I'm heading from the UK to the US for a week of uninterrupted poker 4th-12th of April. I'll be playing NLHE, 1/2 and 2/5 and maybe some tourneys. I'm flying into Philadelphia, my original plan being to head to Atlantic City and get settled in there. Then I thought perhaps I could play in Philadelphia as well as/instead of AC. What advice would you give me? Are there many places to play in Philadelphia that you would go to over AC? I'm guessing that AC is the place to be, but it's always risky to assume!

yeah much easier to just go to AC so you'll have it all within a jitney ride away.

Thanks, that's what I thought. Can anyone tell me how different is 2/5 to 1/2? I play £1/2 here in the UK, so that's 1.6/3.2 in absolute value, but what effect does not being the lowest level have on the 2/5 games generally?

If you are going to have access to a car, then there are a variety of places you can play. All the casinos in AC, of course, plus Parx, Delaware Park, Harrah's Chester, etc. I would check the different threads on each casino to get an idea of the action. If you are going to be hard pressed for personal transport, I would say the Borgata is your best choice. If you are going to fly all the way from the UK to the East Coast for cards, the Borgata is the destination. You can take some time to check out the other casinos (you have to go to the Taj just so you can say you did) as well as the Tropicana, Showboat, etc. I think you'll find the Borgata experience is unmatched on the East Coast, though. There are no big tournaments in AC for the time you're going to be here, but Delaware Park has announced a really sweet tournament set for the two weeks covering your visit.

AC will be the simpliest. Many casinos available up and down the boardwalk, plus cabs and jitneys.

Good tourneys at Borgata and Taj. I always liked Showboat's daily tourneys, but I think they've lost some of their volume, so I don't know what kind of numbers they're getting these days. As many have told you and others will likely continue to do, the best cash action is at Borgata and Taj.

Make sure to visit the Irish Pub on St. James Place, a short walk from Taj and Resorts. Good place for cheap beer and food. Solid pub all around.

Tropicana has a nice area of restaurants and such called The Quarter. Some people like it. Also, there are plenty of skeezy strip clubs, if you're into that sort of thing.

Hi - thanks for the tips, sounds like Borgata is the place to start and move around from there: I'm not planning on hiring a car. I had a look at the AC thread and got in touch with Stan before I had my Philly thoughts, just waiting for someone to get back to me, although I'll probably just get straight over there, start playing and take it from there.

If anyone will be around then and would be cool with meeting up for a beer that'd be great.

There are 7 poker rooms in Atlantic City, all within walking distance or a short jitney or cab ride apart. There are hotel rooms there, with several casinos offering discounted pricing. Easy to get around, lots of restaurants, the boardwalk, etc.

If you don't like one poker room, or just want to try different ones to see what they are like, it's easy to switch.

A train can take you to/from downtown Phllly from the airport with ease, and from there it is an easy bus ride to/from Atlantic City. No car rental needed.

In the Philly area itself, there is Harrah's in Chester (south of Philly), Parx in Bensalem (north of Philly), and Delaware Park (in Delaware, even further south of Philly than Chester).

They don't have hotels, and aren't easy to get to unless you have a car. So, unless you have a car (which you'll pretty much have to have for any of these) they probably won't be your first choice.

Of the 3 Philly area ones, Parx is the clear winner. The most games, with very good variety.

Wherever you end up, please do remember to get a player's card! Lots of benefits, including free slot dollars, hotel rooms, etc. Caesar's properties (Harrah's in Chester, Harrah's in Atlantic City, Showboat in Atlantic City, Bally's in Atlantic City, and Caesar's in Atlantic City) are giving away a huge amount right now to new sign ups, but I don't know if that will be the case in April.

Regardless, all of them give away comps that can be used for food and hotel rooms, so it is to your advantage to sign up at every casino that you play in. Signing up at any one Caesar's property means that you are signed up for all of them.

I hope that you enjoy your trip!

Lee

This depends on the casino and the players at the table. My experience is that 1/2 at places like Taj, the Trop and Caesar's is filled with less experienced players and is easier to win than 2/5.

My experience with Borgata is that you will often have people with decent bankrolls playing 2/5 who aren't that great at poker and are exploitable. I actually think the 2/5 game is as easy to beat than the 1/2. BUT, it depends who is at the table. I'd watch a few rounds before getting a seat if you are able to.

