Can I get some Atlantic City (Borgata/Marina Area) knowledge?

I might be up in the northeast at the end of the month (post-turkey day) and I'm tempted to make a stop in Atlantic City for a night or two. It's been five or six years since I've been up that way so my memory is pretty fuzzy... and what I do remember is probably no longer relevant. So I'm hoping some of our east coast degenerate VMBers can help me out.

Somehow, Borgata is still giving me comped rooms despite my not having set foot in the place since '07. So, any answers tailored to Borgata or the marina area would be great. But, I'll certainly be making my way down to the boardwalk, so any and all answers/suggestions will be very much appreciated. Please feel free to answer whichever questions you want...or just give me any tips you feel might be relevant.


1. Bartop VP - What's the story with comped drinks on bartops? Are they tightening up like some places in Vegas? Better? Worse? What sort of denominations can I expect? I'm trying to do this trip somewhat frugally so I'll be willing to trade some expected value (%) for lower denominations and easily comped better-than-well booze (or better-than-high-volume-domestic suds).

2. Restaurant Recommendations. Fine dining, casual dining, a greasy cheesesteak in some questionable neighborhood...I'm game for whatever. What are some of your favorites?

3. Typical dress in nicer restaurants vis-à-vis Las Vegas. Will I need a jacket and/or tie anywhere or will nice jeans/slacks, button up shirt and dress shoes do the trick everywhere? I don't want to pack any more than what's necessary, but I'm not trying to "get away" with anything - I want to wear what most folks will be wearing.

4. Football viewing. Any good bars or restaurants to watch some football?

5. Anything else? Any and all tips, hints or suggestions about Borgata, the marina district or AC in general will be very much appreciated.


Many thanks!

 

I haven't been to Borgata in about a year but get to Harrah's and GN on the marina quite a bit.

1. Drinks comped. No problems there. A mix of quarter and $1 machines on the bartops. Borgata has the better paytables at the bars but we play at Harrah's and GN mostly. Borgata gets very crowded on Saturdays and hit's hard to get a machine.
2. Borgata has great restaurants. People recommend White House Subs. It's greasy and in a questionable neighborhood. I don't go there.
3. It's pretty casual. No jacket or tie required.
4. Nothing really to recommend. Gypsy Bar at Borgata used to be good. Don't know but don't think it's good anymore. Depends what you want to watch football. You want a group of loud folks, Xhibition bar at Harrah's or B bar at Borgata but you're going to have to either get there real early to get a VP machine or get real lucky. You want quiet and VP and comp drinks, head to GN. You want something in the middle, VP bars at Harrah's will do ya or the Long bar at Borgata. No VP at the Long Bar but the food is not bad and TVs are good.

 

Like Snidely said,the borgata bartops get busy early and it's often difficult to find a seat/machine.Was there in November last year and Monday morning was the only time I could switch machines w/o a problem.
Harrah's .$.25 bartops require a 10 unit max bet for the RSF payout (8000) so in effect you're playing a $.50 machine.Eden lounge seems to be the tightest of the bars while I've had some better hands back at the bar by the parking garage escalator.Forget the name of it but maybe 20 seats with many tv's above,good for football,and there are counters behind with individual machines and monitors,some work,some don't.
Both places have good food courts for a quick bite.Good Luck!

 

Thanks guys!

Let me add another question to my list:

6. Water Club or Borgata?

I think I might have had this question answered last year when I was contemplating an AC trip, but I’ve slept since then.

I’m assuming the WC is the way to go since is newer? Is the walk to the casino/restaurants/bars similar to what it would be if I was in a regular Borgata room? Is there anything else I need to consider when choosing between the two? (Surprisingly, I can get either room comped for the weekend I'm looking at, so price difference isn't an issue.)

Thanks again!

 

Walk from borgata is a bit closer but not enough where it actually matters like vegas. If you play poker you should go with the water club since it is closer to the poker room. Id go water club if they're both comped but I wouldn't pay extra for the water club. The one good thing about the water club is they have an adult only pool for water club guests only and the checkin lines are usually shorter as well

 

I used to stay at Borgata/WC a lot until I moved away from the east coast in 2012. Stay at the Water Club. The walk is nothing and the rooms are much nicer. As mentioned above the adults only pool is very nice. The valet parking is right under the hotel. I would recommend Bobby Flay for food, never had a bad meal or experience there. If you are driving in/out of AC get EZpass as there are lots of toll booths.

 

Thanks for mentioning the full pay is 10 units at Harrah's bars. My wife hit a RF just last week at Eden lounge. The bar at the back of Harrah's on the way to the parking garages is called, wait for it, The Poker Bar.

 

If $$$ does not matter go ahead and select WC. Also a side note Borgata currently is running a pick the pros weekly NFL contest. No cost, no points. Get them all correct that week and win $$$ and or FP. Good luck and have fun.

 

Just to add a few things,Harrahs and GN have some decent lounge acts,free .Check Atlantic City Weekly site for times and band names. Mc Cormick and Smicks fish place in Harrahs has a great happy hour 4-7 if you like pub grub. GN has 2 vp bars,Harrahs 3. Borgata like the man said is hard to get a machine. If you have a Total Rewards card you can use the free shuttle to the boardwalk from Harrahs.If you're any kind of walker you can walk between marina hotels .

