Go to their Facebook page.

The room doesn't look bad. It's a decent size room like Harrahs. I noticed that there wasn't a cage directly in the room for some reason even though it is a 20 table room. The nearest cage is around the corner to where the slots are. I hope a cage for the poker room is made sometime in the future.

Also, I've seen an insignia on the poker tables of the WPT Boot Camp. Not sure if it means a possible WPT event in Golden Nugget but let's cross our fingers of a second WPT in AC. Also, I heard that they may do larger buy-in tournaments every month or so. Might be a guaranteed prize pool tournament but only time will tell.

Saw the billboard announcing they were open for poker on the ride in today. Played elsewhere (as planned). Will go check it out for sure. NOT pleased about the 'rules' situation. Assume floor said smaller stack couldn't remover chips. Wonder if a discussion will prevent big stack from repeating this in the future.

https://www.facebook.com/goldennuggetac

Scroll down to their post on 12/21

Where did the poker room manager come from? What AC casino?

He ran Caesars Day Shift for years!! He is one of the niceest guys in the biz... If they allow him the tools to run the room well he will do a great job.. if they nickel and dime the room will struggle! Probably he was the best rules/floor person at Caesars!

lol

Caesar's poker room is/was a joke, that place had potential like six (6) years ago and has been dead since last year

Golden Nugget's only chance will to be a niche room because it is too close to the Borgata and the decline of A.C. will continue

I'm a little surprised they don't have the IT staff to keep up their web site. The only mention of tournaments and poker room is through facebook. That does not create a good first impression and causes many players to be in the dark. Their first tournament runs Tuesday, but to find out information about it, a player must think to look at facebook. Most will go to the web site and see the announcement that the room will open DEC 24...... that's all anyone will find out from that page.

If they want to compete in the market, communication is critical and my first impression is that they aren't too good in that department. Heck, we can't even get a decent TR on a busy holiday week and weekend. I still have no real feel for this room, where it's going, how the tournaments will be. I only know I can get snacks.

The GN can't ever become the Borgata and they don't have to. But, they must communicate and keep their web page up to date and informative. I did not like the comment that the shift manager made that he was the final say on rules, or that a rule book had not been developed. This kind of stuff is covered by "management 101". A shift manager from Ceasars does not necessarily make a good "Director of Poker Operations" who understands the need to sell corporate products. In this case poker.

I checked out the room today around 1pm and they only had 1 2-4 limit game going. Looks like things are off to a slow start. The room looks pretty nice and has potential, however, I would have to agree that the smoke smell is unberable. They need to work on that and also communicating their offers. There have been many unclear rumors of giveaways and such that are happening. Hopefully they will find a better means of promotion and communicate it. Til then, it may take a while for them to get up and running.

Also, there are blackjack tables in the middle of the poker room - what's up with that?? Nobody was playing at them....

One food tray in evidence. Wish all poker rooms would do this, but probably unrealistic.....

Smoke from cigarettes is not tolerable, as stated. I won't play there until the air is cleaned up. Sadly, there is supposed to be a sports bar opening right next to the poker room. Good ventilation is promised, per a floor person, but really - how do they expect to keep the room smoke free??

Lee

smoke smell rules me out, please do update us on food, live game reports, comped rooms, etc., thanks!

I was told the blackjack tables were just gonna be there until New Year's where they were expecting a ton of traffic and a party-like atmosphere

I have not been to this new room but from what I have been reading in this new thread it does not sound promising. The Borgata right across the street is stiff competition for poker. If this new room was opening at the start of the poker boom circa the Chris Moneymaker main event WSOP and the economy was surging like it was back in the day, I would give it some hope. But things are different now. They opened up a room when you have plenty of competition in AC and new gaming markets in nearby states. AC casino revenue drops and drops with no sign of stopping thanks to unemployment and people saving their money. Management there will close that new poker room and install slot machines before you know it.

Mini trip report..

