i disagree that the casinos would be shuttered. it's still a beach town. even if it had one casino it would have a draw. and it has it's own expressway. i would guess all closed casinos would turn into hotels if they couldn't get another casino investor.

If you want to see a Boardwalk that is family friendly, check out Rehoboth Beach, DE. I have lived there part-time for 8 years and have never had anyone approach me for money over the years. Atlantic City is a dump and driving from the Expressway to the Taj where I usually stay is a trip thru the ghetto. My kids are grown but I would never have brought them there on a family vacation. Two or three poker rooms is probably the best they can have in AC.

A bit further north of Rahoboth is Lewis, which has also got lovely beaches and more of a family atmosphere.

Ocean City MD and Rahoboth are a bit more ... college age? Party towns, IMO. Lewis is more laid back, and historical.

Obviously to each their own.

Turn AC into a magnet for rich, gay, professionals, and yes, it will be more like Rehoboth.

Actually, from a business standpoint, making AC into "Gay Vegas" could be quite profitable...

The boardwalk at night is good for a few things. Picking up hookers. And they don't all have teeth.

AC just needs to take some looks at WildWood maybe copy some of their things and then clean up the beaches to where its almost as good as Avalon Beach.

what we need is regentrification. Same as what happened in NE Portland when I used to live out west. When the hipsters, artists, trustafarians, ****/bisexuals move into the ghetto that is Ac today, we'll have a chance.

Harrah's had 3 tables on sat after 4th of july, holiday weekend during the day. Outside of Borgata AC is dying a slow death. Courts seem to refuse to listen to arguments for sports books. Online poker has done nothing for local economy. 4 casino closings in the next two months is going to be super painful. That will add thousands more to the already absurd local unemployment roll. Take a drive over the bridge to Brigatine. Every other house has a for sale sign in the yard. It's crazy.

When NY opens casinos it will be the death blow for us. On the other hand, hookers and heroin prices have never been cheaper, and you can negotiate any price you want in the Asian massage parlors. Your vices are being sold at a discount. The grit and grime that is AC has appeal to some. Its inner city by the sea.

The Hasidic Jews seem to be slowly but surely buying up Ventnor, and moving into south AC as well. Read into that what you will.

IDK get out of the Borgata and off the boardwalk and then you'll see what AC really is about for the people that live here, good, bad or in different, it is what it is.

I'll take online poker and its lack of physical reads over your wonderful description of what its like to travel to a NJ casino and play live poker.

And lets not forget when I sit down at the table and the guy next to me obv hasn't showered in a time period measured in weeks, not days.

If only we could play online poker in America... the land of the free. What a quaint notion, eh?

The problem w AC beaches is mother nature. There small, the tide comes in and you have no beach to speak of really. That said, AC does fine during the summer but the fact of the matter is, from mid November until May 1, the weather here is pretty awful. As far as actual beach days go, you get 10 weeks max a year.

i think this was more of an issue after the 2 years of hurricanes where the beach was largely washed away. it's building back up. last 2 years i found it's been fine (same as other shore points). like almost all the shore points they usually don't let you go out too deep due to rip tides.

wildwood is a stark contrast due to the man made jetty they created to let boats in and out on the south end. it catches all the sand that natural moves south and makes the beach about a half mile wide. also makes the slope more shallow in the water and keeps the rip tides further out.

Breaking news: you can play online poker in America. But that's not what this thread is about, so PM me for more details.

It is unfortunate that AC has been a declining market for years, not only for poker, but gambling in general. The closing of casinos can be good in some ways, yet bad in others. Since this market has been oversaturated, lessening the total number of gambling options will hopefully increase revenues for the remaining casinos. Yet, the only one closing with a poker room as of now is Showboat, so the impact on poker will probably be minimal. The issue, as several people have already pointed out, will be room availability, especially during the already booked summer months.

Neighboring states like PA and MD continue to increase their gambling options, and poker rooms have followed suit. MD Live, with its 52 table room, has been running at/near capacity since it opened. Baltimore and National Harbor will have some impact on that, and will only add to an already eager DC, MD, and VA interested market. New York is slated to approve casino operations in the near future, and will also increase draw away from AC.

Unless AC can change drastically, and I for one don't see how, they will continue to decline and become more of a local option rather than draw from the East Coast market as they have for years. The only thing that could possibly save the market would be additional offerings in the entertainment, travel, and tourism industries that areas like Vegas and New Orleans continue to capitalize on.

From a poker standpoint, distance and comps continue to affect the regular players the most, and even recreational players will begin to flock to their local options more than AC. Cost alone with tolls on the 95 corridor and the increasing price of gas all impact both recreational and even more so serious poker players. Without the discounted/free rooms, costs will become too high for most to continue to travel back and forth regularly. Games will dry up as a result, and the amount of higher stake and niche games will also drop.

Also, for those of you who only frequent AC between March-October, the other six months of the year are already marked by low occupancy at the hotels and mostly reg infested games. Options are not as good those months, from a profit standpoint and number of games offered, and without the "beach" crowd, the infusion of new players and recreational players is already limited.