 

Thanks for all the great info, gang!

Jerseyguy - Good stuff, thanks! Do you recall how late the shuttle runs by any chance?

 

Can't really add much, all 3 marina properties are very nice. I agree that Water Club is the nicest hotel there. Borgata has the best restos with Old Homestead, Izakaya, Wolfgang Puck, Bobby Flay Steak, etc.
Long Bar at Borgata seems like a good place to watch football, I recommend their awesome homemade soft pretzels. If you want a cheesesteak there is a pretty decent place in the casual food court at Borgata. If you play VP, Borgata has great single line machines with good payables but not as much in the way of multi-line games. Harrahs has the typical wide array of CET video poker offerings. GN has good VP payables for the most part and they have older machines. The thing that bothers me about GN is the intense cigarette smoke in their and poor ventilation.

 

Honestly,dont recall,but it's posted I believe at the stops. My best guess would be 11:30pm-1am. If you miss the last one you can grab a jitney or cab.

 

For the cheesesteak go to White House Subs, and on your way home stop there and pick up an italian or their special and let it stew in its oil and vinegar to eat later that night or the next day.

As far as the TR shuttles their website says they stop at 11pm. I took it once and it was a long wait and that was in the middle of the day. Priority is given to 7* , Diamonds, and hotel guests so if you're below that you may not be able to get on. AC has its own jitney service between the casino that is cheap but taxis are easily available and there is a max rate of $13 within the city limits so you're not going to get long hauled between the marina and the boardwalk, it will always be $13 and it is fast.

Also if you are Diamond or 7* at CET you can get them to match it to Black Label at Borgata if you haven't done it before (or in several years I think). It is well worth it because there is a nice Black Label lounge at Borgata, it costs $10 comp dollars but it has top shelf drinks and lots of food, basically a good buffet. Plus with a black label you get entry to the main buffet for only $10 comp dollars as well and priority service in lines and stuff, checkin lines there can be long for non-premium tiers.

I don't think I've played bartop VP at Borgata but you'll find a lot of good VP there at all denoms.

Fun Fact: The Borgata is the last place where I got blackout drunk.

 

I like the way you think!

I’m aiming for maybe one step below the blackout stage. Enough to forget about my impending unemployment for a while but not so much that I wake up the next afternoon wondering if I need to apologize to anyone!


Thanks for the great info, all. It is much appreciated. And as long as we don’t get another Armageddon-type winter again this year, I’ll put it to good use in a few weeks.

 

Yes that's it Snidely..Congrats to the Mrs. for nailing a RSF at that bar belive me..I've had many many sessions there over many many years and never saw ANYONE hit one there..My buddy did tho while slow playing for $.25.He should have doubled it up.He just hangs there to have a few beers as a Diamond and knows all the bartenders over the years..(Me Too)
Last trip I took up to AC did hit 4 dueces at the Poker Bar just 15 minutes for the ride back to ACY for $500 so that was nice and no less than 3 minutes after that my buddy hit's 4 A w/k for whatever and he was on a machine back there behind me.Helped me out as I had only one 4oak at the borgata that trip..

Sorryto hijack your thread Carve...I can recommend the WC tower as well. Stayed there last November and no problems at all.Short walk to the casino (compared to some props in LV) and the cage was right there past the shops as you enter the casino floor.IIRC...
and buddy in NJ informed me that the GN has some 10-6 99.96% return bartops...Did not specify at what level tho.

Have a great trip!!

 

I think the CET Shuttle is running quicker now due to the fact that one time consuming stop(Showboat) has been eliminated. The two times we were at Harrahs recently the bus was outside empty and the driver was inviting us to get on. (mid morning)

 

Again, many thanks, guys. And I hope no one minds my using this thread to just ask whatever pops into my head...because that's what I'm gonna do.

Next question(s):

Blackjack - What's the price of admission for a S17 BJ table on a weekend night? CBJN says it can be had at $25 but they're usually a bit low, at least for weekend gambling. I'm willing to do $100 but I'd rather find something cheaper. Is that a possibility? If S17 requires $100, can I find a HL room with those minimums?

Craps - Is 3x4x5x odds the standard? Better? Worse? What kind of minimums can I expect on a weekend? Is $10 a possibility? $15? $25?


(As mentioned earlier in the thread, Borgata is my preferred casino, but I'm more than willing to play elsewhere.)

TIA!

 

Strangely, we have no problem catching the shuttle in the relative safe confines of Harrah's but it never seems to come when we're waiting on Pacific Avenue outside of Showboat at night. After a few unsavory characters and some ugly-ass hookers eyed my wife and me up, we decided to take a cab. Same with waiting for the shuttle at Bally's. We waited 25 minutes and it never came.

 

Yes $100/min in HL rooms unless it's a very busy weekend. I've seen it at $200mim then.

 

Thanks! You must know Ralph at the Eden lounge and Hugh at the Poker Par. Good guys. The guys at Ego are real good too but it gets very crowded in there. If you want good drinks and nice clean machines without a crowd, go to GN. It's nice there.