I'm in agreement that the Borgata will be your best alternative for "home base". Just keep in mind, that you will not really be able to walk to the other casino's (expect maybe Harrah's) from there, but it's an easy cab ride to the boardwalk,where their are some rooms next door to each other. The Borgata is in the Marina district of AC and though only two to three miles away from the Taj, it's not three miles you'll want to walk. For room/table selection, it's the Borgata or the Taj. The Taj has an on line web site table report as does the Borgata. I'll list them all below..

If you do get to Philadelphia at all, you should visit Parx. That room has recently expanded to 45 tables and you may find the 2/5 games just a tad softer than AC....maybe not too much. But, they have a great selection of games and although I mainly play at another Philadelphia area casino, I suspect, you'll hear a lot about Parx in the future. Their management is very pro active and appear to be on track to be a world class room one day..... the Borgata already is.

Go to the Borgata thread and simply post to Stan.... he's very accommodating, but right now, they're very busy due to their "Winter Open Tournament" which runs the rest of this week.

http://www.theborgata.com/poker_live_data.cfm (Borgata)

http://www.playtajpoker.com/ (Taj, but you'll have to click on "live game report" on this one

http://i.parxcasino.com/gamereport.php (Parx in Philadelphia)

There will certainly be more people playing 1/2 who are totally clueless, that's the main benefit of 1/2. You shouldn't expect too much easy money at 2/5, but this is all without knowing your skill level.

Experiment. Start with 1/2, if you crush or feel like you're significantly better than the 1/2 population, take a shot at 2/5. You're on vacation, right?

Thanks everyone! This should be a blast

In my opinion there really are only three casinos you need to go to: Borgata, Taj Mahal and Delaware Park.

I'd be spending the vast majority of my time at the Borgata if I were you. It is by far the best for game selection, amenities and luxury.

The only reason to go to the Taj, as someone said above, is so you can say you were there. Once upon a time it was the place to be as far as east coast poker rooms are concerned. It's the one "old school" poker room in the area. Unfortunately the Taj has a reputation for shady characters, and there have been a number of incidents there in the past couple of years, so you need to be vigilant. In fact for someone unfamiliar with the area, I'd recommend going there during the day but retreating back to Borgata at night. None of the other rooms in Atlantic City, in my opinion, have anything compelling enough where you're "missing out" if you don't visit them.

Then you have the three horsetrack/casinos along the I-95 corridor in Delaware Park, Harrah's Chester and Parx (from south to north respectively). They all started out simply as horsetracks and only morphed into casinos within the past five years. In my opinion, if you're only going to go to one of these, you should choose Delaware Park. Delaware Park is the classiest of the three, also with the best food options. In addition to the racetrack and casino, there's a golf course there which gives it a full-fledged country club vibe. The room is significantly smaller than Borgata and Taj, but this also lends itself to a quieter, more intimate setting which is nice as a "change of pace" place to play. It's a well-run room with very friendly staff.

Have a great trip.

There are other nice rooms in AC besides Borgata. IMO Bally's has a nice 1/3 game but it doesn't always run during the weekdays. It's the only intermediary between 1/2 and 2/5 in AC. And it runs a little bigger than a 1/2 game. It's a little more fun than 1/2 and often looks like a 2/5 game. And even though a lot of people talk **** about Bally's, I think they have a nice room. The Showboat and Caesar's have nice rooms too although the games and tournament runners at the Boat have declined in recent months.

I like this idea. Philadelphia has a lot of history and is one of the best cities for tourists to learn about the founding of the country. Your here, so you might as well check out the city that shaped the country into what it is today (minus the douchebagness)

You can also take a train to AC from center city Philadelphia. About a 50 minute train ride (but never feels like 50 mins). The bus, you pay like $18 and get like $25 in slot money back (something like that, Im not too sure). So you basically make a little money. The bus is also a little shorter of a trip, but you tend to get a little more of the shady variety of people on the bus.

Definitely do this.

www.theirishpub.com

They also have two pubs in philly

I live in Old City Philly, the historic area, and play at Borgata (12NL mainly, many tournaments, and a few final tables including one during the current Winter Open). The train from Philadelphia to AC is $10 each way from 30th Street station and takes 90 minutes, not 50. When you take the train, you get a free shuttle (the last white jitney outside the train station takes you to Borgata).

