In a 1976 referendum, the Casino Control Act (CCA) passed by the slim margin of 1.5 million votes to 1.14 million votes, and would allow casinos to operate in Atlantic City only. By the 1960s, however, the city faced an economic downturn, one which they hoped to solve by formally legalizing casino gambling in the state.
In the first few decades of the 1900s, Atlantic City made a name for itself as the Playground of the World by brazenly flouting alcohol and gambling prohibition laws.