Since I was one of the last players in A.C. on Friday, I figured that I really ought to be one of the first today. At Harrah's of course, where I helped close out the casino and poker room.
I arrived at A.C. nice and early at around 9:30, figuring to spend some time walking around the boardwalk. Went to park at Showboat and was waved away by a state trooper - no one even allowed to park until noon! What the heck?
Oh well, found a spot on the street a few blocks north and went out to investigate. Very little damage.
Sammy's Beach Bar in front of Bally's will be open for the weekend, and if anything figured to be destroyed by the storm - that was it.
Workers were taking boards down from the windows of stores and Showboat.
Oddly enough, with all of the casinos set to re-open at noon, the one that actually did open at 10:00 was Revel. Specifically, their visitor's center. Which means that the one casino not open for business as a casino was the only casino open..... Weird, huh? Sort of like Marcel Marceau having the only speaking part in
Silent Movie.
Speaking of Revel, it seems that they have their very own "death ray". No, not the science fiction sort. Rather, the Aria in Las Vegas sort. Sun beating down on a curved reflective surface results in magnification of the rays and a definite hot spot on the boardwalk. Easy to see because it's so bright. VERY warm to walk into! I wonder why the engineers don't learn from these things and design a little differently.....
I arrived at Harrah's at approx. 10:45 and was wondering where to park - when I noticed that nobody was guarding the parking garage. Yeah! Easy parking.
Not only that, but they were letting people in. All few of us. Very few. I was the first player to hit the poker room. 2 floor people, one dealer, and moi. Soon to be joined by a second player, then some more dealers.
For a short time, dealers and floor people outnumbered the players. That all changed as noon approached and 2 tables got ready to start. A 1/2 NL game and a 2/4 Limit. The NL game went off first - right at noon with the opening, well, not a gun but you get the idea.
I (small brag) actually won the first hand played post Irene at Harrah's! Yeah, me. Went on to have a pretty good day, actually. When I left some 5.5 hours later, there were about 6 tables in play.
One funny note, when the room was opening, the sign showing the BBJ announced that the total to be won was a whopping $274.00. Not a typo on my part - definitely one on the sign's part. The actual total was corrected to $186,589.14 - the right amount.
Lee