It would be really nice for things to turn around, but that is something only time will tell. Hopefully the remaining casinos will react favorably, but the past has only proven otherwise. Cost cutting and increasing operational costs have taken from players many of the benefits they have come to rely on and which kept them loyal in the past. I've been an AC loyalist for years, but the increasing number of local options will more likely keep me closer to home.

Plus, as has been stated, the reintroduction and projected expansion of online offerings for both poker and other casino games will continue to draw from the brick and mortar customer base.

Yeah, cuz everyone knows poker players are overly concerned with who's sleeping with who and not what venue has the best poker room with the lowest rake.

I am the type that has no problem driving HOURS to find a good poker room.

All I can say is... "Maryland Live!"

But what I think makes Las Vegas (and sort of AC) desirable over Maryland Live, Delaware Park, etc are that there are several casinos within walking distance, so you have a few choices without having to get into your car.

Getting to AC and why the implosion is that some parts you cannot walk to (either because of distance Marina vs Boardwalk, or because of crime).

Why is Borgata the only place that seems to have it working? Because it is secluded in the marina area (lower crime area), has a nice hotel, spa and restaurants. Is it close to "good shopping"?? Hell if I know. But I do know that Grinders/Gamblers will bring their wives to Borgata and they have something other than a boring boardwalk, a boring beach, and after dark....furgettaboutit....

Why did the Revel not work? I think it was location. I stayed at Showboat and walked to Revel, which is "right across the street". But again, it is a long walk, up several flights of stairs, and walking it alone was not comfortable. Right across the street from Revel is regular housing, which to me reminds me of Jersey City. Who wants to vacation in Jersey City? JC is actually a second home for me, and I do not want to go to JC.

The successful casinos need to offer something special other than gambling/poker. Las Vegas has everything (pool scene, bar scene, shopping, Eiffel tower, Bellagio fountains, etc.). I always try to go hiking in the desert when I go to Las Vegas.

So the question is what does AC offer other that is "special" over MD Live, DP, etc.?? At this point for me it is "casinos per square mile", comp hotel rooms, and nothing else.

Come on, AC has THE BEACH, which none of those other places have. Personally I think the beach and boarkwalk are awesome, I never grew tired of talking walks on the boardwalk.
I guess it isn't enough to keep AC vibrant through, which is a shame.

Yeah one reason I do enjoy places like AC or Vegas is that you're not just going to one casino. You're in a casino area with tons of people and a whole market built around catering to casinos and customers. Also, people tend to stay at the hotels in these places so you can get drunk and party and gamble all night and instead of driving back home, you just go up to your hotel room and crash. The atmosphere in any Vegas casino differs from that of your local casino.

Las Vegas has a beach, just no ocean

Seriously, I guess I was never a beach person, so I do not appreciate it, but I have been to many places on the Jersey Shore, and AC's beach is just missing something, and I do not know what. Someone mentioned it in this thread already, but if AC had the Wildwood (or Seaside Heights or Asbury Park) vibe to it, I'd give it the benefit of the doubt.

The only thing I think of when I hear about AC's beach is Phil Ivey sleeping on it back in his 20s after he would lose all his money.

One thing I always liked about AC and Las Vegas is that you don't get at Maryland Live or Delaware Park is that you can drink as much as you want and then go up to your hotel room. Any casino that can offer that has an advantage for a lot of people. In AC I would often play for a few hours in the afternoon, take a nap, have dinner than play into the night.

Someone seems to have missed that the discussion has broadened to more than JUST poker here...or that what I was was a joke...

Kind of a waste to resurrect the thread for such a missed joke...

I drive 2 1/2 hours past MD Live to stay/play at Borgata. Staying at the hotel, in the casino, at rates that are either comped or reduced because of my play is great.

Plus, in my experience, Borgata strives to deliver the best possible service at every customer contact point - valet, checking in at the hotel, bell services, restaurants, poker room staff, etc.

Borgata understands that, if the customers are taken care of, they will be back.

They have some rough dealers but on the whole borgata is the nuts

Borgata has some of the worst poker staff on the planet. I can't see them keeping their action much longer with such a badly run room and the proliferation of other poker venues, i.e. Philly, Delaware, Maryland, Foxwoods and upcoming New York and Boston.

The only room that has really hurt the Borgata was Parx, and even then, the Borgata poker room is still one of the top(and by 'top' I mean busiest) rooms in the country. The other venues you mentioned are hours away from AC and ultimately won't put a dent in their player base. Yes, when NY opens their room(s) you will lose a % but you're forgetting that the biggest chunk of the Borg's base are from NJ and we're not schlepping to NY, Maryland, Connecticut, Boston or Delaware(that ones actually comical) any time soon, well, not with any regularity, that is.

if you're going to throw around statements that Borgata is "such a badly run room" then you really should explain yourself; I mean, you couldn't possibly tell me with a straight face that you think Foxwoods is ran better! Anyway, I'd be interested to hear what you have to say.

I will say this, I have yet to see any room run more efficiently than Parx, but, don't lump all of Philly in with that because their other poker rooms have a LOOOOONG way to go.