I find the opposite to be true with 90% of the people that play with at Borgata. I think it is only locals that play without a room tbh.

i play nl though so maybe other games are different.

Bad beat is quad 10s beaten

Played there for 2 hours this evening. Mostly good things to say about it. Only 5-7 tables were running but the dealers, floor, and service were all excellent. And for the people concerned about the tables that have yet to check it out- definitely not a cause for concern. I'm 6'3 and was perfectly comfortable. I couldn't sit with my stomach pressed against the rail, but unless you have t-rex arms you shouldn't have a problem.

Not really that far/hard to find from the self park garage... If fact you do not even have to go thro the casino!!!! Straight down the long hall right @ the --up -escalators adj.to the restrooms and your there....

i second this. Especially as someone who quit smoking, I love the fact that there is a place i can go and not have to deal with the smoke.

That said, i do think that they should have an easily accessable outside area for poker players who smoke to be able to step out, lite up and then come back in without walking halfway across Jersey.

I discovered the escalator after I was already up in the poker room, so I didn't test out the escalator to see if it was really better than walking through the conference center. One of the dealers mentioned elevators, too, but I looked for them and couldn't find them.

If you follow the signs to the poker room, it will take you up to the "Mezz" floor and then direct you through the conference center. If you want to use the escalator method and have never been there, good luck finding it.

smoking will be allowed in one area of the property according to something I read. Outside one of the clubs(not opened yet). Dont know how close to poker room it will be.

How's security presence? Inside? Garage?

a security guard at every corner

Perhaps I'm wrong but didn't the Borgata open in 2003?

Yes I was incorrect.

Midas, thanks for not turning this into a flaming war! Cheers....

That's good to know. I'm coming from street level, but it sounds like walking into the parking garage will be shorter than going down to the main entrance. Would be great if they could open a door so you can enter the property from Oriental Ave.

It sounds good that people parking with the intent of going straight to the poker room don't really have that far to walk.

Any chance we can get someone in the Revel poker room to call down a game when theres 6 or 7 names on it. All I see is a sea of dead spreads and people waiting to play but they dont call the game. What are they waiting for

This just came to me after spending another night wandering around Revel. I didn't see a race book.

thats good, dont need to see any broke old ppl hanging around

Spent eight hours in the Revel on Thursday. Some good news, some bad news.

I am going to do a complete review of the place -- skip to the end if you just want to read about the poker room.

First of all, the asthetics of the resort just blow away everything else in Atlantic City. The main entrance/escalator is spectacular. It's almost like an out-of-body experience, or at least an out-of-AC experience, and makes the other casinos look like hospitals or libraries by comparison.

The smoke-free everywhere is amazing. It makes such a tremendous difference when the hours rack up. If you're a slot or table game player who doesn't smoke, there is literally no reason to play anywhere else. The Revel will have a monopoly on these customers and hopefully the Borgata and others will see the light and ban smoking completely on the casino floor considering that 80 percent of the Northeast does not smoke and that number jumps to 90 percent when you include "aspirational quitters."

The casino floor is just tremendous. The design is meant to cater to casual players, and a younger crowd. There is live music in a circular, two-level bar and lounge that is just the centerpiece of the entire gaming area. Playing craps with a live band directly in front of you playing is a cool experience.

The ocean views are fantastic, and I especially like the open-air balcony on the mezz level (same level as the poker room). A few steps and you're outside with a spectacular ocean view. This is something I appreciate, because we all know how many times we've stayed at Borgata for two days and realize after 50 hours that we haven't been outside at all.

Waitresses are gorgeous, easily the best in the city, and better than Parx IMO. Also the clientele includes a LOT of attractive women in their 20s, all congregating around the center lounge.

The rules on the table games are slightly unfavorable compared to Borgata. Revel seems to hit all soft 17s at BJ. I couldn't find any tables that didn't. At Borgata you have the entire pit near the hotel elevators that stands on soft 17.

