Atlantic City Running Diary

As I type this I an on the Atlantic City Expressway to start a 3 night bender in Atlantic City. I will be at Caesars, the Borgata, and anywhere else I wander to. I plan to play everything from blackjack, hold em, roulette, 3 card poker, and perhaps the evil mistress craps. I like the other gambling diaries so I am going to take a stab at this. Going to open up the festivities with some blackjack once I check in.

Post up your adventures. I for one will certainly enjoy reading them.

Quote: ComplexEnigma

As I type this I an on the Atlantic City Expressway to start a 3 night bender in Atlantic City. I will be at Caesars, the Borgata, and anywhere else I wander to. I plan to play everything from blackjack, hold em, roulette, 3 card poker, and perhaps the evil mistress craps. I like the other gambling diaries so I am going to take a stab at this. Going to open up the festivities with some blackjack once I check in.

Likewise will look forward to your report.

Awesome Member name.

Looking forward to this report!!!

Hopefully I'll get to post one from Tunica in a few weeks. That is Iif anyones interested in a low rollers report lol.

Do NOT exaggerate. We have spies everywhere in AC !

Aceofspades found that out the hard way.

Quote: Buzzard

Do NOT exaggerate. We have spies everywhere in AC !

Aceofspades found that out the hard way.

Did I miss something? (are you referring to the message board lurker "Frank" who approached me and asked if I was AoS when I was seated with chaunceyb3 and soda water?)
Also, when did I ever exaggerate - I post the good, bad and the ugly of my trips.

Gee Ace PLEASE stop taking me serious. I was just firing for effect on the original poster. GEE

Quote: Buzzard

Gee Ace PLEASE stop taking me serious. I was just firing for effect on the original poster. GEE

Hey, when someone I don't know approaches me in a casino and knows my screen name I tend to take a step back and wonder

Hopefully our dealer has not slipped up and called you Ace. Hate to discipline her if she did !

Its 6 am. I haven't slept yet. I would likely fail a breathalizer if I were to attempt to drive. I have a massage appointment in 5 hours. I'd say it's a good first n night. I started off with 3 card poker and mostly treaded water. Then blackjack rudely took away my initial buy in of $100. Bought in for $200 at craps and left the table down another $20. Went back to 3 card poker and managed to rally back to almost back my original payroll. Roulette took $25 and blackjack promptly took my chip stack again in efficient fashion. 3 card poker stopped being a safe haven and took an additional $100 from my wallet. Finally the blackjack gods smiled on me and I was able to recoup about $200 of my losses. Trip is currently -$225, which isn't terrible for 6 hours of entertainment and a generous amount of drinks. Currently vegas is taking odds on whether I fall asleep during my massage tomorrow. 'Yes' is currently a heavy favorite. Gambled at Showboat. Hopefully I will be able to do a hold em tournament tomorrow.

I'd bet the yes. Massages are sleepy.

Quote: dwheatley

I'd bet the yes. Massages are sleepy.

You would have suffered an agonizing defeat. The newness of being in a spa kept me awake but I was fading fast by the end of the massage. If it was possible, I would have napped right there on the massage table immediately after the massage.

Instead I left and hunger trumped fatigue. For lunch we went to Buddakan which was amazing. A guy at the bar even bought us a round of drinks. Invigorated by food and alcohol, I headed to Ballys to begin the best blackjack run of my gambling career. I left Ballys up $75. We needed to play 30 minutes of slots at showboat to qualify for some new player bonuses. I hate slots as it's just me watching my money go down a funnel. Sure enough I was down $80ish just 25 minutes in on nickel slots. Grumpy that I was going to waste $100 chasing comps, I was shocked to see I hit some bonus game. I just watched the slot machine spin like mad and when it was done I was up $100. Not giving the casino a chance to take those winnings away, I cashed out my $100 in winnings, comps be damned.

I did use that $100 to play some blackjack and managed to turn it into another $80 win. Thanks to a forum member here, we were able to score 2 rooms at the Borgata at a really nice rate. After checking in, I stopped at a blackjack table and added another $50 to my winnings before I decided I was entirely too worn out to be playing.

However a second wind came quickly after about an hour of relaxing in the hotel room. I bought in for $200 at a blackjack table and when i walked away, I had doubled it to $400 with enough extra to leave a nice tip for the dealer.

I really enjoy the casino atmosphere of the Borgata as it seemed to have more energy. Also at Ballys and Showboat, it always seemed like there was some dude going full tilt and losing bad. That's always awkward to watch.

The Borgata was lackluster in one area though and that was the cocktail service. The dealers at all the casinos have been really nice but the drink service has been spotty. Borgata was pretty terrible though. I ordered a water 4 times and to wait at least 90 minutes before I actually received one. The service came with an attitude too which was aggravating (I tip too so it's not because I am stiffing them).

