Atlantic City

[BAMA21]

I'll be making my first ever trip to Atlantic City at the end of this month. I think it will just be a day trip on a Monday. I am wondering if anyone has any tips or recommendations on places I should definitely go or places I should definitely avoid. Any advice on what to expect on table minimums and maximums, game rules, staff hospitality, service, food and drinks, etc would be greatly appreciated.

Also, please see my post on the "Blackjack Variations" board about Double Attack Blackjack, which I understand is being offered there. Any advice on that would be appreciated as well.

My intent with this trip is mostly to check out some of the casinos and some of the games for possible future trips. I have a general impression that the games are difficult because of the eight deck shoes, and that the tables are all expensive all the time. I'm pretty much a blackjack (or other 21) player only; and I'd prefer lower minimums.

[Chris]

BAMA 21 Try the BORGATA that is one of the only places that have 6 shoe games still in atlantic city about 80% penetration. 10-15$ hands hard to find a 5$ game but if anyplace has it its probly there. The Tropicana has similer rules I think. All no mid shoe entry. I beleave one of the trump casinos also has 6 deck shoes but unless your a high roller (which I am not) you shouldnt go there (minumum bet is like 25-50 buckaroos). As far as I know double deck and (single deck) no longer exist in the Atlantic City Vocabulary, unless you bring a friend and practice in the hotel, make sure the pit bosses dont catch you though.

[BAMA21]

Thanks, Chris. I'm not a high roller either. I do bet larger sums from time to time; but I like to start as low as possible. I'll be there on what should be a slower time; but I'm not expecting the $5 table to be easy to come by. Hopefully, however, I can find enough $10 and $15 tables to spend the day playing. I'll definitely check out the Borgata.

[Philly Ed]

Originally Posted by BAMA21

I'm pretty much a blackjack (or other 21) player only; and I'd prefer lower minimums.

The Sands offers $5 minimum tables in their Poker/Simulcast room on the fourth floor. They also have $10 tables on their casino floor.

[PokerJunky]

Borgata is a very nice casino to visit, but you will be hard pressed to find any BJ tables lower than $15 (usually one table jam packed). The majority of the tables are $25 and $50 tables (during the weekend). As for deck penetration, it is not that great. I have seen some dealer cut 2 1/4 decks out of 6 (you do the math) and others cut 1 1/2 - 2 decks.

Try Harrah's and Merv's, you should be able to find some $10 tables...

[Chris]

Hey BAMA do you think you could post your details on this board when you get back---because I am two hours away from Atlantic city and would like to know For my next trip up. If you find any five dollar tables I would be particularly interested....but also any ten dollar tables. If you would be so kind.

[BAMA21]

Absolutely. I'm going on the 29th with the plan of staying all day and hitting several casinos. I'll file a report when I get back.

[BAMA21]

I'm back. You can see all of the gory details in some of my other posts; but I wanted to answer specifically here the questions that were raised in this thread.

I never made it as far as the Sands; and I didn't even attempt to go to the Borgata. We went on a bus; and we had a choice of casinos to get off the bus at. Each of the casinos offer a different packahge of inducements to get you to stop there. Our choices were the Tropicana, which gave out $16 in cash, the Sands, which gave out $22 in comp credit, and the Showboat, which gave out $22 in cash. Since we didn't have a Sands card yet, we picked the Showboat as the one giving out the most.

If I go again, I'll know more about how to do it. I think next time I'd get off at the Tropicana and then try to get back on at the Showboat. The 45 minutes it took us to get from the Tropicana, to the Sands, and then finally to the Showboat were the longest minutes of the day. Or I might do the Sands to get off next time.

Anyway, we got off at the Showboat, got our Players' Club cards, and then hit the floor at around Noon. They had several $10 tables at that point; and one or two of them had a single empty seat. There were some $15 tables being played, and one that was ready to be opened. Since I was playing with my wife's friend on her first ever trip to a casino, we opted for the $15 table where we could both play comfortably.

After I got wiped out quickly, I found a $10 Double Attack table, where I played for a good while. I was back in the Showboat at around 6:00 PM; and there were still $10 tables at that point in regular blackjack (eight decks), Double Attack, Single-Deck (6:5), and Spanish 21, which I played.

