It Came From the ECLVA: A Mostly Atlantic City Blog

Atlantic City Casinos on Twitter

2011-05-08T14:44:00.005-04:00

We've started exploring Twitter and found a few promos to folks who follow the local casinos. These aren't always unique to Twitter, as you can find some of the same deals if you subscribe to casino e-mail or follow the companies on Facebook, but as more people use Twitter to connect this may be a useful place to look.

Atlantic City Hilton - not updated as often as other casinos, but sometimes mentions upcoming promotions or events
Bally's - sporadic updates about the casino and parent company + even less frequent updates on the Wild West Casino page
Borgata - also separate feeds for their Events and Poker Room
Caesars -even less frequently updated than the Bally's page
Harrah's - nightlife fans should also see the Pool After Dark page
Golden Nugget - Not much on this site yet, but look for more when the casino is officially re-branded (the Golden Nugget Las Vegas Twitter feed is active)
Resorts - Part of the new look and feel of Resorts has been an increased presence on social media
Showboat - like Bally's, offers sporadic updates + see also House of Blues
Tropicana - one of the first Atlantic City casinos to promote itself on Twitter, frequent updates
Trump Plaza - combined feed for both trump Atlantic City properties
Trump Taj Mahal - combined feed for both trump Atlantic City properties

We'll also include the Philadelphia casinos:

Harrah's Chester - seems to be updated sporadically, like most of the CET Atlantic City properties
Parx - they run enough promos that some interesting things might pop up here from time to tme
Sugarhouse - this one's interesting, because there are no tweets yet and they're not letting anyone follow them without being approved

Atlantic City Newsfeed

2009-11-08T22:39:00.006-05:00

Assorted news items related to Atlantic City.

Revel Seeks Improvements to Surrounding Area
Revel Entertainment Group, led by outspoken CEO Kevin DeSanctis, is pushing for a portion of its tax payments to fund improvements to the area around Absecon Inlet. The funds would, among other things, go toward repairs to the Boardwalk, improvements to the park surrounding Absecon Lighthouse, renovations to Garden Pier, and a variety of other projects that would improve the appearance of the area surrounding the future Revel casino. Approval would be required from the Atlantic City school board and Atlantic County, both of whom would have to forfeit a percentage of the revenue they would otherwise have received from the Revel casino

Local government officials realize that Revel is the only bright spot that the city can point do from a development perspective and Revel seems very much aware of the power they have right now. One could easily wonder why these proposed renovations have not taken place already, particularly if you have walked along the Boardwalk past the Showboat in recent years, but it appears Revel is taking advantage of how much the city needs them to push for the much-needed upgrades to their new neighborhood.
Revel wants $150 million in tax revenue to finance Atlantic City improvements

Casino Job Cuts Continue
With the summer season long gone, job cuts in the winter in Atlantic City are not unusual, though this article from the Press of Atlantic City notes that there are more than 3,000 fewer casino workers than the same time last year
Casinos cut 525 jobs as business slows down

Atlantic City Looks to Teacher's Convention for Boost
This year's NJEA teacher's convention was expected to bring a rare increase in visitors to and Atlantic City event and local merchants were eager for a boost during the normally quiet fall weekdays.
Teachers convention provides boost to local economy

Ohio Approves Casinos
Last week, Ohio voters approved casino gambling in their state, adding yet another competitor for Atlantic City in the gambling market. The impact of this will likely be less than competition in New York and Pennsylvania, however, as a much smaller percentage of customers come to Atlantic City from Ohio. It is difficult to find an exact number of visitors from Ohio, but if you look at the number of visitors who travel to Atlantic City by air compared with those who drive or arrive by bus (see Annual Visit-Trips to Atlantic City), then you get a rough idea how this may be the least of the town's worries right now.

Ohio Casino vote passes on strength near would-be casinos; a look at the vote
Ohio casino vote comes as supporters tout economic benefits; critics leery of job promises
Atlantic City's next threat could come from Ohio

Atlantic City Newsfeed

2009-11-03T20:59:00.000-05:00

Assorted news items related to Atlantic City.

CASINOS
United States Poker Championship Returns to Television
The Spike Network will televise this year's United States Poker Championship, which began this past Monday at the Trump Taj Mahal.
Poker championship at Taj Mahal returns to TV

New Jersey Permitted to Join Sports Betting Lawsuit
In a move that could pave the way for New Jersey to join with other states to challenge a 1992 federal law prohibiting sports-betting in all but four states, a federal judge ruled that New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine will be permitted to file a formal complaint. He will be required to do so before November 12, 2009.
Governor's Office can take part in sports betting lawsuit
N.J. CAN JOIN SPORTS BETTING LAWSUIT

Harrah's Fined $85,000 for Allowing Underage Gambling
Harrah's was fined for two separate underage gambling incidents. The violations occurred in 2006 and 2008 at Bally's and Caesars. Of note in the Press of Atlantic City and NBC 40 articles is that neither identifies the parent company, Harrah's Entertainment, Inc.
Two casinos fined $85,000 for underage gambling violations
2 A.C. CASINOS FINED FOR ALLOWING UNDERAGE GAMBLING

TRANSPORTATION
Atlantic City Has Cheapest Airfares
A recently released Bureau of Transportation statistics report recognized Atlantic City International Airport as having the cheapest average domestic fares in the nation. The same report identified Las Vegas as having the fifth largest increase in average fares over the past 14 years, with a 65.3% increase in the cost of a ticket to that Nevada gambling destination (though, it should also be noted that the $233 average cost for a flight to Las Vegas is still below the national average of $301 per flight).

