So, would I probably return back to Atlantic City in the near future? Before I made the drive, I wasn't sure but
Nice that Borgata had a $10 craps table available, but annoying that one of the two other open ones on the night you were there was $25 (instead of $15, like the other), and then again on Thursday morning when one was $10 and the other was $25.
Borgata always does that...last time I was there they had the rare quadfecta...$10 table, $15 table, $25 table, and $50 table all open at the same time.
I don't think I've been the borgata in a good 10+ years. Now I have the itch to go back for old times sake. Bobby Flay Steak used to be pretty solid. Same with the burger at Wolfgang Puck. But both of them are gone. I'll have to take a ride down in the next month or so.
I was happy that there was 1 $10 table at Borgata on both days. If this was MGM National Harbor, the tables would have been $25 and $50 on a Thursday afternoon along with the strong possibility of a 3rd open for $100 minimum.
It’s still the best casino for VP players on the east coast. No question about it. Heck its VP selection is even better than other mgm properties in Vegas.
You might be shocked at how good the VP tables are at the other AC casinos. At the $1 denom many have full pay machines. Borgata has more at the 25cent denom level but CP has the best 25cent denom with 9/6 JoB progressive just the points earning is HORRIBLE.
Agree. The 25 and 50 cent ones cannot be beat. CP is a lower tier casino compared to borgata in terms of service, atmosphere, (and earning rate as you already mentioned).
Overall I'd agree, but that back area in Borgata with the good VP (note: the machines near the high limit area are gone now) is pretty bad for atmosphere and service. Its like the good VP got relegated to the basement. Food and points earning is way better though I would agree. Borgata has FAR superior bartop VP though than anywhere else, just its not full pay.
I think they just tried to consolidate VP there. For non smokers it may smell bad but just wear a mask or something non smokers do so all the time. When I talk about lower tier I meant overall. You are not just playing VP when you are there, you walk around and dine at the restaurants and overall vibes borgata kills CP any day of the week.
There are a lot of good diners in NJ, The Deepwater Diner in Carney's Point is open 24 hours. Anyone care to guess which A list actor grew up here? Nice reconnaissance trip report. Hope you're on their radar for some comped rooms. For what it's worth, MyVegas seems to frequently have Sunday-Thursday comp room awards. Bruce Willis
It could have been the days, but I did not smell a lot of smoke on the casino floor, especially around the VP area that was by the Bet MGM sports book and Premier. Part of the casino floor was roped off across from the MGM Rewards and Main Entrance/Valet Entrance area, so it looks like they may be moving the machines around. I did notice that it was much easier to walk around the slot machines and the video poker machines now.
The Borgata Race Book is closed off for good, but horse bets are accepted at the sports book betting windows. Several TV's were showing horse races.
The race book was completely empty on both days I was there. You could still walk into the race book, but it makes sense to fold the race book into the sports book. I wonder if MGM National Harbor is going to close down the race book next to the poker room and bar.
We've got two 24 hour diners now kinda near me, the Pandora Diner in Cinnaminson and the Route 130 Diner in Delran. Pandora is definitely the better one, at least in the middle of the night. As a side question, what the hell happened to all the 24 hour diners? As a night person, my late options for food are Wawa, McDonald's, or one of those two diners, and those are both 20-25 minutes away.
Opinionated Recap (1) : Why Wednesday Going into the trip, I knew that my dinner options were going to be limited, and that the hours of the sports book would be shorter than Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, or Thursday. Part of picking Wednesday was due to the restrictions of the MyKonami award (Sunday through Thursday). Another part was due to my strength training routine as I was (I'll explain in a moment why it is past tense) working out 4 days per week on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays with Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays my off-days for cardio. Since Wednesday night was my off-day, and I could actually do that Thursday morning in the fitness center, I was able to rearrange my work days to take time off to fit in Wednesday. Looking ahead, I wouldn't be coming back on a Wednesday because I changed my work out programming to 3 days a week with Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays as the off days. Weekends aren't going to happen for the next few months because I got invited to play on an adult hockey league team for a 20 game summer season that will have games on Saturdays and Sundays from mid-May to late-August. So the next trip will probably happen in the next 6 weeks on a Thursday as I redeemed for another one night free stay. The sports book supposedly will be open until 12 AM, and I can stay around a little later on Friday than I did for Thursday early afternoon. I was surprised by how energetic and live the casino floor was on a Wednesday night at Borgata in the middle of April. Even in Las Vegas, Wednesday nights are pretty subdued, even with all the conventions going on, college basketball, NBA, NHL, and upcoming NFL divisional games when I was there in January 2024. It will be interesting to see what it is like on a Thursday when I return in the near future.
Opinionated Recap (2) - The Tolls This and traffic was a huge reason why I wanted to take a over-night trip. As discussed by me, @EzE, and others, you can rack up a huge amount of tolls on the way to Atlantic City. My issue with the amount of tolls is that it starts to get a little excessive when you are hitting $30 minimum for an approximately 210 mile drive. When I drive home to see my parents outside of Pittsburgh, which is approximately a 210 mile drive as well, I can take the Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-70/I-76) for approximately 125 miles. However, I am paying $17.90 in tolls for that stretch, and I have plenty of non-tolled options to drive back, such as I-68, US-22, US-322, US 30, and US 219. Unfortunately, there no options to avoid tolls going to and from New Jersey. Also, I can drive through Maryland on US 1 to MD/DE 273 and go all over Newark, DE to get to I-295 to avoid all tolls, but by that time, a 4 to 5 hour drive goes up to a 7-8 hour drive and becomes pointless since you are just spending the day drive all over the place. So, looking at my EZPass account, the toll for the Bay Bridge going eastbound was $4, the toll for the Delaware Memorial Bridge going westbound was $5, and the toll for US 301 for 12 miles was $5.60 northbound and $5.60 south bound. So, for comparison: * Bay Bridge (4 miles) and US 301 North (12 miles) to Atlantic City: $9.60 * Delaware Memorial Bridge (2 miles) and US 301 South (12 miles) to Virginia: $10.60 * Pennsylvania Turnpike from Breezewood PA to Pittsburgh PA (approximately 125 miles): $17.90 * Pennsylvania Turnpike from Pittsburgh PA to Breezewood PA (approximately 125 miles): $17.90 * I-495 Express Lanes from VA 7 to I-395/I-95 on a Thursday at 4:40 PM to drive into more traffic on the way to Capital One Arena in DC (10 miles): $22.90 Looking at the tolls, taking the route I did is about as good as it is going to get on having the fewest amount tolls and lowest toll charges.
Had @RobzNtheHood taken the AC Expressway instead of taking the "back roads" the round trip toll would have added $12.20. But you wouldn't pass the Elmer Diner or several farm stands in the season.
