A ticket costs $30 and each rider receives a $5 food coupon and a $30 chit to spend on slot machines or table games in the Trump Plaza casino.
Still, Royston says business began slowing dramatically five months ago and has gotten worse. Now there are many days when the casinos are so empty it feels as if the employees outnumber the gamblers.
"You have the machine of your choice," says Millie Vogel of Cockeysville, a slots player who rides the bus once a month with her husband, John Vogel, and their friend, Vince Sica of Towson.
"We came one time and you could have fired a cannon [in the casino] and not hit anyone," says Sica. "You looked down the rows of slots and saw maybe one person."
As the bus reaches the outskirts of Atlantic City, Mr. Rodney's voice booms over the intercom again.
"Y'all ready to win some money?" he asks. "... Don't give it all to Mr. Donald Trump!"
But three of the casinos run by Trump Entertainment are in bankruptcy proceedings after a court filing in mid-February.
And as the bus pulls up to Trump Plaza shortly before noon, only one other bus is discharging gamblers.
"There used to be a lot more," says Miksinski, gazing at the empty parking spaces.
Clutching their chits and How to Win at Slots guides, the passengers from the Hunt Valley bus file into Trump Plaza. Some will head later to other casinos up and down the boardwalk: the Trump Taj Mahal, Caesars, the Tropicana.
When they report back to the bus at 5:45 for the trip home, some think the casinos seem busier than they've been in a while.
"I noticed more people at the [horse racing] simulcast area at Caesars," says Sica, who says he won $40 on the day. "The last two or three times, it was mostly empty."
This is music to Ed Royston's ears. With the arrival of spring, Royston remains optimistic that better days are ahead - for him and Atlantic City.
"We can see that 30 days out from now, the bookings get better with the weather improving," he said. "In December, January and February, it's the die-hard gamblers who go up. When the weather gets better, [people] can walk the boardwalk, go shopping and do other things."