Read the full press release here:
2nd-Quarter 2009 Air Fare Data

Atlantic City Expressway Widening Begins

Last Friday, October 30 the South Jersey Transportation Authority broke ground to begin a $23.3 million construction project to add a third westbound lane from mile 7.8 (just past the Garden State Parkway exits while leaving town) to mile 17.4 (near the tolls). The project is not scheduled to be completed until 2011.
South Jersey Transportation Authority Breaks Ground on Phase I of the Atlantic City Expressway Widening Project
SJTA BREAKS GROUND ON PHASE I OF EXPRESSWAY WIDENING PROJECT from NBC40.net

Other News
World War I Monument and Knife and Fork Not Moving
The Press of Atlantic City reports that the proposed moving of the venerable Knife and Fork restaurant and the World War I Monument have been canceled, as the AC Gateway casino project seems to be dead.
Atlantic City's Knife & Fork staying put
The AC Gateway Project : Wally Barr and Curtis Bashaws Plans For The Dunes, Sahara Atlantic City and Old Atlantic City High School (read this for background information on the AC Gateway project)

Another Request to Lower Sand Dunes
NBC 40 reported on a meeting between the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and business owners from Atlantic City to reduce the height of the sand dunes. Members of the "Boardwalk Committee" would like visitors to be able to see the ocean more clearly from the Boardwalk, but the DEP is not in favor of these measure. I find this request dubious, as it seems local businesses are forgetting the reality of life on a barrier island and just how important the dunes will be when the next big storm rolls in.

D.E.P. LISTENS TO DUNE LOWERING REQUEST IN A.C. (recent article)
Boardwalk Committee wants to shorten dunes blocking ocean (from Press of Atlantic City, 6/10/2009)

Dune Issue Still Alive (from Pinky's Corner in Atlantic City Weekly, 10/14/2009)

Gap Outlet Reopens
Outlet store to reopen in Atlantic City as Gap Generation

World Poker Tour Boot Camp Comes to Atlantic City

2009-10-29T00:49:00.001-04:00

If you have an extra $2,000 to burn and want to improve your poker skills with feedback from some pros, then there are still a few spots left to register for the World Poker Tour (WPT) Boot Camp event at the Trump Taj Mahal over the weekend of November 14, 2009. Gavin Smith, Nick Brancato, Rick Fuller, and Nick Binger are listed as instructors

Have a look at the WPT Boot Camp web site for details.

Atlantic City Weekly Picks the Phillies!

2009-10-29T00:42:00.000-04:00

I'm a little slow in posting this, but noticed at least one writer from the Atlantic City Weekly picked the Phillies to defeat the Yankees in the World Series. Since visitors to Atlantic City are somewhat evenly divided between New Yorkers and Philadelphians, this seems like as good a measure as any to determine a legitimate favorite between these two strong teams.

Our unofficial prediction is that no team is going to beat the Phillies four times in a series. Since ESPN only shows Yankees and Red Sox games during the regular season, a lot of people outside of the Delaware Valley have no idea just how talented, resilient, and mentally tough this team is. They don't have as many big names as the Yankees, but a lot more people will know who they are this team next week.

Phillies go for historic World Series win vs. the Bronx Bombers

Harrah's Announces 3rd Quarter Losses, While Borgata Revenue Falls, Profit Rises

2009-10-27T22:39:00.000-04:00

Two articles from the Press of Atlantic City business section today outline falling revenues for both Harrah's and Borgata, though Borgata was able to increase profits.

Borgata net revenue declines in third quarter
Harrah's Atlantic City net revenue slips to $558 million in 3rd quarter

Resorts Offers $9 Midweek Rooms

2009-10-26T22:02:00.000-04:00

This requires a little upfront cash and some risk, but if you're coming to Atlantic City to gamble anyway and haven't established yourself at any casino, then here's a good way to get a nearly free midweek room. Resorts Atlantic City is offering what it calls a "Winners" package for $109 per night. This requires double occupancy and you'll need a partner to take full advantage of the deal.

Here's what you'll get:

$25 free slot play for both people in the room ($50 total)
$25 match play for both people in the room (another $50 total)
A Rendezvous Tower room (you'll want this over the older Ocean Tower)
late (2pm) checkout

The actual value of the free slot play is around $49.60 if you play it on 8/5 Bonus Poker (or $49.77 if you can get on the one 9/6 Jacks or Better machine in the casino) and the match plays will also be worth a little less than $50 in expected value. Add on taxes for the room and you'll actually pay a little under $20 for your room, but that's still a good deal if you get in the Rendezvous Tower.

While the offer doesn't specify when it is valid, I was only able to book this midweek, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try some weekend dates. If you get one, then let us know. Take a look at the Resorts web site for details: http://www.resortsac.com/offers/index.shtml

Atlantic City Newsfeed

2009-10-25T23:17:00.001-04:00

Assorted news items related to Atlantic City.

Supermarket Likely to Return to Atlantic City
A couple recent articles talked about the likely return of a supermarket to Atlantic City, on the same site where a previous IGA and Thriftway. No word yet on how long it would take for the new A&P to be ready to open once a deal is finalized.
SUPERMARKET ON THE WAY TO ATLANTIC CITY
Atlantic City closer to getting supermarket

ACES Friday Trains to Feature Variety of Drinks
A press release from last Friday describes cocktails and beers offered on upcoming Friday trains to Atlantic City from New York City.
Atlantic City Express Service (ACES) Announces 'Pour Tour' This Fall

Resorts Opens New Spa
Not sure what to make of this, but I give Resorts credit for still trying, despite a dwindling customer base. They've announced the opening of a spa in their hotel and casino
Spa opens in Resorts Casino Hotel

Antiques Show to Return
Different from the Atlantique City show that ran for years, a new organizing is bringing the Atlantic City Antiques and Collectors Show to the Convention Center March 27-28, 2010.
Atlantic City to have antiques show again

Atlantic City Newsfeed

2009-10-22T21:10:00.001-04:00

Assorted news items related to Atlantic City.

