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If Nevada isn’t quite rocking your world, a trip to the Northeast might be in order. Laurel Wunderley takes a look at the poker scene—and more—in Atlantic City.
If you want a place to get your sin on that’s not in the middle of the desert, the East Coast can boast its own unique gambling Mecca. Nearly 200 years after it was founded, Atlantic City secured its gaming legacy in U.S. history with a casino gambling referendum that forever changed the once quaint seaside town and brought to the northeast what Nevada had already mastered. With boardwalks, beaches and gambling galore it’s the East Coast’s alternative to Las Vegas; it’s the glitz and glamor of Vegas in a smaller, seaside package. Now easier to get to than ever with a direct train service (ACES) from New York City, this unique city hopes to relive its days of grandeur and once again be on the forefront of the gambling scene.
In 1978, Atlantic City’s very first casino, Resorts International was born. Since then, the beachfront town has been best known for its casino resorts and unfortunately not so much for the waterfront—not that New Jersey is really complaining. In 2006, the gross revenues from casino gambling since 1978 were $5.22bn, which averages to about $186.4m per year. That in addition to the 47,000 plus people it employed in the same year makes New Jersey citizens today thankful for the gamblers of yesterday. The prime location on the northeast coast also makes it easy for anyone to get to from some of the major cities in the east like Philadelphia, New York City, Baltimore and Washington D.C. With it being so close to so many cities, it’s not surprising to see Atlantic City still booming with tourists. And quite possibly another reason people are still flocking to the city is its newest casino resort since 1990, The Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa.
After a 13-year hiatus, The Borgata is the newest casino resort to hit the Atlantic City sands. Built in 2003, it’s probably the best place in Atlantic City to sit down and play poker, and certainly the best known. Since the World Poker Tour has been televised, The Borgata has been one of the stops on the tour. While other hotels in Atlantic City have been on a downward spiral, The Borgata still keeps people coming in with its nearly 2,000 guest rooms and now The Water Club (an upscale boutique hotel within the hotel), which opened just last year. It also holds the title of the largest poker room in Atlantic City—85 different tables all with poker featuring various games like Texas hold’em, seven-card stud, and Omaha. If tournament poker is your poison, The Borgata can offer it on a silver platter. Between daily tournaments, deep stack tournaments, sit and go’s, and of course the WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship Event, they offer you plenty of ways to divvy up your chips.
Daily tournaments in Atlantic City aren’t hard to find either if you know where to look. Don’t expect to pay less than $50 for one of these tournaments, though. Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City offers a midnight game every night of the week, for a buy-in of $58 you can play the Turbo Bounty No Limit Hold’em game into the wee hours of the morning. Or you can play another one of their daily games at a more reasonable hour for anywhere from $58 to $175 for more chances to win without compromising your sleep. Although, if you’re in Atlantic City you’re not really there to sleep in the first place.
With 40 poker tables on the floor, Harrah’s offers 24-hour action. On the cash tables you can expect to find games ranging from $1/$2 no-limit hold’em, $2/$4 limit, and a $1/$5 seven-card stud game. They also have other non-traditional games like three- and four-card poker. Three-card poker is basically a faster version of traditional poker games, instead of the usual five cards to make a hand, you only need three and a straight is higher than a flush. Four-card poker is similar to this, but here you use the best four of five cards dealt to make a hand that is higher or equal to the dealer’s hand. If you want to take a break from poker, though, there is plenty else to do on Harrah’s gaming floor like blackjack, slots, or roulette.
Caesar’s Atlantic City also has its own unique game of poker not offered in any other casino called Ultimate Texas Hold’em. A brand new game to the poker floor of its Vegas counterpart, the goal of the game here is to play the dealer head to head for who has the better hand after all the cards are out. To help you win even more money, it also lets you place a bonus bet for trips. The no-limit hold’em games start at $1- $2 and structured games at $2- $4. Higher limit games are also available on demand.
Trump’s Taj Mahal Casino Resort also shouldn’t be overlooked. The casino resort owned by the irresistible billionaire mop-head Donald Trump boasts one of the best casinos in the city. The casino itself was voted “best casino” by Casino Player Magazine, and the poker room is home to the United States Poker Championship. The room also has one of the largest poker rooms with 70 smoke-free tables and four games to choose from: no-limit hold’em, limit hold’em, stud, and what is seemingly a rarity Omaha.
That said, Omaha players beware—not every casino offers the game. Of the 11 casino resorts in the city, only four have it featured: The Borgata, Tropicana, Trump’s Taj Mahal and The Hilton Casino Resort. On the other hand, for the players who frequently suffer from bad beats, you can win big with the Bad Beat Jackpot at virtually every casino. Of course, stipulations apply to what qualifies as a bad beat and varies with every casino. For instance, in Bally’s Casino and Hotel, the bad beat you need to have is when a hand of four deuces or better is beaten.
So if you’re looking to take a trip somewhere and are a little tired of Nevada, Atlantic City might just be the place for you. |
