Thank you. I still have a little more to add to the write up for y'all. As for my next trip, it's going to probably be on a Thursday in the next 6 weeks or so.
Opinionated Recap (3) - The Traffic and The Drive Along with the tolls, I considered using the US 50 east to Bay Bridge to US 301 north to US 13/I-295/Delaware Memorial Bridge to US 40 east to avoid the most amount of traffic that I could. With this route, I was able to avoid the Baltimore Beltway (I-695) and I-95 through Maryland and Delaware. That's leaves the Washington DC Beltway (I-495) north and east, I-495 south and west and driving past MGM National Harbor, or Shirley Highway (I-395), Southeast Freeway (I-695), and DC/MD 295 to US 50 east. Going north and east on I-495 is a no-go. From Tysons to the American Legion Bridge, the Beltway is a work zone that has the 4 travel lanes squeezed into 3 along with the 2 express lanes dumping all of its traffic into those 3 lanes. The travel lanes expand back to 4 until you reach the I-270/I-495 separation and the I-495 lanes go from 4 to 3 and then to 2 at the Wisconsin Avenue exit with I-270 south and Wisconsin Avenue traffic all merging onto I-495. No bueno. I attempted to use I-395 to drive through Washington DC, but, as I explained in a previous post, once I reached the 14 Street Bridges with all the Crystal City, Alexandria, George Washington Parkway, and Arlington traffic, it was a complete mess. That's not going to make the chimichangas. So, the best way to get around the Beltway will have to be going I-495 south to the I-95 merge, and take I-95 north/I-495 east and the Woodrow Wilson bridge over the Potomac River. So, on the way to one casino resort, I will be driving yards/meters away from another casino resort. This option has the least amount of traffic along with the local and express lanes that helps avoid most of the congestion between the Alexandria and National Harbor exits. Repeating myself, driving the Washington DC beltway is choosing the best of the worst options. Avoiding the Baltimore beltway traffic, the Baltimore tunnel traffic, the John F. Kennedy Susquenhanna river bridge slowdown, and the Delaware turnpike toll gate congestion was key and made a significant difference for the drive. There was no slow down at all on US 50 east going to the Bay Bridge. From US 50 east to US 13 in New Castle, DE, the first time I stopped other than stopping at a Wawa before the Bay Bridge, was the first traffic light at the US 13/Cox Neck Road intersection. On Wednesday afternoon, it was a beautiful day to drive, and although the speed limit is 50 mph on US 40, it's a very scenic drive going through the Salem County fairgrounds and Cowtown, Woodtown, Elmer, Malaga, Buena, and May's Landing. Right now, this is my preferred driving route to Atlantic City from my close proximity to Dulles International Airport.
Pete Genovese writes for NJ.com just visited a bunch of 24 hour diners in the state and ranked them. Unfortunately, I don’t subscribe. In Atlantic City, Tony’s Baltimore Grill has a late night menu until Midnight (Sunday-Thursday) and 3 am (Friday-Saturday). I think the lack of 24 hour diners is a combination of high wages, a tight labor market, and high food costs.
Opinionated Recap (4) - Is it worth driving to Borgata for a one-nighter instead of going to MGM National Harbor? If I have a myKonami reward to redeem to stay the night, definitely yes. If I want to play $10 minimums for craps, blackjack, or roulette, yes. Even with that said, monthly trips will not be happening. It comes down to too much driving as it would be a 10-hour round trip (5 hours there and 5 hours back), still having to pay $ in tolls (although a much reduced amount with the US 50/US 301/US 13/I-295/US-40 route), and emptying my 20.5 gallon tank on my truck for the 2 days, and the close presence of MGM National Harbor. So, visiting the Borgata would have to be more on a 3 or 4 month rotation compared to driving 40 minutes with the option of a non-tolled route to MGM National Harbor, which I can do on a bi-weekly or monthly visit. With that said, I get why MGM National Harbor is so popular in the DC metro area. It's a short drive compared to Atlantic City, and you don't get clubbed over the head with multiple tolls while sitting in congestion or slow-moving traffic. Unfortunately, the MGM National Harbor management know that as well, which is why they have the $25 and $50 minimum craps tables.
Opinionated Recap (5) - myKonami and myVegas apps Does this mean that I am going to keep the 2 apps? Reluctantly, yes for now. Geralt shared my feelings on that:
IMO the best reason for going to AC vs MGMNH is the crowd and the experience. Yes the lower minimums are nice, but if you want a fun Vegasy crowd you are much more likely to get that at Borgata than MGM. I agree with you that the minimums at MGM are high because they can get away with it, but I also shudder to think about the crowd that would gather around a $10 craps table at MGM.
I haven’t checked out the other hotel fitness centers in AC but I can second the recommendation for the one at Borgata. Really nice. Also the adults only pool at MGM tower is a good place to relax in the morning after a night of gambling, and you can go there if you’re staying at any room at the hotel not just in that tower. To avoid the AC Expressway tolls I’ve done both route 40 and route 30 (Absecon Blvd) to get to AC. I like route 30 better myself.
Just had my easiest drive to/fro AC. Left Thursday at 7:30...caught the tail end of DC rush "hour" then ran into night construction on the ACE, but total driving time was 3.5 hours from Falls Church. It may have been shorter if I didn't stop for gas in Wilmington and swing through PA to make a sports bet. Today I got on the road home just about 5pm and made the 200 miles in under 3 hours of driving time. I-495/I-95 both ways. So maximum tolls. But I got to stop for pit beef in Aberdeen. Thanks for the trip report. I saw $10 craps at Borg before noon on Friday. By dinner time it was all $15 with one, empty $25 table.