The Walk Announces Expansion Plans
Developers talks about plans for the fourth phase on construction on The Walk, to include entertainment venues to go along with the existing shops and restaurants. See these article from the Press of Atlantic City:
The Walk to expand: 'Atlantic City has reinvented itself a couple of times, and it’s going to do it again'
CRDA agrees to build bathrooms, allowing expansion of the Walk

A Year Later, Atlantic City Smoking Ban Revisited
A little over a year after the brief smoking ban in Atlantic City was enacted and immediately repealed there has been some talk of whether City Council will again consider completely banning smoking from casino floors. This doesn't like likely to change, given casinos falling revenues and concerns over a further loss of business from smoking patrons. A recent article in the Press of Atlantic City and editorial from the Newark Star-Ledger are examples of the recent coverage.
Atlantic City to debate casino smoking ban again
Pass the Atlantic City casino smoking ban

Head of Pinnacle Atlantic City Project Transferred
Kim Townsend, who was to head the Pinnacle Atlantic City casino, on the former Sands site, is headed to St. Louis to run the company's Lumiere Place casino and hotel. This article from the Press of Atlantic City says she will still "oversee the Atlantic City project". At this point, there's nothing to see, so I guess we'll just have to play somewhere else for a little longer.
Pinnacle's Atlantic City CEO transfers to St. Louis casino

Will Pinnacle Lot Be Used for Parking?
Here's the latest speculation about the Pinnacle site, as there is now speculation the vacant lot might become a temporary parking lot. I find it odd, however, that the Harrah's representative talks about the need for more parking in town when that company has been closing the Temple Garage at Caesars on weekdays for months. I haven't had trouble finding a parking space anywhere in town any time in years.
Some Atlantic City officials eye Pinnacle lot as potential parking site

AirTran Expands Schedule From Atlantic City to Orlando
Over the summer AirTran started service to and from Orlando, Florida with weekend flights. They will now off daily flights between those cities.
AirTran announces daily flights from Atlantic City to Florida

In other airport news, Pinky's column in this week's Atlantic City Weekly mentions an actual international flight from Atlantic City International Airport. WestJet will begin service to and from Toronto
Planes, Trains and Floods

Resorts' Coin Droppers Likely Gone for Good
Resorts attempt to bring back coin-dropping slot machines was short lived, apparently because Resorts couldn't put together enough cash to fill the machines. Specifically, they Eisenhower silver dollars that they used to fill the machines were in short supply and a lot of players kept their dollars rather than cashing them in at the casino. Why Resorts didn't use dollar tokens instead is beyond me.
Coin-operated slot machines vanish again in Atlantic City

Resorts Takeover Delayed
Speaking of Resorts, the Casino Control Commission has delayed a vote to approve the takeover of that casino by creditors.
Vote delayed on Resorts' takeover by lenders

Governor Opposed to VLTs at Racetracks

2009-10-19T01:49:00.001-04:00

Governor Corzine announced his opposition to Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs), which are similar to slot machines, at New Jersey race tracks. See this Atlantic City Press article for more.

Atlantic City Attractions

2009-10-19T00:47:00.003-04:00

I can't offer firsthand advice about all of these places, but they are frequently mentioned when people talk about what to see and do in Atlantic City and its environs.

Transportation
Atlantic City Jitneys
Atlantic City Rolling Chairs
Atlantic City Expressway
Atlantic City International Airport (ACY)
Philadelphia International Airport (PHL)
New Jersey Transit Rail and Bus Service from Philadelphia
ACES Rail from New York City
Academy Bus Service
Greyhound Bus Service

Entertainment Venues
Boardwalk Hall
House of Blues

Clubs
The Pool After Dark at Harrah's
mur.mur at Borgata
Mixx at Borgata
The Quarter at Tropicana
Dusk at Caesars

Beach Bars (Only Open in Warmer Months)
AC Hilton
Trump Plaza
Bally's

Shopping
Atlantic City Outlets (The Walk)
The Pier at Caesars
The Quarter at Tropicana
Waterfront Shop at Harrah's

For Kids
Steel Pier
Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum
Atlantic City Aquarium
Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine
Atlantic City Cruises
Lucy the Elephant in Margate
Storybook Land in Egg Harbor Township (beware of loud music when this page loads)

Theme Restaurants
Hard Rock Cafe
House of Blues
Rainforest Cafe

Other Dining
White House Sub Shop
Tony's Baltimore Grill

Sports
Atlantic City Miniature Golf
Flyers Skate Zone
Central Pier Go Karts

History
Atlantic City Historical Museum
New Jersey Korean War Memorial
Civil Rights Garden
Absecon Lighthouse
Historic Gardner's Basin
Historic Smithville
Dr. Jonathan Pitney House
Noyes Museum of Art in Oceanville
Some casinos include historic Atlantic City Hotels, including the Dennis and Claridge Towers at Bally's and the at Ocean Tower at Resorts

Souvenirs
Fralinger's Salt Water Taffy
James' Salt Water Taffy

Vineyards
Renault Winery
Balic Winery
Dimatteo Vineyards
Bellview Winery

I lost a bunch of money, but swiped a fork

2009-09-15T23:41:00.000-04:00

Originally Published April 24, 2005 in the Trip Reports section of the Las Vegas Advisor message boards.

Let me be the first to report back from East Coast Spring Member Fest 2005. I just returned from Atlantic City where I met with the largest group of Las Vegas Advisor members ever to gather in east of the Mississippi river. For the record, we were just north of Mississippi Avenue. However, a subset of today’s group will be heading to that street, which never achieved the fame of its Monopoly board brethren, tomorrow when the LVA takes over White House Subs.

Today, we conquered the Borgata Buffet, where I spent three hours conversing with old friends and meeting some new ones. That was the highlight of the trip, as the gambling side of my foray into America’s Playground was not successful at all. I am in the midst of what stockbrokers would call a “correction.” I call it ….. well, it wouldn’t be appropriate to repeat what I call it, but let’s just say I have been on a prolonged losing streak. It has been more than a year since I have had a profitable trip to Atlantic City or Las Vegas and today was no exception.

