Day trip to AC Luck O' the Irish......

....well, Luck O' the Irish escaped me on this trip, maybe because I'm half German. But it favored my half Irish bride, so It all evened out.

Made a quick dash down the AC Expressway on Saturday morning and decided to park at Bally's. My wife made a beeline to her favorite Mr. Cashman machine, but some ratchet was playing on one machine and put her leg up on the adjacent chair claiming it as well. She had no money or credits in the second machine, just her players card. I asked her nicely if we could play it, she wouldn't budge. I called security and was told that they can't do anything. Didn't want to start the day like this so we split and walked to Tropicana. Damn, I really like the three play nickel DDB machines at Bally's, plus the drink service is usually pretty fast.

Saturday was the annual St. Patrick's Day parade along the boardwalk and there were plenty of young folks wearin' the green and drinking beer and whatnot out of 32oz. Wawa cups. If you are drinking all day, gotta start early.

Made it to Tropicana via the Boardwalk entrance, the new renovations look great and the room where the table games are located is georgeous. The old room had the appeal of a warehouse. Wife found her Mr. Cashman and after reading many TR's about Buffalo, I decided to try my luck. I slipped a hundy and proceeded to get only one bonus based on $3 spins, but it went pretty fast. Hung around a while and caught up with my wife who was treated well by Mr. Cashman. Decided to leave and head north to Resorts.

Along the way, we made an obligatory stop at the Mountain bar at Bally's Wild Wild West where the new Boardwalk bar was doing well. There was a good cover band, but the music was very loud, so we had a quick beer and left. We decided to drive up to Resorts, but as we were walking through Bally's, Mr. Cashman was in our path. Earned 25 points for free parking ($15 otherwise) and we broke even thanks to the Cashman.

Made our way up to Resorts for lunch, parking with a player's card was $5, which is collected at the entrance. Decided on Gallagher's Burger Bar which was pretty quiet around 3 pm. Service was good as were the burgers, my only beef was my Goose Island IPA was $9. Had a great view of the loins and rib roasts dry aging across the way at Gallagher's. I also realized that it was the last day of AC Restaurant week, but most of the Casino restaurants didn't participate on Saturdays and many were not open for lunch. All of the participating restaurants have several meals for around $33 (plus resort fee........just kidding, plus tax and gratuity). The menus are online.

Belly's full, we hit the floor in search of Cashman for my bride. I found a three reel $1 Top Dollar machine and have been wanting to try it since reading a few trip reports. Shoved in a hundy and played max $3 coin, and proceeded to get only four $10 payouts (three bars) and a couple of cherries. I think it went faster than the hundy on the Buffaloooooo! at Tropicana.

Went into the High Limit room and saw a guy playing a $5 VP machine and pounding in the buttons, something tells me he was not having a winning session. Found a $1 three reel Monopoly machine, max coin was $5, so I slipped in another hundy and proceeded to get kicked in the nuts again, but I did manage to get one $40 bonus.

Found a quarter VP DDB machine, it was was choppy, got down to half of my buy in, then I hit a 4OAK which put me up. Played a little more and worked back down to my buy in. Time to grab a beer so I hit the Landshark bar for a tall boy PBR. It was cold, overcast and a little windy, but in the summer, this place rocks. It's across the boardwalk from Resorts and when the weather is favorable, it's a great place to sit and drink a beer. But one sip and my wife was calling.....damn.....grabbed a cup and made it a traveler.

The other man in my wife's life, Mr. Cashman, was not treating her well, and we needed to get home to take care of our puppy, except there was a Quick Hits in our way. Played a little and it was choppy until she got 7 Quick Hits which just about erased my losses for the day.

Made our way back up the AC Expressway and home in time to take care of the puppy.

Parting thoughts: it was great to see the crowds on the boardwalk for the St. Patrick's Day Parade, especially the younger crowd. Bally's and Tropicana were crowded on Saturday, Resorts was downright mobbed. Had to park on the 5th floor of the garage Mid Afternoon. A little hard to find a machine that you want to play on, but the vibe was great. Need to visit same time next year and take advantage of the Restaurant Week deals.

 

Great to hear there was some good vibes in AC. I think the reports of its demise is a little exaggerated. Just hope North Jersey doesn't get casino gambling. That would be a knife in the back for AC.

 

Thanks for the TR. Although I'm mostly a CET player, I ventured down to the Trop for the first time in about 8 years 3 weeks ago to play craps ... I had known about the renovations and the table game area does look nice, I like the green hues to the walls and the vests/shirts worn by the dealers. Also, I'm surprised how Resorts still stays in business; I guess they just keep chugging along month after month. I haven't played there in about 6 years. Were the table games just as crowded as the slots?

