We visited the three Atlantic City casinos near the marina on a Friday. Borgata, Golden Nugget and Harrah’s are in this area. My two previous Atlantic City blog posts include our Boardwalk survey and my blackjack and video poker trip report from Caesars.
Golden Nugget
Golden Nugget is a small casino. I enjoyed playing here during my only other Atlantic City visit. I got some great mailers that I was never able to use.
Golden Nugget was nearly empty this late Friday morning. The best video poker game I found was $1, $2 and $5 9/6 Double Double Bonus. It was at the bar with other games like 8/6 Jacks or Better and 7/5 Bonus Poker.
I found some old Gamemaker machines with Let it Ride and played $55 there before leaving. Greektown in Detroit was the only other casino on our trip that still had these classic machines that I used to play often.
The pit was mostly closed. The typical poker table game selection had a $10 minimum. Fortune Pai Gow Poker, five times craps, double zero roulette and 3:2 blackjack with re-split aces started at $15. Baccarat had a $100 minimum.
Harrah’s
We walked back over to Harrah’s. It was not much busier, but it was still early in the day. Harrah’s Atlantic City has a large selection of video poker games and variants. The machines on the floor go up to the $2 denomination. The $1 and $2 games return better than the lower denominations. I recommend 7/5 Bonus Poker.
The high limit slot area is called Diamond Cove. This is where $5 and $10 denominations get 9/6 Jacks and some other 99% games. Look for the points disclosure sticker. I lost $60 playing full pay jacks.
The table game selection was large. Poker table games and roulette started at $10. It took $15 to get 3:2 blackjack. Craps was $15 with five times odds. A Roll to Win craps table had a $5 minimum bet, also with five times odds. There is a large stadium setup steps away from the pit.
Borgata
Our last stop in the Marina District was Borgata. We put it at the end of the plan because we had a 4pm appointment for massages at the spa there. The spa at Caesars, where we stayed, was closed. After a mediocre casino food court lunch, we hit the floor.
There are banks near the casino cage full of 9/6 Jacks or Better. The denominations run from quarter to $2. This and a section towards the rear of the casino offer a large library of video poker variants. There is Ultimate X, Super Times Pay, Triple Wheel, Hot Roll and many more.
The table game pit offers nearly every game that you can imagine. This includes Caribbean Stud Poker, Criss Cross Poker, Asia Poker, Fortune Pai Gow Poker and pai gow tiles. The poker table games started at $5, though some were $10. Spanish 21 and 3:2 blackjack were available for $10. At $25, blackjack stands on all 17’s. Baccarat and pai gow were $20. High limit table games started at $100.
Kristina and I finished checking out Borgata. We sat at a Fortune Pai Gow Poker table and bought in for $200 each. We were given $20 chips. I had never seen one before. The reason Borgata would do this is to encourage players to bet in $20 increments, which keeps change off the table for the 5% commission.
We broke even after about an hour. It was time to head to the spa. The massages were a great way from relaxing after about a 2,000-mile drive to this point.
After the massage, we returned to Harrah’s. We had reservations for dinner at Martorano’s. It was delicious. It seemed like everybody in the restaurant knew each other except us. It has many regulars that are welcomed by the friendly staff.
Atlantic City Marina result: -$107, trip +$3,895
Next trip report: Four Maryland Casinos