There is hope for the future, though, since I have now stocked up on Lucky Glitter. You see, while I left a good deal of money behind today, I did leave Atlantic City with some of noahcat’s nectar of good fortune. I applied some today and it provided a brief boost in my play, but quickly succumbed to the greater power of my gambling slump. However, my new diet will consist of a dab of glitter with breakfast each morning, and (as I suggested during the meet) I will begin brushing my teeth with the glittery goo. So, if any of you see me during the next few months then don’t bother telling me that there is something stuck between my teeth. That is part of my plan.

I made this plan sometime after I realized my previous plan, just handing bushels of money to Boyd Gaming and MGM-Mirage, was a miserable failure. I started today playing $1 9/6 JoB, playing for a short time on my initial $100 buy-in. While playing, noahcat spied my LVA t-shirt, greeted me warmly, and went off in search of Cindy and Flip. She said Márcio had arrived safely, though without much rest during his travels. I will let him provide the details, but between the nightmares of the child sitting next to him on the plane and the jam-packed bus ride from New York it was a wonder he could stay awake during our meet.

Unfortunately for me, there was still time before the meet and I decided to try $2 9/6 JoB. You know everything that people say about not chasing your losses and trying for that big score. They’re right. Well, usually, though I can point you to a couple $5 9/6 JoB machines that have bailed me out of worse trips, but I will concede that playing above one’s bankroll is a bad idea. As usually happens with bad ideas, bad fortune followed and I quickly pissed away another couple hundred dollars.

That was enough to drive me to wander the casino looking for other LVA members. I found no one lingering outside the buffet, but did find Flip, actually, I think he found me first. Oddly enough, his pockets were not laden with huge wads of cash from Royal Flushes, so I expect he is saving that for tonight, but he was friendly as ever and was kind enough not to remind me of the success of the New England based sports franchises during this past season.

After depositing another $20 in various nickel slot machines, but watching noahcat build $20 into $100, we headed for the buffet to meet everyone. I had the pleasure of sitting with nevadaned, rcwkent, Márcio, and KennyA. The rest of the crowd at my table was fortunate enough to be out of range of my voice, so they did not have the pleasure of my witty banter. Others went so far as to sit at another table, as the Borgata buffet isn’t really equipped to offer a table for 15-20 people. We were visited by lvtravel, who had arrived at the buffet early, and pillacho, who was occupied somewhere in the casino when the rest of us were ready to eat. Come to think of it, I don’t think Cindy actually ate ANYTHING while she was with us during the meet.

The meal was pleasant, but does not compare with the quality of the company, as our east coast LVA members again proved to be “good people.” I have yet to meet a single member during one of these meets who has been anything but great company, while offering their own unique insights into the world of gambling, Las Vegas, and other casino destinations. Today was no exception. The only disappointment was that with such a large group I had little chance to talk with some of the members, including Nancy + Dennis (nancyd), David (brooklyndavid), and Kenny + Lynn (Ken8631), and I’m not even sure if Bill (ascites) or jenaphir made it to the meet. That’s just how big these meets are getting. If you missed this one then you blew it. We better see you next time we get this group together.

After three hours of brunch/dinner/conversation, Dick (rcwkent) and I were the last from our group to leave the buffet. Allowing time for the main courses to digest allowed us to make one last run at the deserts. Following that, we proceeded to video poker, where we passed by nevadaned playing his usual $0.50 9/6 JoB machines near the B-Bar. Dick had tried his luck at some $1 9/6 JoB just outside the entrance to the high-limit area earlier in the day, so we each took a shot at those again. I managed to lose only $100 here, thanks to the unusual combination of four of the same cards. I had not seen this particular hand in so long that I was beginning to doubt if anything above a full-house was even possible, however 4 Jacks came to my rescue. Unfortunately, my powers as a good luck charm did not help Dick, as it appears I can only pass luck onto those seated to my left. A man sitting next to me proved this by hitting 3 four-of-a-kinds (and 2 full houses) in less than 20 minutes. His only mistake was not playing double bonus, but how was he to know that he was dealing with forces much more powerful than any mathematician can explain.

I said goodbye to Dick and Ned, then searched in vain for Flip, noahcat, Cindy, or any remnants of our once mighty army of LVAers, but they were nowhere to be found, so I departed the Borgata and started my casino-parking garage exercise program to work off some of what I ingested earlier in the day. Whenever possible, I use the stairs to get to my car in a casino parking garage. I don’t particularly like elevators anyway, and I think I actually get to my car faster this way, but it is also a nice break from my normally sedentary lifestyle. Especially, at my first stop, the Trump Marina, where the path from the bottom of the parking garage stairs to the casino takes you through the bowels of the garage itself, emerging in the casino lobby, and then up another two-storey flight of stairs, before you finally reach the jungle of slot machines that contribute to the lavish lifestyle of The Donald.

The trip to Trump Marina was purely for business, specifically, to close out old business. A couple years ago, B.B. (Before Borgata), the Marina was my Atlantic City home. It occasionally offered a good crowd to play blackjack with and always boasted the second best video poker inventory (behind only Caesars) in town. Today, in these A.B. days, I find little reason to play at the Marina, except for their periodic “free slot days.” However, I had been holding onto one $100 chip from this casino and I feared that someday they might change their chips without me realizing and I would have been left with nothing more than a pretty picture of The Donald’s girlfriend. Now, it was a pretty picture, mind you, and it also had a cool effect that it actually looked like she was dancing when you tilted the chip back and forth, but it was getting kind of depressing to think that The Bob had as much chance of spending the night with this young lady as The Pope did (at least without putting his Papacy in serious jeopardy). Besides, it probably would have been a little creepy to keep this little $100 memento of someone else’s girlfriend lying around. Of course, most importantly, I just wanted the $100.