During the afternoon, I was in the Taj and Resorts, both short walks from the Showboat; and both had $10 tables

If this day was typical, I'd say that the places I went probably have $10 tables on weekdays for pretty much the whole day. As crowded as it was when the bus arrived, I doubt they have any $5 tables anytime at all; but if they do, it would have to be pretty early in the morning.

I heard that the Sands has $5 tables; and I think that was pointed out on this thread; but I didn't get there. Next time, if there is a next time, I plan to go there very early in the day to check it out.

Nobody was playing six-deck shoes on the low minimum tables. All were 8-deck shoes that I saw and played. They were cutting off at least two of those as well. In all games, in all places, it appears that the dealer stands on all 17s, so that is in your favor. However, any thought of finding surrender should be banished from your head, at least from what I saw.

The dealers were pretty good, for the most part. I didn't see a lot of tipping going on though. In general, I didn't find the atmosphere to be as relaxed or as fun as in Vegas or some of the other places I've been.

I did encounter a situation with one of the dealers who shorted me twice on pay-outs, and probably did a third time as well. I thought I noticed that he'd shorted me $5 on a $20 payout; but I didn't notice until I had moved all of the chips. So instead of trying to question it then, I juist watched more closely. Sure enough, he shorted me a stack on a dounle-down pay-out a bit later, and then did the same thing again another time. For some reason that I can't explain, I didn't feel as "secure" in these places as in Vegas.

Comps were pretty good there. Resorts was running a "lose $100 get $100" slot promotion that pays back $1000 of your losses when you sign up for the card. Showboat gave me about $40 in comps for my blackjack play (an hour or so at about $40 a hand.)

That is about it. I'd be happy to answer any questions if I can.

[Chris]

BAMA

Im trying to come up with a plan of attack for Atlantic City...
but if thats the case everywhere I think ill stay home and hustle my buddys.

so no six deck $10 games? no late surrender anywhere?

The days I was planning to go would be the down days like Monday and Tuesdays, ill probly have more luck then as for finding a six deck game .

The BJ insider said this month about Borgatta...

"Sexy waitresses all over the place. Hotel/casino rating is A. Good news is an all 6-deck casino. Penetration is now 75 to 85 percent. High roller room is 6-decks with no mid-shoe entry. Plenty of $10 and $15 games in the main casino"

I hope I dont get sued now.

anyway,
I was hoping you could confirm this... but if this is not the case I think i will just jump off the Tropicana, and just throw my chips off the balcony when I arive. This would probly be the most effective solution to these type of rules.

Is The 8 deck shoes mid entry?

If it is maybe I could just backcount for chump change, instead of play all in a six decker as they are most likely no mid deck entry. If the rules are that bad I could really care less if they kicked me out for no Camouflage. Or maybe I should just take a can of gasoline and burn....ARGGGHHH nevermind ill stop Whining.

I hope you had a good time,
CHRIS

[BAMA21]

Chris, I entered mid-shoe a couple of times with no problem; and saw others doing the same. I can't speak for all the casinos; but that was the case at the joints I hit. I can't confirm about the Borgata. It is a good distance away; and I ended up being a lot slower than I thought I'd be on this trip. If your info is right, I should definitekly try to make it that far next time.

I had planned to seperate from my wife and her friend for the day; and I was just going to kinda hit and run at several places. However, the way things went, and with her friend wanting to play some too, I ended up just moving a bit slower and staying close enough to them that we could stay somewhat together.

Based on what I've read and what I saw in person, I think I'd play again at the Showboat; and I want to try out the Sands and the Borgata. I'd do another day trip to AC; but for the most part, it is at the bottom of my list. If I have time to stay over a few days, I'd rather fly to Vegas; and for a car trip, I'd do Mohegan Sun.

I did not see late surrender anywhere that I was. I had read that if you asked, the pit boss couldput it in; but I asked; and that did not seem to be the case, at least at the places I played. They had late surrender on anyting at anytime on the Double Attack tables; and Spanish 21 has surrender. But if you want to play regular blackjack with all of the ten cards in the deck, you're out of luck if you're looking for surrender.

If you make a Monday trip, I'd expect about what I saw. I got there on Monday at around 11:45 and left at around 7:00.

I did enjoy my day, thanks. I would have just preferred better rules, and maybe better self-control. I don't count; but from what I saw, you'd be about as well off counting the number of times the waitress stops by as you would the cards that are played. Maybe things are better on the six-deck games or in a high-roller room; but on the main floor where I was, the penetration was lousey.