Craps odds were only 3-4-5, which is ridiculous for a megaresort. Maybe they are waiting to get their $50 million credit line they're applying for before they up the variance on the craps games. All craps tables are $5-$2500 with 3-4-5 odds. They're located in a prime location right across from the main seating area of the central bar and lounge.

Some other minor issues with the table games are things like lesser odds offered on the carnival games (specifically 3-card poker, which pays 3-to-1 on the flush, 40-1 to 1 on the SF, and has no mini royal. Compare to Borgata which pays 50 on the SF and 100 on the mini.).

Also, at pai gow poker, the player may NOT bank, because (I am not making this up), the pit boss could not find any banker buttons for the table.

Revel also does not offer "EZ" (No commission) mini-bacc, which is slightly better for the banker bettor than the standard game.

On to the poker room.

There are some major problems here, as previous posters have all mentioned. The lighting is too dark, the tables are a bit too cramped up next to the walls, and not every table had a shuffle machine. I am sure all of these issues can be fixed easily.

What might be harder to fix is the main problem with the room. It is super inconvenient to a) find and b) walk to. I mean, you just can't get there. The "fastest" option seems to be to walk from the main escalator to the room, but that requires walking through an endless hallway with conference rooms on either side. It's a strange feeling, being in a packed casino, yet walking for 5+ minutes without encountering anyone else. I wouldn't really be comfortable walking that way after a big, conspicuous win. I didn't see many or any cameras in that hallway, and didn't encounter any security for at least 5 minutes of solid walking. Try that at Borgata -- you can't walk anywhere in the resort for more than 20 seconds before you encounter security or at least other people.

The other option to get to the poker room is via a large staircase -- or should I say, two sets of large staircases, offset from the main casino floor. You actually go up one set of stairs which leads you to some sort of purgatory level space between floors, until you have to turn left and walk up another set of stairs to get to the poker room.

Casual players will have to think of playing poker themselves -- there is a zero percent chance anyone could wander to the poker room from off the main casino floor.

That said, I still have high hopes for this room. I expect the main casino to be the "it" destination all summer (and why not? It's a far more enjoyable table game and slot experience than Borgata) -- which should give the poker room some live players.... if they can find the place.

As of now, the room is not built for reg players. Games can and will be killed because it takes (no joke) 40 minutes round trip to get any sort of food, and maybe 25 minutes round trip to do anything else. It's just that far away from everywhere. I don't know how they could fix this, perhaps they could add some stairs somewhere.

The other problem with the poker room, as of now, is lack of game selection. I haven't been a 1/2 or 2/5 NL player in years, and yet, that's all they offer so far. Of course they will spread the games if they get players, but it's hard to see a 20-40 LHE game going here just due to the lack of amenities for poker players.

Also -- making every guest pay $5 for parking is hilarious. I was playing craps next to some dude who must have lost about $5000 at the table and I can just picture him pulling out of the parking garage and having to hand over $5 to leave. I am sure they will iron this out once they get the comps system up and running, but there's no excuse for not having it set up before the opening. The hotel took 6 years to build, in that time they could have set up the comp computer system.

All in all, this is very much a soft opening. A lot of employees seem to be only slightly less disoriented than the guests. They are still working out to whom they will be comping rooms. Not all food options are yet open.

With that said, Revel is a MUCH-NEEDED shot in the arm to AC. It could wind up saving the city. PA will soon pass AC as the nation's second-largest gaming market, and it's closer to pretty much everyone. All AC has going for it is to be a destination resort.

Take one look at the endless Parx parking lot with its litter and crime and just awful experience, and then take a look at Revel's 6-floor glass lobby with ocean views, and you will know the differences between the business models.

Finally, I can't see the Revel knocking off Borgata as top poker destination in NJ... but I CAN see it being the best place to play everything else, and hopefully the competition between the two big casinos in the city will be a rising tide that lifts all boats for all types of players.

I also visited Revel for the first time yesterday and echo many of the same sentiments of other posters. The location of the poker room is a shame in what really is a beautiful casino.