I took the $100 and ran, heading for some other old haunting grounds on the Boardwalk. When I first started gambling regularly, after reading Frugal Gambler and Comp City, and after joining the LVA, I had identified Caesars as offering the best slot club and best video poker in Atlantic City. This was pretty easy to identify at the time, since John Robison had done the research to prove this, so I made it a point to visit Caesars every time I was in town. I didn’t really plan to play today, but wanted to scope the place out in case I decide to re-establish myself with The Empire. I also wanted to pick up a Connection Club card, to replace my Emperors Club, MVP Club, and VIP Club cards from the Caesars Atlantic City casinos. I also visited Bally’s and left my $100 from the Marina with an old friend. That old friend being what may be the world oldest active video poker machine, a $1 9/6 JoB upright in the middle of the video poker room at the Wild Best. Before Bally’s installed the bank of 9/6 JoB progressives and before it absorbed the Claridge, this was its only $1 full pay machine, and I used to play it quite often, so I was a little surprised to see it still grinding along. I wanted to let the folks at Bally’s know that I was still alive in hopes of restoring my status for their weekly “Park & Ride” vouchers, so I do have some hopes of recouping this investment. I also left Caesars with some hope for the future, by hitting a four-of-a-kind on the quarter 9/6 JoB progressives that lurk underneath the escalators that lead to Cleopatra’s Garden of Slots.

I would just like to take a moment to thank those who have made it this far with me. In person I prefer to speak briefly and to the point, but in writing I sometimes have a tendency to ramble on, turning a relatively uneventful few hours of my life into an exponential amount more wasted time for anyone who makes this mistake of reading along in hopes of some dramatic conclusion. So, for those readers who are still waiting for that to happen I will let you in on a little secret. I just am not prone to do anything dramatic. I am a law abiding (except for the speed-limit) citizen who tries to go through life without making things difficult for others. That doesn’t lend itself to zany antics or anything that would warrant the amount of time you have already invested reading about my Sunday, April 24, 2005. However, unlike me, today is your lucky day, as there is some payoff at the end of THIS story, but I need your help.

Those who noticed the title of this adventure my be asking yourself, “What about the fork he mentioned,” or “When is he going to talk about the $#@(* fork?”. Well, fret no more. I will now explain.

Before departing the beautiful Borgata buffet I seem to have mysteriously acquired a fork that bears a striking resemblance to those that appear on each table inside the buffet. Actually, the acquisition of the fork was not mysterious at all, since it was my plan to pilfer this piece of flatware in honor of one LVA member who could not make this meet. However, I must now ask for the assistance of my fellow members to deliver this fork to justmare. I will not be in Las Vegas until late-June at the earliest or possibly not until mid-to-late-August, so I would like to start a bucket-brigade-like chain of LVA members to pass along the fork until it reaches Mare’s hands. We all know how fond she is of buffet forks, so I am looking for and LVA member who can meet me in Atlantic City and can start the fork traveling west. Who will step up and take this utensil to Sin City?

Rio Ipanema Tower Room 1815 (3/2009)

2009-06-27T22:43:00.002-04:00

Pictures from Rio Ipanema Tower Room 1815, from March 23-25, 2009.

Main Street Station Room 1709 (3/2009)

2009-06-27T22:16:00.004-04:00

Pictures from Main Street Station Room 1709 from March 21-24, 2009.

Bally's Atlantic City Tower Room 4038 (2/2009)

2009-04-13T21:01:00.003-04:00

Pictures from Bally's Atlantic City Tower Room 4038, from February 6, 2009.

Borgata Classic Room 1103 (1/2009)

2009-04-13T20:48:00.001-04:00

Pictures from Borgata Classic Room 1103, from January 23, 2009.

Harrah's Atlantic City Bayview Tower Room 9070 (1/2009)

2009-04-12T23:46:00.004-04:00

Pictures from Harrah's Atlantic City Bayview Tower Room 9070, from January 24, 2009.

Borgata Classic Room 2107 (1/2009)

2009-04-12T04:16:00.006-04:00

Pictures from Borgata Classic Room 2107, from January 23, 2009.

Showboat Orleans Tower Room 1596 (1/2009)

2009-04-06T23:30:00.006-04:00

Pictures from Showboat Atlantic City Orleans Tower Room 1596, January 9-10, 2009.

Atlantic City Sports Comings and Goings

2009-04-06T00:08:00.001-04:00

Some good and bad news over the past few weeks on the Atlantic City sports scene. Let's start with the bad news.

Pinky Kravitz's column in Atlantic City Weekly discussed the end of operations for the Atlantic City Surf. There was speculation that the team may not return this summer, but the team's official word had been that they would start their season as scheduled. The team's web site says nothing about this, though that is most likely because the team's web site, http://www.acsurf.com/, doesn't appear to exist any longer.

On a more positive note, a March 24, 2009 press release from the ACCVA announces, "The Atlantic 10 Conference will hold its 2010, 2011 and 2012 men's basketball championships at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J." The tournament will have a slightly different structure than in years past, with the semifinals moved from Friday to Saturday and the championship game to be held on Sunday afternoon. The dates for the 2010 event will be March 12-14. Beyond next year, 2011 event will be held March 11-13 and the games will be 9-11. Additional opening round games will be moved to on-campus sites.

Boardwalk Hall is promoting the "Brawl In The Hall", featuring Philadelphia light middleweight Derek “Pooh” Ennis against Baltimore’s Ismail “The Arsenal” Arvin and others on April 11 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $55, $45, $35, and $20.

Atlantic City is also proud that ForbesTraveler.com selected Atlantic City as one of the Top Ten Golf Cities in North America. See the ACCVA press release for more about this. For some reason, the ForbesTraveler.com web site does not easily reveal the article that made this announcement, though some have suggested that the address http://www.forbestraveler.com/golf/best-golf-cities-us-slide.html might display a "slide show" of the chosen cities.

Online Resources from Casinos

2009-04-05T17:38:00.003-04:00

Atlantic City is starting to get on the "web 2.0" trend and use some of the social networking web sites to connect with customers. It remains to be seen how useful this will be, but since a few Las Vegas casinos (Rio Las Vegas and MGM Grand jump to mind) are already sending out offers via text messaging, then it would seem that it could only help customers to sign up for updates from these services.