Random Thoughts Earlier in the thread, the Las Vegas vs. Atlantic City comparisons were mentioned. My opinion is the best comparison would probably be Atlantic City to Biloxi, MS. Both are beach towns, and the majority of the casino resorts at both places are spread out so far that one would need to drive or use public transportation (jitney for AC and Casino Hopper for Biloxi). I have never been to Biloxi, but from what I have read from VMB trip reports and internet searches, Atlantic City and Biloxi seem to be more similar than different. It appears to me that if one goes to Atlantic City or Biloxi, one is either going for the beaches or for the gambling. Unlike Las Vegas, there really isn't anything else to do there, plus it appears that the longest trips people are having are 2 days to 3 days maximum. If one does want to compare Atlantic City to Las Vegas, my opinion would be comparing 2024 Atlantic City to Las Vegas of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s when Steve Wynn owned the Golden Nugget and didn't build the Mirage and Treasure Island yet. The majority of the casinos were on Freemont street. The major strip casinos were the Dunes, Caesar's Palace, Sands, Stardust, and maybe the Hacienda way, way, out there. They were spread out over Las Vegas Boulevard, similar to how Tropicana, Ceasar's Atlantic City, Bally's, Hard Rock, and Oceans are spread out south to North on the boardwalk. Las Vegas has evolved from a gambling town to a pro sports town, while Atlantic City is surrounded by Philadelphia, northern New Jersey, and New York City pro teams with the Philadelphia Eagles and Philadelphia Flyers having the biggest influences on South Jersey. Atlantic City would have to do what Biloxi has done, which is attract minor league teams, to have a sports presence. Even if Atlantic City does so, those minor league teams would need to have some connection to Philadelphia or New York City to be successful. As long as free nights are offered as my Vegas rewards, I can see myself driving out to the Borgata once every 3 or 4 months for the $10 minimum table games.
I'm wondering how many tier points did you earn during your visit? I can't see anyone not getting free room nights midweek in AC during the off season. I have friends who low roll making maybe 2.5-3k tier points a trip that get free midweek rooms and like $25 FP + 2000 Reward Points for offers. FP being M-Th, F-Su and Reward Points being 2x a month (1-15, 16-end of month). For $300-$400ish theo they get a room night, some FP, enough RP for a visit or 2 to Amphora.
Probably not many because I only played $0.25 max credits single hand Triple Double Bonus for "90" minutes. When I was playing from 9:00ish to 10:30ish, I may have been playing a hand every minute or two because I was watching several games at the same time and talking to the bartenders every little bit. I was doing a lot of multi-tasking when I was at the BetMGM sports book. That is why I'm putting the 90 minutes in air quotes. If it wasn't the bartender coming up to me and suggesting to me to start playing so the Sam Adams Seasonals would be free around 9 PM, I may have decided to not play at all or may have start playing later than when I did. Also, the early close took 30 potential/possible minutes away from my VP session. (For those of you that probably passed out because I was going to originally pay for the beer, the 20 oz. Sam Adams Summer Ale goes for $8 at the BetMGM sports book at Borgata. For comparison, it's $10 at my sports bar across the street and $12 at MGM National Harbor for the same 20 oz. I can afford to pay $8.) I didn't play craps Wednesday night or Thursday morning. Besides, I wasn't expecting this to be a gambling trip but more of a recon trip. I brought $3000 just in case everything aligned right in case I wanted to play, but those plans changed when I arrived at 7:30 instead of the 4-5 PM range I was originally targeting. Here is my win-loss from Borgata:
Atlantic City had an independent league minor league baseball team, and nobody came. The city also had a minor league hockey team, affiliated with the Islanders, and nobody came unless they were playing the team from Trenton. I don't see sports being a draw.
I can tell you first hand what it was like to see a $15 table there (this was pre-Covid, and I've only seen a $15 table once since post-Covid): Slowest craps game I've ever been part of. Table is always completely full, and the pit boss is desperately trying to get 8 people per side on a standard table. Half the people were placing $1 hop bets on like 3 different numbers, EVERY frickin' roll. There was always one rookie straight out of dealer school placed on this table, so after each roll, the look on the dealer's face resembled this during a payout: The over/under on the amount of time before a huge argument took place was 30 minutes... usually over a measly buck or two. You could cut the stress and anticipation on each player's faces with a Henckel kitchen knife. 80% of the players had no business being on that table. It was pretty evident a lot of them were playing for rent money. "High strung" would be too gentle of a word to describe these folks. In a card room, there were broke people hanging out on the railing (which usually separated the rest of the casino and the poker area) called "railbirds". These railbirds hung around in the hope that someone they knew would hand them some cash. In craps, I don't know what's the railbird equivalent in craps, but I do know there were a lot of same people watching the table in the hopes someone would donate them a chip or two. Don't get me started on the late bets, hands on the table, cash being dumped during the middle of a good roll, the "cooler", etc.
Great TR @RobzNtheHood! I learned a lot. I asked on your next visit because maybe I join you? I might have to make a "business trip" up there. **cough cough**
Its like that even at the $25 tables a lot of the time. My dad who plays fairly large will always request a $50 or higher limit when he plays there just to have some semblance of a normal craps game.
The coin-in and coin-out would have been much different if I got there between 5 and 6 PM. The plan was to have dinner first, hang out in the Bet MGM sports book from 7 PM to 11 PM, and then play craps. If I got to the sports book at 7, I probably would have been playing video poker while watching games for at least 3 1/2 hours compared to the "90" minutes I actually did play.
I'll let you know. So far, tt looks like I may go back in May. I just got an email 10 minutes ago about Tier Credit Multiplier Wednesdays at Borgata. Maybe some one in Borgata management read this thread about my Wednesday one-nighter....