Imagine the excitement that would be building in this thread (and the poker community in AC in general) if the poker room was prominently located where the rest of the action is on the casino floor. Imagine casual players walking by being drawn to the beautiful room, players having easier access to drink and food service with a more centralized location, and the overall feeling of community by being in the middle of it all.

But the location of the room is what it is - secluded, remote, distant. Because of this, the room's potential is permanently limited. It can still be a really good room, but imo it will never be as great as it could have been.

Great review of the whole place thanks! Your talk about the table games odd was like gibberish to me, but how much worse are those odds for players and will many people even notice/care?

First off, thanks to everyone who posted a review. It's been very helpful. I plan on going down the weekend of the 14th and I now have a much better expectation. I'll write a review on my return.

Thanks goodness for eye candy!


As much as I was reading this for the poker room, this note is by far one of the most interesting I've read in the thread. I don't play against the house but here's my reaction...

Your observations mean that Revel would rather create more action as a lure to get people into the resort rather than make every penny it can off the games. It's a very interesting strategy that reminds me of what I've read about old school Vegas (50s and 60s): namely, the house would be willing to lose money in certain areas (such as the food or shows) because they knew they would get it back and then some in the casino. They were really focused on service back then. This seems to be a return to that but in a different form. The strategy seems to be: Create action and buzz in the casino and people will want to come and party there (along with the amazing atmosphere and amenities). This seems like a winning strategy to me. Expect a huge buzz from this, IMHO. They want those games to be fun!



This echos other reports and perhaps they'll move the poker room in the future like they did at the Borgata. While playing against tough players has it's place, it's all about the fish....

Each of these odds changes is not disastrous for the player. We are talking about less than 1 percent in house edge of a difference. Small, but it adds up.

It's hard to say how many players will notice or care. At each of the four games I mentioned, another player at my table asked or complained about the rule differences. But hitting soft 17 in BJ is becoming standard in AC anyway, so Revel is probably just ahead of the curve there.

And surely the vast majority of the players won't even notice the difference, except at craps where even the most clueless punter is going to wonder why he can't place $20 in odds behind his $5 flat bet when he rolls a point of 10.

I took my second trip to the Revel on Friday and brought my nicotine gum so that it wouldn't be so bad and did not have to go downstairs too often. This was my first time playing there. Did pretty well and got dealt Aces twice. One a nice pot when I flopped a set of Tens and made a boat on the river. Ended up winning about almost $200. But the complaints about the leg room are true. You can't stretch out your legs because the tables legs are round and not inside the rail far enough to get any leg room. This matters less to me as I am shorter but it's still inconvenient you can't stretch out your legs. I took some pictures, some ok, so not so good quality. I'll post later in the thread when I download them so everyone can see them.

I had the chance to stop by and check out Revel last night. I took a look at the poker room but didn't play. My sentiments from first impressions are pretty similar to what has been posted already, but I'll share them anyway. (Long post ahead)

First of all, the entire place looks amazing. Of course it is all brand new, but everything is well designed and very appealing. I parked in the garage and entered through the first set of elevators I found. This brought me in below the conference center area, kind of on the city side (not boardwalk) of the casino floor.

The first thing I noticed when I walked on to the floor was the smell. I had just been at Borgata for a few hours, which in my opinion is the (now second) cleanest and nicest resort in the city. The difference in smell between the two is noticeable. Granted I am somewhat sensitive to smoke and really can't stand the smell, but this place doesn't only not smell of smoke, it smells clean. Again, part of that could be because it is a brand new building, but it is most definitely noticeable and appreciated by me and I'm sure many others.

The casino floor and the resort as a whole is absolutely sprawling. This place is huge. It seems like the general floor layout is a large circle which will be easy enough to navigate once you are familiar with it. The decor on the floor is really nice and in areas almost gives and outdoors/jungle feeling which I really liked. It seemed like the bars and clubs have been excellently designed to mesh with the gaming floor. The center circle club is very cool. The Burlesque bar was packed and looked like everyone was having a great time. Overall the atmosphere on the casino floor is fun, energetic, and a lot less bland than most casinos.