 

OMG, I was there this weekend (stayed at Ceasars on Friday night) and we definitely crossed paths. You should've made your way to Ceasar's: $15 3-course lunch at Gordon Ramseys and I scored a free pint and a shot from the married couple that was sitting by the bar. I ate solo as my guest was doing there own thing -- fine by me, I usually fare better when I do my own thing at casinos than when I'm following someone's lead. In fact, without them by my side, I was able to rack up the points / dollars at the $1 DDB machines. I won't get into my whole story, but I netted positive $400 after dinner, drinks, club admission, paying for the room, lunch, and drinks the next day.

Funny too that I was at Bally's new bar and was enjoying $0.50 Coors. I normally don't drink it but for $0.50, I had to. I was tipping the bartenders very well and was getting beer upon beer. But, by the way, Ballys took me in for a ride. I lost $100 on there. But that's nothing compared to the guy next to me. He was feeding the rapid roulette machine $20s and would curse after every spin. Guy was definitely playing a martingale strategy -- I find roulette is 20% strategy / 80% luck.

Anyway, glad to see so many members on here frequent AC. I love AC and don't understand why people like to rag on it.

 

We were there fri.night at Harrahs,couldnt do squat on vp ,bars and on floor. Did swill down a bunch of Glenlivit scotch .Next trip down we'll stay at Caesars and kill some time walking the boardwalk Glad you had a good time Hammie,too bad you lost but the one gal we know who is a weekend regular was banging out 4 2thru 5's or whatever on a bartop at the Eden. Twice I saw her hit back to back on max.bet.

 

Do you know what the pay tables were at Harrahs? I only found good ones on the higher denom games at Ceasars. Toga bar was paying 6/5 on JoB!! That said, the bartenders were making up for it. I want to try staying at Ballys -- I feel like there casino is much more lively.

 

I often wonder the same thing as to how they stay afloat. The Property is managed by the Mohegan Sun and I think they even have a minority interest. I think after several sales and bankruptcies the most recent sale in 2010 was $35 million, so they don't have a big nut to crack each month. They are profitable through the first 9 months of 2015, for what it's worth. As for the table games, they were pretty packed. I will never forget back in 1978 I was denied entry because I was wearing jeans.....I told the doorman "but they're Jordache designer jeans!!" I must have sounded like a total a$$. But back then, they were the only game in town and had a dress code.

 

Haha, yes, I saw the GR Restaurant week special on my smartphone while seated at Gallagher's Burger Bar. I also saw the $.50 Coors Light sign as we were walking out of the Mountain bar,,,,, They recently installed a roulette table, a craps table and about 6-8 BJ tables in the Mountain Bar area, all are supposed to be $5 minimum. But, these tables are not always open. Love the Toga Bar, but the 6/5 is rotten. I stayed at Caesars for a trade show last month on a comp and a guy at the first machine hit a royal.

Re: raggin' on AC, agreed. I still like it and will drive past several PA casinos to get there. For me it's always special to be at the Jersey Shore, I have many great memories of the Wildwoods and Ocean City. A bad day at the beach is always better than a bad day at home. There's a lot to dislike down there, but it's still a special place for me. Plus, if I'm not feeling the vibe, I can bounce to another casino in no time.

 

Unfortunately, the lure of $$ is too great and the legislature is set to place this question on the ballot for voters. North Jersey is much more densely populated than South Jersey, so I think it will be a done deal. They have a provision to divert a % of revenues from the proposed casinos in the Meadowlands and Jersey City towards Atlantic City, but have not settled on how big the % will be.

Ichan has already stated he is withholding additional investments in the Taj until the issue of casinos in North Jersey has been settled. I also read that the owner of Revel is planning to open 500 hotel rooms this summer and the Casino. Wishful thinking.

 

I was in AC on Sunday. The tables were not open yet in the Mountain Bar area (wild Wild West) as we were there prior to noon. I always have to check out the craps table and to my surprise that table also had the fire bet AND ATS bets. In January there were neither on the layout. All the boardwalk casinos were hopping Sunday afternoon especially Resorts. It was hard to find a spot to play there mid afternoon.

I definitely enjoy AC and make the trip as often as I can.

 

Ugh, I hope it doesn't go through. That said, part of the allure of AC is that it's a beach town. It's more enjoyable to be in AC than to mosey about in North Jersey. I also enjoy that traffic seems to wean as you get closer and closer to AC. It's an enjoyable drive...I also love that people do 90 in Jersey like it's not big deal.

 

Honestly I dont ,but I've played the 9/6 games and lost so does it matter in the short term??