There are probably more resources out there, but here are a few that we have heard about recently.

Tropicana

Twitter: http://twitter.com/tropicanaac
Facebook: Log in and search for "Tropicana Casino & Resort"

Trump Casinos

Twitter: http://twitter.com/trumpcasinos

Atlantic City Promos

2009-04-05T17:01:00.002-04:00

Each casino has their own strategy for dealing with falling revenues, but some are increasing their promotional efforts. This is an incomplete list of deals and promotions, but should give folks an idea of some things they can take advantage of.

Bally's

Johnny Rocket's, 10% off check - AC Weekly coupon

Caesars

Pier Shops, Friday 9pm-Midnight Happier Hour - $5 cocktails, $4 wine, $3 beer at Buddakan, The Continental, Game On!, Phillips Seafood, Sonsie, Souzai Sushi & Sake, The Trinity Irish Pub & Carvery

Showboat

House of Blues , $4 Hurricanes on Saturdays in April/May - if you buy $8 souvenir glass

Tropicana

$50 Free Play - Show premium slot club card from another property
Comedy Club, 2 for 1 (Sunday - Thursday) - AC Weekly coupon

Trump Marina

$100 Free Play - New Members Only, must play 30 minutes, $50 on first day, $50 on future visit

Trump Plaza

$100 Free Play - New Members Only, must play 30 minutes, $50 on first day, $50 on future visit

Trump Taj Mahal

$100 Free Play - New Members Only, must play 30 minutes, $50 on first day, $50 on future visit

Atlantic City Can't Catch a Break

2009-04-05T16:54:00.002-04:00

Revenues are falling in Atlantic City. Customers are gambling less frequently, competition from Pennsylvania has hurt, and poorly managing the proposed smoking ban contributed to that problem, but sometimes a casino just has bad luck. I noticed this over the weekend.

Showboat Orleans Tower Room 1486 (12/2008)

2009-01-04T22:52:00.005-05:00

Pictures from Showboat Orleans Tower Room 1486, from December 28-30, 2008

Bally's Atlantic City Garden Tower Room 1658 (12/2008)

2008-12-23T17:14:00.004-05:00

Pictures from Bally's Atlantic City Garden Tower Room 1658, from December 19, 2008.

Caesars Atlantic City Centurion Tower Room 3214 (12/2008)

2008-12-23T16:50:00.006-05:00

Pictures from Caesars Atlantic City Centurion Tower Room 3214, from December 19-20, 2008.

Borgata Classic Room 2025 (11/2008)

2008-11-30T03:03:00.004-05:00

Pictures from Borgata Classic Room 2025, from November 26, 2008.

Showboat Orleans Tower Room 1099 (11/2008)

2008-11-29T23:05:00.005-05:00

Pictures from Showboat Orleans Tower Room 1099, from November 21, 2008

Atlantic City Cuts Back on Service

2008-11-23T21:20:00.007-05:00

During this past weekend in Atlantic City it became obvious that cutbacks in service will continue for the foreseeable future. Everywhere you looked you could find another restaurant reducing hours or a casino cutting back on some seemingly minor detail. Let's start at the cashier cage, where Showboat closed their second "cage" months ago and seems to lop off one more teller window from their existing cashier's booth every time I return. At Wild West, the line normally reserved for Diamond members disappears after a certain hour. At Caesars, the cashier near the poker room is down to one window for poker players to buy chips and the tellers who used to cash slot tickets have been gone for weeks. I've even heard reports of Harrah's closing the Diamond line for their buffet. So, if you are looking for places where the casino layoffs are affecting players, then take a look at the line that forms when a high-roller is cashing out chips and needs managerial approval while everyone else in the casino waits for the one available teller who can convert their chips to cash. This isn't the sort of service that will make folks want to return to Atlantic City.

This cutback in service doesn't apply only to the casino cage. Showboat was ahead of the curve months ago when they starting closing their buffet two days during each week and have now drastically cutback on the hours of their Mansion Cafe coffee shop. Slot Club booths are no longer open late in the night on Fridays and Sundays. The My Borgata club wasn't even open at midnight this past Saturday and midnight is long before the party crowd kicks into full swing in Atlantic City's most upscale resort. Among the most telling examples, however, of the mediocrity that casinos are presenting to their customers were the signs I noticed on a variety of video poker machines explaining that certain promotional "cupons" will not "be issued for Hand Paid Jackpots paid on this machine." I'll forgive folks for bad spelling, but in order for these stickers to be applied across the casino they much first have been printed without anyone proofreading them and after the stickers arrived, management must have decided it wasn't worth the few dollars it would have cost to reprint the labels to correct this spelling error. It's sloppy and unprofessional, although you may be able to forgive casino employees these days, since their management isn't providing them with the resources to take care of routine customer needs and is forcing the employees who haven't been laid off to pick of the slack of their sacked co-workers. It's not fair to them and it's certainly not the sort of thing that makes anyone believe that anyone in Atlantic City has a plan to retain what remains of their customer base.

Things aren't looking good.

Luxor Tower Room 2021 (11/2008)

2008-11-19T21:36:00.005-05:00

Pictures of Luxor Tower Room 2021 from November, 2008.

Bally's Atlantic City Claridge Tower Room 1128 (10/2008)

2008-11-06T20:47:00.005-05:00

Pictures from Bally's Atlantic City Claridge Tower Room 1128, from October 24-26, 2008.

How often do you finish with two pair in video poker?

2008-10-16T22:14:00.004-04:00

While playing at the Showboat recently another player noticed that I was taking notes and asked how often I drew two pair in an hour. His reason was that he noticed another person playing Double Bonus (DB) and thought that player was giving up an awful lot of small wins in chasing the bigger bonus payouts. Of course, this gentleman was correct, though Showboat does offer some Double Bonus machines that return over 99% (as good as any that you will find in Atlantic City these days), but I couldn't offer him the exact statistics that he requested. However, having just purchased Frugal Video Poker I was looking at expected returns for different video poker games and thought I would share my the data that this gentleman requested.