I was in AC this weekend and stopped by the room to check it out. Physically it is fairly nice and I guess they are positioning it as a 'luxury poker room', but mostly it was just nice because everything is new. I was a bit perplexed by the fact the center of the room was dominated by a few blackjack tables. Once I got there I looked for the board to see what games are running. There was no board. There was no cage. There was a small counter with a guy with a clipboard behind it keeping lists on paper. He told me there was 1 full 1/2NL table with 2 on the list and a 2/4 Limit game with open seats. I got on the 1/2 list and sat down at the 2/4 table.

I laid 3 20s on the table in front of me. After 2 hands were played the dealer finally seemed to take notice of me, and the money, (simply asking for change several times hadn't worked) and counted out 20 white and 7 reds for me. I pointed out that he owed me another red. After several recounts he finally agreed and tossed me a red. So far so good, right? After 1 hand the floor came over for a fill. This took an inordinate amount of time as the (manager I guess?) went over the procedures with the floor, the guard, and the dealer. The rest of the half went by (only a few more hands) with at least 2 occasions of the players having to point out what the correct outcome of the hand was to the dealer. Alright, obviously this dealer was just new, it happens.

Next half.. New dealer that seemed more competent. As soon as she sat down the floor came over for a deck change. This also took forever as the manager again went over procedures with the floor and the dealer. The half went by smoothly. Another dealer change. I ended up all in for about $18 on the turn with three others. When the river came there was a bet, a call, and then the dealer looked at me to act. I said 'I was all in on the turn'. He looked confused for a moment and saod 'You're all in.'. I guess it was a question so I said 'yes'. Finally he seemed to figure out how this works and pulled the previous too bets and the call that came after me into a side pot. I let the other 3 players show down.. a 9 high flush won the side pot. I turned over my 10 high flush and said 'I take the side pot'. The dealer looked at my hand. He looked at the board. He looked at the other hands. He said 'you have... a pair of 4s'. I said 'I have a 10 high flush.' He looked over all the hands and the board again and honestly seemed insure but everyone else seemed to be going along (correctly) with what I said and he pushed me the pot. I picked up my chips and headed over to Borgata.

So what can I say.. I would certainly not play there again soon. I'm sure lots of the staff problems will be smoothed over in a few months, but I hope they are not physically done either. The blackjack tables need to gtfo asap. This isn't a CA card club with 3 tables.. there is a whole casino for blackjack players. They need a real board for lists.. how they could open without one is beyond me. They need a cage or at least a chip runner with a cart or something. They need a sign on the damn bathroom door. How hard is that? I went and found a restroom out in the casino floor because the bathroom in poker room is just a door that looks like a closet with no sign on it.

...the dealer made a side pot! that's huge... even experienced dealers don't know or forget to make a side pot...

Random Post Calling GN poker room 3 questions at 2pm Tuesday Jan 3, 2012.

Q1: Are there any promotions for the Room? if so when what?
Players are getting 1.50 comp per hour.

"Promo Jackpot Progressive" Needs approval still- 23 Jackpots avil: for 2222 - Royal
funded By a 1 dollar drop. start at about 100.... will build to and Capped at 599.00 so u do not have to Claim taxes.
so for instance Quad 4's has its Own separate jackpot and will be about Hit and reset to a set amt.

Q2: BBJ? - did not need to ask this ....

Q3: How many games going right now?
NO GAMES RUNNING! about 2pm a game starts running at night usually 1 - 3 games running.
Promoted the Buy in previously mentioned above for 1 2 and 2 5. UNCAPPED!

Q4: Are there any opportunity to be hired as a Prop player in the games?
No - Commission of NJ does not allow.
(I did not know that- does not hurt to ask.)

I just don't see this room surviving. How are they going to run tournaments if they don't have regular cash games going to train dealers? Why would anyone drive past Borgata to play here. If the Revel opens a super lux room this place is dead.

I thought today was their first tournament at 10AM according to their FB page. I guess not.

Thanks for the info. It's not a good idea for me to go to the GN for a tournament until someone shows up to play against.

