The Showboat poker room is the one with a view of the boardwalk. The only windows in the Bally's poker room are in the tournament area.

This is the Regional Communities thread, so your post was 100% on-topic!



I've been to White House only one time and I split a large chicken cheesesteak with a friend of mine. It wasn't the best chicken cheesesteak I've ever had, but it was far from the worst and I thought it was a great value.

Going to NYC for 4 nights b ymyself in Feb from England. Very tempted to take 24hrs out to go and check out AC.

Are there any times of day you would not recommend to take the Greyhound Lucky Streak? Probably going to go down wed/thurs. But if I do go over weekend when the aces train is running, should i take that instead?

cheers!

The Aces train is a lot more expensive than the bus and not much faster, and I actually think it only runs in the summer anyway, but not sure about that.

Thanks chilirob, so, back to the greyhound.

Is travelling at say 3am safe? 7am? 11pm?

I take the greyhound between AC and Washington DC, not New York, but have taken Greyhound at all hours and have never felt unsafe at any hour. Make sure to get off at a casino (not the bus station) so you get your free slot dollars.

I recommend taking the Academy Bus line:
http://academybus.com/

It's about the same after the comps/slot play and is a much nicer, cleaner ride. The tickets are $36 for a round trip that is good for 4/6(?) days. The casino usually gives a $25 slot play voucher and the Tropicana also gives a $10 off buffet coupon. Now, all these comps have been fairly stable for the last year or so. Please be aware that they can change at any time since they are dependent on the casino and not the bus taken.

You can see the comps here:
http://academybus.com/Casinos/Packages.aspx

Also, you can take it at all hours without worry about the additional riders.

I believe the ACES train is closed now (only runs spring-fall) and it's also much more expensive ($45 each way).

-ph

Going to be in AC for the first time this weekend. Have a few requests:

For main game I'll want to play in a not super nitty 1-1/1-3/2-5 NL game, where can I find them?

Also, does PLO/PLO8 run consistently anywhere?

Finally, want to play a tourney, preferably one with a turbo-esque blind structure that goes up quickly so I don't have to play all day if I do well. $50-$200 buy in. Recommendations?

Appreciate any info. Friend bought me a groupon a while back for Trump Taj Mahal so will be staying there.

1-1 and 1-3 are at Bally's, but they're prob a nit fest. I don't play at Bally's too often (like once every 1.5 years). 1-3 may be spread elsewhere but I'm not sure (most likely not).

Most NL games in AC are 1-2, not 1-1 or 1-3.

2-5 is at the Taj or Borgata. Taj may or may not be nitty. Borgata most likely not. There will most likely be more 2-5 at the Borg than at the Taj, esp in off hours.

Borgata and Taj are your best options, in that order. From my experience, PLO/PLO8 usually doesn't run anywhere but these two casinos (but someone may have different info).

Sorry, don't know much about tourneys in AC. I play cash games. Again, I think the Borgata (not Taj) would be your best option for this if it is spread.

It's not a bad place to stay. The rooms are decent to excellent depending on what you get. The poker room certainly needs upgrading but you can find games there 24/7 (as well as Borgata). Most other poker venues do not have as much action. Period.

You will need to take a car/taxi or Jitney to get to the Borgata from the Taj.

GL.

-ph

bally's actually has "turbo tournaments" daily and are really fast. to the point that i don't really consider it poker since "shoving" is almost always the correct bet size. taj and showboat have probably the fastest structures after them, particularly showboat which has lower starting stacks, less entrants and antes coming in earlier rounds.

i have mixed feelings on the buses. i used to take academy every weekend and just started trying greyhound. greyhound seems to have more buses and the buses seem nicer on average (most are newer, some have nice leather seats, most have wifi and electrical outlets) and greyhounds go direct and don't stop on the way down. however, on the way back the greyhounds stop at the ac bus terminal and makes the journey longer. i feel safe on either. not sure which i like better. but both run round the clock. greyhound costs a dollar more on weekdays and 4 dollars more on weekends.

i also had the same assumptions about bally's 1-1 being a nitfest as pokerhacker but finally tried it 2 weeks ago. i didn't find it all that nitty (in my sample size of 2 short sessions). i just find the play to be really slow which is annoying and really soft. people love their top pair and their draws and will pay to see them to showdown. not much aggression but lots of calling and "not believing". the big downside is the money on the table. 150 cap and most people are buying in for 40 bucks at a time. it requires a lot of patience, still some variance (sometimes they have it), and straight forward play.

Thank you, I just meant any variation on blinds in low stakes NL games from 1-2 to 2-5, looks like Borgata/Taj is my best bet.

I will have a car.

It's not just the waitresses, it's the customers haha... But the waitresses are mostly hot too, and those uniforms don't hurt in that department AT ALL.

I just played about 8 hours at DP last night so I'm trying to remember back for 3b and 4b action. If I recall, there was minimall 3 and 4 betting at my table and I didn't try too much of it without a hand. There was never a time at my table where it was just good players and making moves felt necessary whatsoever, whereas at DP last night I had 3-4 good players to my right and made some light 3bets and whatnot.

Since you're asking, I'm thinking you may be someone transitioning to live from online play. FWIW, most live regs 3bet very very very narrow and 4bet next to never.

I'm on my way to the Borg now, so I'll post again on the 3b/4b question based on what I see today.

Just a note on that. If you're travelling into AC late at night and using a bus, thus walking places, be careful on the boardwalk. While I'm not in AC all the time, I've been a few times and I'm not one to freak out and say never walk on the boardwalk after dark, but do be smart and keep a keen eye on your surroundings. Expect to be asked for change by panhandlers, etc.