Assuming a reasonably rapid and steady (that not insanely fast) pace of play, at 800 hands per hour playing perfect strategy you should expect to finish with two pair 103 times per hour playing 9/6 JoB (12.93% of the time), 95 times per hour playing 9/7/5 DB (11.89% of the time), and 98 two pairs per hour playing 9/6 DDB (12.31% of the time). Assuming a more leisurely pace of 600 hands per hour, which was closer to the speed I estimate this man was playing, the number of two pairs per hour ranged between 78 for 9/6 JoB to 71 for 9/7/5 DB.

Those are a lot of credits to give up for a chance at the mini-jackpots that these Double Bonus games offer, but that goes a long way to explain why your results will vary so much more over the short run from playing these games and why your gambling bankroll needs to be robust enough to cover those swings.

Times Have Already Changed in AC

2008-10-14T01:29:00.002-04:00

We've heard for some time that Atlantic City is in the process of changing, but it now dawns on me that the change is here. I admit I've been a little out of touch with town during the early part of the year and have mostly had my head buried in the virtual sand of video poker when I have been in town, but reflecting on a visit from this past weekend it is finally sinking in that Atlantic City is not the place it used to be.

We know that the town went through major changes from the initial casinos that opened in existing hotels with their owners in a rush to start reaping the benefits of legalized gambling on the east coast, and another change as major casino corporations and moguls made their mark on the city. The Borgata spurred a new series of construction in town along with more competitive inventories of machines (at least for the thoughtful video poker player) and (slightly) better blackjack games, but for some time the Borgata stood out as the exception in a town otherwise full of bland, functional buildings that lacked the imagination and color that draws folks to the middle of the Nevada desert. Well, I saw the Harrah's Waterfront Tower at night for the first time a few weeks ago and then again several times while staying there and at the Borgata last weekend, but looking at a picture from the window of the Caesars Centurion Tower really helped me encapsulate what is so significant about the light show that Harrah's presents on the walls of their flagship resort each night. There is now color, and not just red lettering on the top of the buildings. There is finally color and light in Atlantic City.

Now, I'm no architecture buff, so I can't articulate exactly what has changed, but I can say that Caesars has finally attempted to make their building look like some place that can legitimately carry the Caesars name, we all know the Borgata would fit in just fine on the Las Vegas Strip, Harrah's new tower and new pool are legitimate attractions that deserve the "resort" moniker, and even the Trump properties have made significant improvements in recent years, with the Plaza and Taj Majal taking on modern attractive interiors for the first time in a long time.

What is so exciting about seeing all of this change is that it is just the beginning. With a slew of new construction projects ready to start as soon as the country gets through this latest financial crisis Atlantic City is on the verge of finally reclaiming its past glory that was promised when casinos first came to town and once again becoming a premier luxury seaside resort destination. Of course, a lot could happen, but things are at last starting to seem very real.

Smoking Ban to (Sort Of) Take Effect Soon

2008-10-13T03:22:00.004-04:00

Atlantic City always seems to find a way to make the worst of a bad situation. A couple summers ago no one anticipated the effect of a statewide shutdown of government services on one of the state's most consistent sources of revenue. Thus, the casinos lost a few days of revenue during their key summer months, but more importantly, Atlantic City suffered a blow to its reputation in the eyes of potential visitors. As the city is in the midst of reinventing itself and making genuine improvements it found another way to stand in its own way. This time, City Council has managed to get the worst of both worlds in announcing a complete smoking ban and then reversing that ban just days before it was to go into effect.

The Press of Atlantic City reported this weekend that its heavily promoted smoking ban will last for only one week. Thus, the city's casino workers and non-smoking patrons will achieve none of the benefits that the ban set out to achieve, while just about all of the damage has already been done. Since there has been so much talk of the complete ban in casino circles many smokers have already started looking for other options, while casinos have already invested in lounges to accommodate smokers in their casino. The Press reported that Harrah's spend $7 million on these lounges, which will be unnecessary once the new delay for the ban is officially passed.

Atlantic City may have been ahead of the curve in outlawing smoking in their casinos or they may have been out of touch with their customers who expect smoking in the casinos. That point is up for debate. However, announcing a ban and then announcing the ban has been canceled serves only to upset folks on both side of the smoking debate. Whether a reprieve on the end of smoking on the casino floor gives the casinos a boost remains to be seen. As Pennsylvania and New York add more casinos, gas prices continue to rise, and the stock market continues to fall, it seems dubious to think this latest decision will have much of an impact on the profits of Atlantic City's casinos.

September Casino Revenue Report

2008-10-13T03:04:00.003-04:00

The New Jersey Casino Control Commission released the monthly Casino Revenue report for September 2008. Some of the noteworthy items from that report appear below.

The casino win was $356 million, a 15.1% decrease over September 2007. Slot machine revenue fell 18.6%, while table game revenues dropped 6.2% from the previous year.

The annual casino win through September is $3.6 billion, down 6.3% from the previous year. Slot machine revenue is down 6.3%, whie table game revenue is down 1.8%.

No individual casino posted an increased win from the previous September, while Harrah's Atlantic City is the only property with a higher increased YTD win through this point than in the previous year, though Borgata and Trump Plaza are not far off their previous numbers.

The AC Hilton, Resorts, Trump Marina, and Trump Plaza all suffered casino win totals off nearly a quarter to nearly two-thirds of the amount they won in the past September.

Caesars Atlantic City Centurion Tower Room 4428 (10/2008)

2008-10-13T02:58:00.005-04:00

Pictures from Caesars Atlantic City Centurion Tower Room 4428 (top floor), from October 10, 2008.

