, Roger Grose, from his home in Margate, NJ in August.
