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MGM National Harbor

Discussion in 'Non-Vegas Casino Hotels' started by EastCoastVegasFan!, Jun 24, 2016.

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  1. EastCoastVegasFan!

    EastCoastVegasFan! VIP Whale

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    When this opens in Maryland (Washington, DC), anyone have a clue what the table minimums will be?
     
    July 19th - July 24th
  2. catfishncwc

    catfishncwc Tourist

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    I am going to say especially early on table mins will be at least 25$.
     
  3. hail2skins

    hail2skins VIP Whale

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    This is an article from when MD Live opened a few years ago and the stupidity that ensued:

    https://storify.com/jfdulac/maryland-live-betting-mins-put-players-on-tilt

    About a month ago I went to MD Live on a weekday night and played craps at a $15 table for the first time. Actually played for two hours and walked away with a $100 profit (probably a little more, as that was after tipping the dealers and buying a couple of beers). There were five craps tables open......three were $15, and two were $25. Walked around the casino floor a bit and didn't find any blackjack table under $25.

    I remember going to the Horseshoe in Baltimore a few weeks after it opened and was surprised that there were $10 blackjack tables downstairs, as well as a $5 3CP table upstairs, on a Saturday morning. The craps tables were still $15 and $25, though.

    MGM National Harbor is going to be interesting. Place appears like its going to be a lot nicer than MD Live and Horseshoe, and is also going to be closer to the wealthy Northern Virginia suburbs than those two places. I expect minimums to be very high when the place opens, probably on the scale on what was described as what happened at MD Live. The more interesting part of the equation is to see what impact MGM has on the minimums at Live and Horseshoe. My understanding is that the opening of MD Live led to the lowering of minimums at Charles Town, WV (only casino relatively close to DC area at the time), which had been high when tables were opened there.

    In any event, I really want to check MGM out the morning after it opens, which I'm guessing will be in December.
     
  4. bdautch

    bdautch VIP Whale

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    I have a question for you: I live on Capitol Hill. In a way, Horseshoe Baltimore almost feels closer than National Harbor, even though I know full well it isn't, because I can walk a few blocks and get on a MARC train to Penn Station and then cab/Uber from there. Do you think that National Harbor's lack of Metro access will hurt it, or do you think it won't matter? I mean, if someone said, "OK, so first you go to Alexandria on a 45 minute Metro trip. THEN, it's a water taxi to get over by the casino. Otherwise, you can rid e different version of 45 minutes to a far flung Green line stop and then cab/Uber from there, if it's even a neighborhood that has a lot of cabs/Ubers." To be honest, I might just...walk a few blocks and ride MARC to Penn Station, as I do at present. Plus, I'm in or near the Harbor from there, and can easily go to Fells Point, Little Italy, The Block, etc. What's your assessment of all that?
     
  5. hail2skins

    hail2skins VIP Whale

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    BDautch, I don't think the lack of Metro access will matter. MGM anticipates that National Harbor is going to be their biggest US moneymaker (outside of Vegas), and I believe them. It'll be interesting to see how much the Harbor impacts Live and the Horseshoe, both of which I think are doing well enough as it is.

    How often do you make it to the Horseshoe? I've only been once close to when it opened (on the way up and back from a weekend in the Philly area). I think the Horseshoe is appreciably nicer than MD Live (and certainly nicer than Charles Town). The distance to the current MD casinos (I live in Woodbridge, about 25 miles south of you) and the table minimums provide enough disincentive to go. But I really look forward to keeping tabs on the playing conditions at National Harbor when it opens, even though I anticipate that I won't have interest in partaking because of said minimums.
     
  6. bdautch

    bdautch VIP Whale

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    I go every couple months. I don't really consider Horseshoe a destination casino, but I can almost go on a whim because, hey! $8 MARC, $7 Uber...15 bucks and I'm earning CET tier credits towards comps in New Orleans and Vegas! Plus I kind of like being in their town...it feels like a getaway, because their attitudes and lifestyle are so different from the pace and aggressiveness of Washington, and yet I don't really have to budget for a vacation. If I lived where you live, there's no way I would go so often. I've literally decided to go like 30 minutes before a MARC train on Saturday at 12:30, and then I crawl back on the 1:45 am Amtrak for like 12 bucks.
     
  7. hail2skins

    hail2skins VIP Whale

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  8. cssvt

    cssvt Low-Roller

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    Maryland Live! took about 1-1.5 years of table gaming before their minimums fell down to $10 on weekends. I'd expect about the same from MGM. Hopefully I have as much luck at MGM as I do at Live, where I think I've only had about 2 losing nights in 10 trips (usually walk away +200-500...wish I could say the same about my Vegas trips).