After experiencing the Taj first hand, I mean it when I say that if you told me my winrate would be 10-20% lower at the Borgata, I'd still play there. You're going to enjoy it more and not feel like you need to wash your hands every 20 seconds.

Also, if you're looking for a game like PLO/PLO8, you might consider getting the BravoPokerLive app if you have a Droid. It will list all of the games running at most casinos in AC, or anywhere for that matter.

Just curious - what time did you play? For me, daytime on a Saturday was brutally nitty and the shortstacks were a pain. Also, I forgot to mention in my original trip report, the amount of tanking over preflop raises to $6 and flop bets of $10 or less was mind-numbing. No joke.

Thanks for this. It's good info.

OK, at the risk of sounding like a total idiot, what's DP? I can't figure it out.

No, I'm mainly live 1/2NL. I agree with your assessment re 3b/4b. Also, once there is a 3b/4b, it's mainly goes all-in.

I played at the Trop once when some Borg regulars came in and I'm pretty sure it became a 3b/4b fest... Just curious to know about it before I make the move from the Taj to the Borg later this year.


I'll be sure to read your report! Thanks in advance.

-ph

I agree with this. I make a rule not to walk on the Boardwalk at night during the winter. During the summer it's not as bad before, say, midnight. It's also less dangerous if you're in a group.

Yeah, the chips are really dirty at the Taj. I don't know if I'd sacrifice my win rate for it though...


I had this experience too when I tried the 1-1. Basically they're people who are just learning to play. It can be painful to experience.

-ph

Borgata/Taj have the biggest rooms with the most action and different games.

Since you're staying at the Taj, you might also want to try Showboat for a comparison. Some casinos in AC are literally connected. This is the case with Showboat and Taj. You basically can walk from one to another without going outside. It's worth a trip to 1) experience what Showboat is like [just walking around their gaming environment] and 2) visiting a smaller poker room in AC without that much extra effort. One item to note, the Showboat poker room is not open late. So, don't expect to come off a taj/borgata session and head to showboat at 1AM (on a week night). It'll be closed.

GL and post your experiences! Hope I helped a bit...

-ph

late night weekends/holidays. first time was sunday, new years day around midnight. the next time was last friday (actually saturday morning) around 1 or 2am.

i normally am really calm at a poker table and don't even mind people thinking no matter what the stakes (it's still poker and you're still trying to win right?) but the fake tanking that was going on at bally's EVERY SINGLE TIME was killing me. i got upset at one guy who tanked preflop for a minute, then flop for a minute and all i wanted to do was shove my 2 pair (he had a set of aces btw). of course he was "deepstacked" with 75 bucks. so i just took my remaining 100 and left.

it's funny how some poker rooms get more of these fake-tankers than others. it's like the new players see them, think it looks good and emulate them, so now there is more. then the new new guys think that's definitely the cool way to play. if you ever play at the tampa hard rock it's the same thing.

Delaware Park...

Today I'd say there was a lot more 3b/4b than usual during the day... I got there at 3:30. Around 6 or so, as the lineup started to change, it died down. So more or less it went from a tougher lineup with a couple obvious soft spots to an overall balanced but weaker lineup with less 3betting.

I ran awful early, donating to the donator when he had me outkicked or hit his flush draw vs. my top two all-in on the flop. I battled back and ended up booking a ~400 win. Got paid by AA w/ KQ on 88QQx. Actually thought she had the 8 on the flop and check-called to re-eval the turn. Spiked, check-called, jammed and got paid. She confessed that she didn't want to 3bet preflop because she'd chase off all her action. I reaffirmed her play by telling her I'd have surely folded preflop. She seemed to appreciate that, actually glad she got action even though she lost.

When I walked it at 7 or 8 the other day there were just enough people out to feel safe. On Friday night when I walked from Resorts to the Taj on it around 2 am, I hightailed it even though it was right next door and I didn't carry much cash on me.

Likewise. I was trying to be nice and not rock the boat too much in a game designed for beginners, but there were numerous times where I nearly stood up and shouted "My god man, it's a six dollar preflop bet!"

Gotta love the tank and fold for 6 or the tank and flat for 6. I'll even give you the benefit of the doubt on adding up a raise size if you 3bet it after thinking for awhile.

You can walk between Resorts and Taj without going outside. Tough to explain, but the walkway is near the steak house on second floor of Taj.

I was walking down the boardwalk once and I saw a guy who looked homeless with a bunch of buckets set up as a drum set and he was rocking out on them with a stick to try to get tips. About 50 yards further down the boardwalk there was another guy doing the same thing but he had a nice little drum set and real sticks, he could really keep a beat too.

The point of my message is that if you are looking for cheap evening entertainment in the form of hobo drumoff, the boardwalk might be the place to go. Make sure to realize that the competition is fierce, don't waste your pocket change on inferior street musicians.

i would be so pissed if i gave some change to the guy with buckets and then immediately realized there was a real drumset guy i could have given my change to instead

I've also found the boardwalk kind of sketchy late at night. Is Pacific Ave better or worse to walk on?

Pacific is 100000x worse than the board walk.

I'm also seriously shocked at all the love Taj is getting in this thread. It is, by far, the most dangerous, dirty, depressing casino in AC. Borgata is in a completely different league than the Taj.

The bus terminal seats have bed bugs.

People get murdered in the parking garage and robbed in the bathrooms.

The poker room is pretty much dead.

Only reason I would ever play there is bc deep down inside I enjoy watching a good fist fight.


Borgata is clean, and amazing.

Boardwalk feels much safer than Pacific Avenue to me.