The non-gaming areas are equally as impressive. It is clear that Revel is going for the resort that happens to have a casino approach. There is a lot of attention on open spaces and areas to hang out that aren't gaming-centric. The outdoor Mezz level areas are great. These spots will be really nice during the summer. Great views and a very relaxing atmosphere with the fire pits and furniture. They have a real winner with this space in my opinion. While we were exploring those areas, we wound up at the In-Out pool. We were able to get to this pool through public areas, so I am wondering if this will be open to anybody? I'd imagine that it will be blocked off at some point so that only hotel guests have access, but it would be pretty awesome if this was kept open to the public.

On to the poker room. As everyone has said, the location couldn't be too much worse. We started our hunt for the room from the main Boardwalk atrium, which by the way is pretty awesome. We first ended up one level to high, and asked for some direction. We then made our way down the escalators to the Mezz level and started heading off in the direction we were told. The five minute walk through dead space is accurate. It was ridiculous to the point of being comical. If you were to take the stairs in the center of the gaming floor then the route to the poker room is much better. However, there are no signs anywhere directing players to the room. They absolutely need to add many signs pointing people towards the room.

When we stopped by around midnight there were the following games:
2-4 (2)
1-2nl (7)
2-5nl (2)
5-10nl (2 on interest list)

We were quickly approached by the floor and offered a seat. They seemed very friendly and attentive to the games. The room is really dark, but I am confident this will get fixed soon. Those big red lights probably need to go. It's ironic that they have the worlds largest lamps hanging down yet the room is so dim. The games looked good from my quick glance over the room. Lots of young players that looked like the "I play this game at home with friends so I am good" type mixed with older players. The room looks comfortable with the exception of the leg room on the ends of the tables. Really bad table design there. So, in a bubble the room could be great. Unfortunately the location will really hurt them especially if they do not add signage throughout the resort.

I did stop by the taco truck when we got there to grab a bite to eat. I was pretty disappointed. I paid $10 for the JG steak taco. It was two very very small tacos that were more like a finger food snack. I am a small guy and I wasn't terribly hungry, but even these didn't come close to satisfying any hunger I had. They also charged my friend $3 for a cup of soda at the table which surprised us both. I didn't look into the other food options, but I feel like this is another area that will need some improvement as they move towards their official opening.

On the way out they have self park machines before you get to the garage that you can pay at and get a ticket to exit the garage. The system will seem overly complicated to some people unfortunately. Both the machine where you purchase the ticket and the machine that you insert the ticket into were giving us problems. The garage is nicely designed though and pretty high-tech as far as parking garages go.

I think I've covered enough to give you an idea. Overall, Revel is incredible and well designed. This place will certainly bring some new life to the city and will be a fun place to hang out. I'll be there to play poker at some point and can only hope that they address the issues regarding the room soon.

Distrito (the Mexican food truck) has a full restaurant in Philadelphia that has better food quality in my opinion. The portion sizes are also literally 50% bigger for the same price. At the Philly location you get 3 tacos for $8 for the chicken ones and the guac is definitely bigger too. I had 3 orders so I paid $30 for my meal. Hope they get some cheap food options ala borgata cafeteria.

One thing I've told everyone that I've talked to about Revel is this:

For those who haven't been, there is a huge 4+ story escalator to get from the ground floor to the higher levels. The hotel checkin is at the 4th level. Each level is really tall, so it's probably 6-7 regular building stories minimum.

It's a totally open escalator where the open space extends all the way down to the ground floor, so if someone were to fall they'd go all the way to the bottom. The handrails/guard rails are the same height as any normal escalator going down 1 floor with walls on both sides.

I am convinced some drunk person is going to fall off of that escalator and die at some point and the Revel is gonna get sued. Those things are scary for me looking over the edge and I don't even drink. All it takes is two drunk people to bump into each other and start pushing, or some frat guys horsing around.

I'm not trying to like make light of that in any way, but those things are freaking dangerous.