But by all means stay a night in Philly (good hotel in historic district is Pennsview Inn, small and Euro, but not too expensive and a great Italian eatery with the world's largest wine bar, so they say). I also take the bus, but the bus station is crummy (round trip is $18, one way is $15). Plus, you need to take a cab from the AC bus station to Borgata, another $13 plus tip. They don't hand out any money on the NJ Transit bus to AC (#551 is the route), but it is quieter and a little quicker than the train). The bus station is centrally located, and while seedy characters hang there, it is a safe place. And by all means, when taking in the city, stop in at the Reading Terminal Market, 11th/12th and Arch, for an amazing collection of food places and people.

After a day/night in Philly seeing the sights (be sure to eat at Amada or Buddakan, both in Old City and both excellent, if you don't feel like Italian), get up early, get a cab to 30th Street, and take the NJ Transit train to AC. Check Amtrak.com for schedules, but the earliest is a 9 am train (other than 6:30 am), which gets you to AC at 10:30. Grab the jitney to Borgata, check in, and hit the tables.

I am about to explore the poker at Parx and Harrahs, but you definitely need a car to get to those places. I would leave the poker to AC if I were you, just because there are so many rooms there in a single place. There is a new casino in Philadelphia, near my house, on Delaware Avenue called Sugarhouse. They have had a couple of weird robberies, and right now, no poker. But there was just an article about how their revenues are at 50 percent of expectations, so poker may be somehow opening (though not sure where, since it is a very small casino). I would say daytime playing there is safe, but at night, get a cab at the front door (and don't tell your girlfriend about your winnings via cell in the men's room. Some idiot did that at Sugarhouse and two guys followed him home in their car and tried to mug him. He survived and they got caught, lol).

Anyway, without a car, playing the I-95 corridor (a major interstate highway that borders Philly on the east) casinos is pretty much impossible. So I would stick to AC and Borgata, and try some of the other rooms during the day, as someone noted.

Good luck, and enjoy the visit.

Thanks again to everyone, this is brilliant info and will make my trip much easier. I'll definitely check Philly out while I'm in the area. If anyone ever comes to London and wants any info just PM me, I live about 15 mins from the Vic, probably the best poker room in the city.

eating in Philly? La Vernanda if you want Italian fancy, Ralphs if you want it old school, Capital Grill if you want a steak.

as far poker goes, go to the Borgata you won't be disappointed.

Train from Philly to AC is also incredibly easy.

oops..my fault..the fastest time to get there by train is around 90 mins:

http://www.njtransit.com/sf/sf_servl...nSchedulesFrom

Haven't run the train for a while. But it still doesn't seem that long when you take it.

As for the bus. The station, located at 9th and Filbert, has more buses than just NJT running out of it. Trailways, Greyhound, Peter Pan, etc. make the trip to Atlantic City as well constantly. While NJT does not offer money back (which is why I didn't take NJT), the other bus companies do. I took a Greyhound during Borgatas SPO and got more money back than I paid.

Save some money lilydog10 and take one of the other buses. Parx would be a good place to explore as you say btw.

As for a cab in AC. From the AC bus terminal you can walk just 1 block east to Pacific ave. and hop a jitney (little blue buses that are everywhere and pass you every 2 mins) and go wherever you want for $2.25. But if you really want to take a cab, PM me and I have a cabbies cell # that will take care of you. If you want to go in style, I can set you up w/ a limo guy.

GL and have fun when you come!!

How far is Harrahs Chester from AC? Time wise? Plan on playing the WSOPC in April, but staying in AC.

Thanks for any help.

bobaby

Harrah's Chester to AC is an hour and change.

There are buses leaving from Chinatown that go to Parx (duh). Other than that, getting there requires a car.

Thanks.

Which Chinatown? NY? Philly? Where does one catch one of these buses?

Thanks.

Lee

Philly's Chinatown which is around 8th-11th & Race/Arch. Go to Septa's site.

Thanks for the info. One nice thing about that, is that Philly's Chinatown is right next to the main train and bus stations. Good food, at very reasonable prices - right next door to the main public transportation centers.

Only thing missing is a poker room.

Lee