Harrah's Atlantic City Marina Tower Luxury Room 15024 (10/2008)

2008-10-13T02:53:00.003-04:00

Pictures from Harrah's Atlantic City Marina Tower Luxury Room 15024, from October 10, 2008

Borgata Fiore Suite 3201 (10/2008)

2008-10-13T02:50:00.003-04:00

Pictures from Borgata Fiore Suite 3201, from October 9, 2008

Borgata Classic Room 3349 (10/2008)

2008-10-13T02:46:00.003-04:00

Pictures from Borgata Classic Room 3349, from October 8, 2008

Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas Room 1008 (3/2002)

2008-08-21T02:59:00.002-04:00

Pictures of Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas Room 1008, from March 19-21, 2002

Golden Nugget Las Vegas South Tower Room 19121 (4/2007)

2008-08-19T22:43:00.006-04:00

Pictures from Golden Nugget Las Vegas South Tower Room 1713, from April 2, 2007

Palms Room 31105 (3/2006)

2008-08-19T22:25:00.007-04:00

Pictures from Palms Room 31105, from August March 26-28, 2006

Main Street Station Room 1713 (8/2005)

2008-08-19T21:42:00.004-04:00

Pictures from Main Street Station Room 1713, from August 19-20, 2005

Showboat Orleans Tower Room 1053 (11/2007)

2008-08-19T01:18:00.003-04:00

Pictures from Showboat Orleans Tower Room 1053, from November 30, 2007

Showboat Orleans Tower Room 1688 (5/2007)

2008-08-19T01:04:00.003-04:00

Pictures from Showboat Orleans Tower Room 1688, from May 11, 2007

Bourbon Tower Room 2103 (4/2007)

2008-08-19T00:45:00.006-04:00

Pictures from Showboat Bourbon Tower Room 2103, from April 13, 2007

Showboat Orleans Tower Room 1946 (12/2006)

2008-08-19T00:35:00.005-04:00

Pictures from Showboat Orleans Tower Room 1946, from December 27, 2006

Showboat Orleans Tower Room (6/2006)

2008-08-18T22:37:00.005-04:00

Pictures from Showboat Orleans Tower room, from June 2, 2006

Trump Plaza East Tower Room 487 (7/2008)

2008-08-17T23:18:00.003-04:00

Pictures from Trump Plaza East Tower Room 487, from July 7, 2008

Trump Plaza Main Tower Room 3009 (6/2008)

2008-08-17T23:03:00.004-04:00

Pictures from Trump Plaza Main Tower Room 3009, from June 27, 2008

Trump Plaza Main Tower Room 2218 (6/2008)

2008-08-17T22:40:00.005-04:00

Pictures from Trump Plaza Main Tower Room 2218, from June 13, 2008

Trump Plaza Main Tower Room 2821 (5/2008)

2008-08-17T22:14:00.006-04:00

Pictures from Trump Plaza Main Tower Room 2821, from May 3, 2008

Trump Plaza Main Tower Room 1623 (4/2008)

2008-08-17T21:52:00.007-04:00

Pictures from Trump Plaza Main Tower Room 1623, from April 27, 2008

Trump Plaza Main Tower Room 2605 (4/2008)

2008-08-17T21:39:00.004-04:00

Pictures from Trump Plaza Main Tower Room 2605, from April 26, 2008

Trump Plaza East Tower Room 773 (4/2008)

2008-08-17T20:18:00.005-04:00

Pictures from Trump Plaza East Tower Room 773, from April 19, 2008

Harrah's Atlantic City Marina Tower Room 14011 (12/2007)

2008-08-17T19:55:00.006-04:00

Pictures from Harrah's Atlantic City Marina Tower Room 14011, from December 27, 2007

Harrah's Atlantic City Marina Tower Room (11/2006)

2008-08-17T19:49:00.003-04:00

Pictures from Harrah's Atlantic City Marina Tower Room, from November 24, 2007

Caesars Atlantic City Temple Tower Room (11/2006)

2008-08-17T19:01:00.003-04:00

Pictures from Caesars Atlantic City Temple Tower Room, from November 24, 2006

Caesars Atlantic City Temple Tower Room (10/2006)

2008-08-17T18:56:00.004-04:00

Pictures from Caesars Atlantic City Temple Tower Room, from October 14, 2006

Bally's Atlantic City Tower Room 2338 (12/2007)

2008-08-17T02:43:00.003-04:00

Pictures from Bally's Atlantic City Tower Room 2338, from December 20, 2007

Bally's Atlantic City Claridge Tower Room 2052 (11/2007)

2008-08-17T02:27:00.006-04:00

Pictures from Bally's Atlantic City Claridge Tower Room 2052, from November 21, 2007.

Las Vegas Hotel Room Photos

2008-08-17T02:11:00.012-04:00

Pictures of Las Vegas Hotel Rooms

Bally's Las Vegas

North Tower Room 2021 (8/2008)

Golden Nugget Las Vegas
South Tower

South Tower Room 19121 (4/2007)

Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas

Room 1008 (3/2002)

Luxor
Tower

Tower Room 2021 - King Bed (11/2008)

Main Street Station

Palms

Room 31105 (3/2006)

Rio All Suite Hotel
Masquerade Tower

Masquerade Tower Room 26020 - Two Beds (11/2007)
Masquerade Tower Room 27002 -Two Beds (3/2008)

Ipanema Tower

Ipanema Tower Room 1815 - Two Beds (3/2009)

Wynn Las Vegas

Resort Room 3240 (3/2008)

Bally's Atlantic City Dennis Tower Room 781 (3/2007)

2008-08-17T02:02:00.001-04:00

Pictures from Bally's Atlantic City Dennis Tower Room 781, from March 18, 2007

NOTE: Dennis Tower rooms have been renovated since these pictures were taken.

Bally's Atlantic City Dennis Tower Room 791 (12/2006)

2008-08-17T01:56:00.004-04:00

Pictures from Bally's Atlantic City Dennis Tower Room 791, from December 28, 2006

NOTE: Dennis Tower rooms have been renovated since these pictures were taken.