I finally got a solid nights sleep and am now ready to check out the Borgata spa, buffet, and more gambling.

I'm pretty happy to make about $350 on $10 tables. My betting strategy is to bet the minimum and then press when I thought the count was in my favor (not really an exact count, more of a fuzzy logic of when I think I've seen more low cards than high). So far I have been very lucky when pressing and I'm nervous for the pendulum to swing back.

Good to hear that you are up and having a good time!! Maybe you can stay up for the remainder of your trip.

Quote: ComplexEnigma

I'm pretty happy to make about $350 on $10 tables. My betting strategy is to bet the minimum and then press when I thought the count was in my favor (not really an exact count, more of a fuzzy logic of when I think I've seen more low cards than high). So far I have been very lucky when pressing and I'm nervous for the pendulum to swing back.

This is how I play BJ as well. Sometimes good, sometimes not so much.

Quote: ComplexEnigma

I finally got a solid nights sleep and am now ready to check out the Borgata spa, buffet

don't load up on the bread!

Well I have been home since Friday, but took the weekend to catch up on a week's worth of sleep.

How did the trip go? Well let's just say that I am typing this post on a new tablet I was able to afford with my winnings. I hit the Borgata particularly hard, I don't think I ever left a Borgata blackjack table without at least doubling my buy in. I also won some money at Bally's and Showboat. Caesar's was my Achilles heel, cutting my potential winnings in half. I joked with my friend that the Borgata must be pissed that I am giving all their money to Caesars.

Overall my trip was enjoyable. Most of the food was good and most people were friendly. I do have some individual observations:

Hotel:
I stayed at the Borgata and Caesars. I received a free upgrade to the Centurion Tower at Caesars but I don't know what extra amenities I got in the new tower. Both rooms were great and only minor differences separated them. I found the Caesars beds more comfortable, while my friend thought the Borgata pillows were better. The Borgata TV was bigger, but it was really hard to light the room (makes it hard to hunt down that sock at midnight for a late night gambling binge.). The view at the Borgata was amazing, while at Caesars I could only see the roof and the side of another tower.

Casino Floor:
Borgata wins hands down here. The casino chips were actually clean and it was nice being served drinks in actual glasses.

Dealers:
All but one of the dealers I ran into were very nice. The dealers at Bally's and Showboat were especially nice, insisting my friend who was watching me play get free drinks and being chatty with the table. One dealer at Caesars made sure it wasn't a perfect score for the dealers this time around. This blackjack dealer was really rude, curtly hurrying people for the smallest of slowdowns and had an unfriendly demeanor. A person playing hit a big payout on one of the side bets. Almost immediately she started mumbling about not getting a tip and increased her rude behavior towards the table. When a dealer replaced her she audibly complained well within our hearing about how that guy didn't tip her to the new dealer. I was shocked at how unprofessional it was. Of course, the new dealer was professional and promptly got a tip from the player in question. I understand the importance of tipping dealers and its a big part of their income. I tip well particularly if I am winning. However as a former waiter/bartender you can't hope to be tipped with the awful attitude she had. I would have left the table if she hadn't been replaced so quickly.

Drink service:
The cocktail waitresses were spotty. My first night at the Borgata I ordered a water 4 times and waited close to 2 hours before actually receiving a water. On top of that the waitress was rude. A waitress at Caesars lost my order. Bally's and Showboat had the best drink service, however Showboat could be slow at times.

Restaurants:
I wish I had more to report here but I actually only went to three restaurants,and one of them was fatburger. I loved however Bukkadan, especially their happy hour. They are a little spend otherwise. The Borgata buffet was very hit or miss. The prime rib, clams, desserts, and Chinese were good, but the mussels, sirloin, and oysters rockafeller were pretty terrible.

Spa:
I got spa services at both Caesars and the Borgata, and like the hotel rooms, the experiences were very similar. For much of my stay at the Caesars spa, I was the only one in the male area which added to the relaxation. Also Caesars had a cold pool which the Borgata did not. The biggest con to Caesars is you had to walk in your robe through the main spa lobby when you went to get your massage or whatever service you were getting. At the Borgata the facilities are bigger but there were more patrons. My biggest annoyance with the Borgata was there were hardly any clocks, meaning I had to keep checking in the relaxation room for the time so I wouldn't miss my appointment. Both places offered fruit, while the Borgata offered juice while Caesars offered tea. Caesars also had some nuts and Asian trail mix. I got a facial at the Borgata and a massage, body wrap, exfoliation combo at Caesars. All the services were done professionally and I was happy with the experience. Overall I might like Caesars better but having to walk through the lobby is rather uncomfortable for the shy people like me. Both places were excellent though.

I'm hoping CET sends me some comp offers and I can head back later this spring or early summer.

Good report. I'm glad you walked away with more than you started with.