A 25-year-old New Jersey man has been sentenced to eight years in prison for trying to rob a gambler playing a slot machine Bally’s in Atlantic City, officials said. Shawn P. Applewhite will have to serve almost seven years before he eligible for parole, the state Office of the Attorney General said Wednesday. Applewhite walked up behind a man seated at a slot machine at about 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 23, 2020, held a box cutter to his throat and demanded money and jewelry, prosecutors said. Applewhite fled when his intended target fought back and a bystander intervened but Bally’s security stopped h…