    Nice to see some fellow DC area people here to discuss. I personally only play at Live currently. I have yet to make it to Horseshoe. Moving to about 5 miles from MGM in 2 months so I'm planning to build up mlife points even though I prefer CET generally (can't beat convenience though).

    Additionally, I saw hail2skins talking about checking it out the morning of...they posted a Facebook event last week for December 8 at 12:01am!
     
  9. VegasSchemer

    VegasSchemer VIP Whale

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    I'm also a resident of the DC area and so I'm very excited about the National Harbor and hopefully the eventual switch over to mLife at Borgata. I used to live on the West Coast, so Vegas trips were very affordable. Now, it's a little tougher to have winning trips and keep status.

    One question about the Harbor though: There is no way I'm going to be playing as much. I won't take a vacation day and play 3 hours of blackjack there. I plan to use it to rack up points, express comps, tier credits, etc. on my account with what'll likely be weekly 2-hr BJ sessions. Will this hurt my room offers or will they keep them separated?

    Any insights would be great.
     
  10. EastCoastVegasFan!

    EastCoastVegasFan! VIP Whale

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    They will have FREE water taxis from the waterfront area across the potomac to the MGM.
     
    July 19th - July 24th
  11. EastCoastVegasFan!

    EastCoastVegasFan! VIP Whale

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    Also, the first domino to fall will be MD Live, it will have $10 minimums really soon, you'll see.
     
    July 19th - July 24th
  12. cssvt

    cssvt Low-Roller

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    I haven't been to Live in about 2-3 months, but last time I was there it was a Friday night and there were multiple tables at $10. I think they made the change early in order to latch some people before the competition sets in. Also doesn't hurt that they increased their number of tables in the past year or so as well (over by the bar and Phillips).
     
  13. Busyman

    Busyman VIP Whale

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    I live in Fort Washington maybe 7 minutes away from National Harbor and ride past it on National/Harborview Ave to and from work everyday.
    Construction is moving quickly.

    I see table minimums being high and staying high forever. This casino is in the best spot I have ever seen....in MD, across the bridge from VA, 5 minutes from the DC line and all of it near the water and off the intersection of 2 major highways.
    Yeesh....traffic is already bad.

    MD Live is going to be the biggest casualty. Hollywood can forget getting DC area folk almost completely. Horseshoe will be ok even tho' they should have had a connecting hotel property.

    Expect free water taxis from VA and don't forget The Wharf in DC. Expect round the clock shuttles from National Harbor proper to pick up folks from the Gaylord Convention Center and surrounding hotels as well as pick up folks from Tanger Outlets (which already has a shuttle to Nat Harbor).

    Expect folks to take the subway to L'Enfant Plaza or Waterfront stations then hit the water to MGM from The Wharf.
     
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  14. Busyman

    Busyman VIP Whale

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    The MGM sign is now up....on the face of the hotel.
     
  15. Dean Martin

    Dean Martin VIP Whale

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    This place looks and sounds nice. We're a 3 hr drive but that beats a 7+hr plane flight and all the fun that goes with that. I'm assuming that if a person planned their travel times to be (way) off rush hours that it wouldn't be too bad? Is the area in general a nice part of town? How are these places outside of Vegas for comps?
     
  16. Dean Martin

    Dean Martin VIP Whale

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    I'm excited to check this place out....hoping to get a 3-4 night trip sometime in January.:beer:
     
  17. bshowell

    bshowell VIP Whale

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    I'm about an hour away (even though I live in the same county lol) and I'm looking forward to maybe checking this out. It'll give me an excuse to look around the National Harbor at least.
     
  18. cssvt

    cssvt Low-Roller

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    Really hoping this thing gets a nickname. Spaceship? Mothership? I saw it the other day and it looks awesome. Can't wait til more than just the MGM logo is lit up at night.

    Just moved within about 5 miles and couldn't be more amped. May finally get a players card up to a respectable level. :)
     
  19. Dean Martin

    Dean Martin VIP Whale

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    Hmmm....that could be a good thing or a bad thing....LOL:poke: I envy you being so close....I think:poker:
     
  20. Dean Martin

    Dean Martin VIP Whale

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    I really didn't know much about this area until stumbling on to this thread about the new MGM resort being built. It appears to be a pretty nice area overall with some shopping and good choice of restaurants. For those here that live closer than I do, is this a fairly accurate portrayal of NH?
     
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