The lack of experience on the dealers surprised me. Is it normal for casinos to hire poker dealers that don't know how to deal poker? I'm not saying they didn't know what they were doing as an insult, they just literally did not know. They were clearly very inexperienced in general, and learning the GN procedures on the job as they went. I would have thought a new room trying to establish itself, especially as a high end destination (so it seems?) would have made sure to get experienced staff and have done some training in advance.

I'll make the suggestion, HU sitgos! lol

I played at the new room this weekend on the evenings of the 31st and 1st. On the 31st there were two full tables which eventually condensed into one. On the 1st I got there around 8 and there was one table running, which had 3-4 open seats. I played 1/2NL where the buy in is $100 min - no max.

The room is really nice in general, with LOTS of space between tables and high ceilings so you don't feel like you're playing in a basement. There is a private bathroom in the poker room, but as mentioned before, it needs a sign. The blackjack tables were supposed to have been moved out today and replaced with six poker tables.
I forgot to ask if they were getting a real sign-up system in place.

Auto shufflers: They have ten on order.

Beer: Cocktail service was very quick and they offer beer in bottles. Mixed drinks and soda are in those plastic Golden Nugget cups.

Staff: The dealers (with one exception) were very good and friendly. The floor managers were extremely helpful and spent a lot of time talking with me about the room.

Players: The worst I've seen in AC yet. Seriously. I don't know if it was because of the holiday weekend, but I also played at Tropicana, Showboat and Borgata. GN players were overly willing to get the money in the middle with the worst of it.

Construction: The problem with the room right now is visibility, in my opinion. It is in the right rear part of the casino but blocked by a huge boxed-off area which is set to become a bar and restaurant. Supposedly that will also be the race book, but I couldn't get this confirmed. Once the bar opens, food will be available in the poker room from their kitchen. The manager also assured me that the air handling system will take care of bar and casino smoke.

Tournaments: I got a copy of the structure sheet and I think it's the same as on their FB page. I asked why they had a 4AM tournament and was told they are hoping for dealers and casino employees getting off their shift to play then. The structure looks pretty good for an $80 buy in. They are supposed to start either late this week or next week.

Parking: This is probably the easiest casino to get to and park at. Parking is free during the week and if you ear 25 tier credits (2-3 hours maybe?) parking is free.

Overall: I like this room a lot, as well as the casino in general. The restaurants are good and have awesome happy hour deals ($5 drinks and food, $1 oysters in Vic & Anthony's). If the tournaments catch on then the room should do really well.

If you were there the 31st or 1st, let me know who you were. I only saw one person who I thought might be from 2p2.

excellent report, thanks!

Great report. Helps a lot. Plan to go to AC tomorrow and would have liked to play their 10 AM . As it is, I'd lose because I can't beat the vig playing myself. I'll go to the Borgata, but I like to play every room at least once. It does not appear that the cash room will open a table at 10 or 11 on a Thursday anyway. I like the idea of bad players, but that might be a weekend hotel guest thing and with an empty week day, no fish in the pond.

Someone needs to tell the floors to get IT to make their web page a priorotiy. There is to little information available regarding what they are up to.

I forgot to mention that there will be a cage installed soon. It will go in the front of the room to the left as you walk in.

laymedown - yeah, you probably won't see a game until evening hours I'm guessing.

Just got back home to philly, and I must say, I have a headache from that poker room. The funny thing is I quit smoking awhile back, but the amount of smoke smell in the poker room is absolutely unacceptable. Other than that, there was only 1 table(1/2) running when I was there, but they did get another must move going as I was leaving. The room is very nice and I love the food they have for everyone. The players playing tonight were so bad, I did very well for only played 4 hours, but I don't know if I could play there again. The smoke smell is so bad.....I could tolerate cigarette smell. But the majority of the smoke smell was of cheap cigars.......Anyways, they are suppose to have the ventilation fix sometime in the near future. Hopefully soon, because I won't be playing there until they do. I think right now, its the softest room in all of AC, well 1/2 NL that is ha ha ha.....That's my first impression of this place! Also, they do upgrade your card if you have a Diamond or black label. You get 6 months to maintain it.