Here are my reviews of each room, with pictures. Finally have time to sit down and type this out.
In order:
Harrah's
Nice room. Shame they only use about 1/3 of the size of it. But the outer tables usually come into play when the WSOP Circuit is there. Overall a nice room. Amazingly, maybe the only room in the whole city where you can actually see daylight. There's a door that leads out to an outdoor area, I believe along the water. Never bother to venture out there, but see guys going in and out. Most likely for smoke breaks. But still, refreshing to get some sunlight in a casino when usually there is none. Room has some nice ambient lighting and plenty of TVs. The walls are adorned with WSOP pictures of pros, some recognizable, some I'm just assuming are guys who have won events when the Circuit comes in every Spring. Dealers here are some of the best in the city. Always talkative and having a good time.
This was my most active table card wise. My 2nd hand I was BB and decided to play K2s, since no one raised behind. Board was 2-2-4. Guy bet $2, I raised to $4. Turn comes another 4 so I have a boat. Guy bets $4, I raise to $8 and get a call. River was blank. Opponent checks. I bet $4. He thinks for maybe 45 seconds then folds. Not a bad pot, especially only the 2nd of the day. Few hands (maybe 8) later I end up with pocket Jacks. Limp for $2 in middle position. Board comes up blank. Thinking I may be ahead after a few checks, I bet $2. Get 2 calls. On the turn I bet $4 and the last two fold. I guess JJ held up to that point. I had a few other hands win before showdown, but not much. Ended up walking away up $9 as I said earlier, but again, it's only limit so it's not very profitable.
Harrah's did have a Omaha 8 / 7 card stud mixed game going which was cool to watch. 10-20 blinds. I of course didn't play, but I had never seen that type of game run at Harrah's before.
Golden Nugget
Hands down the best part of this room is it's right there at the top of the escalator from the self park garage. Free self parking is nice too (one of only two casinos in town that offer it. Everything else is $5 or $10, unless you can have it free as part of your rewards card. Or $25 at freaking Caesar's, which is a joke) My first time in the casino and the poker room. Room is very nice. Well maintained. Good lighting. Almost has a "new" feeling to it, even though GN has been open for years now. Problem is...I know for a fact there are casino hotel suites that are bigger than this room. Maybe 10 total tables. Still very nice. Guys at the front desk were nice and helpful and willing to talk to pass the time as people came in. I liked the "new" feeling. Still...wish it was bigger. But definitely the best located room in town. The only place that was better was the Taj when it was opened, since it too was right at the bottom of the parking garage escalator.
When I arrived they were running 1/2 NL and 3/6 limit was opening up when I got there, so I jumped on that, knowing there was no way 1/2 was opening any time. I was hands down the youngest at the table. Didn't win a single hand. Had JJ and KK two hands in a row, both couldn't connect and lost to a boat and trips. Bought in for $120, and am too embarrassed to tell what I left with. It was bad. I'm lucky I didn't lose all of it. But I sure felt like I did. Got up after a woman got here pocket 5s through my pre-flop raise and bets every round with KK. She hit a 5 on the river.
Limit and NL games were all that were available at the time.
Borgata
This room's reputation speaks for itself. It's one of the top rooms on the east coast. I dare say it's the best one outside of maybe Hard Rock in Florida. I know some people would argue Foxwoods, and I'd be willing to listen to said argument. But what a room. Nicely lit, sky high ceilings with TVs on just about any channel you can think of. High hand every 30 minutes with a minimum prize of $250. Good tournaments. And the WPT events are always fun to be there for, but none were going on at this point. Overall a fun room. I love the vibe. Every time I'm in there it's busy. At least 15 tables running, and that's just in the main room. I don't have enough money to step foot in the back room where the "high limit" games are. I've never been to Vegas...but I've been told Borgata's room competes with alot of the Vegas rooms. Wait time today for a 1/2 NL game was about 20 minutes before they opened a new table.
Didn't get much going here either. I'm starting to think that I need to stop putting a clock on my sessions. I always feel like I can never get much done when I sit down and say "oh I only have an hour to be here before I leave." I think it forces you to make moves you shouldn't make, just to not sit there bored it you're not getting hands.
The only hand I won was AKd and I raised UTG to $11. I had 3 callers. A came on the flop so I bet $10. All folds. It was nice to get a win, but it wasn't enough. Sat there and played tight and folded mostly after that. Had QJh and called a $7 bet, but had to fold since the board was all low cards and the guy to my right bet $10. Next hand I got into I had KK again. Raised to $12. Got 2 calls. Flop comes out blank I bet $10. Guy next to me calls, other guy folds. Turn was blank. I bet $20 thinking I was ahead and the guy next to me waits and thinks, then reluctantly calls. River comes 10. I sit and wait, then check. Guy next to me checks and shows pocket 10s for rivered set. I wasn't a happy camper after that. Had me wondering the rest of the day if I had just popped the turn more than $20 if I could have gotten him off it. Still, I can't blame the guy for the way he played it.
Borgata usually has about any game you can think of, but today I noticed 1/2 NL, 2/5 NL, 5/10 NL, 2/4/6/ limit, 2-5 PLO. 5-10 PLO and some type of mixed game. I've seen them run stud hi/lo there before, but again I just notice the screens. I never venture back to the big stakes games. They probably would take one look at me and turn me back at the door.
Tropicana
Last stop of the day due to time was Tropicana. They just recently moved their poker room from where it was. The old room was nice, but had dark wood along the ceilings and walls and had wood pillars. Always darkened the room a little bit. Plus it was tucked away in the back corner of the Quarter and tough to find if you didn't know where it was. The new room is still tough to find, but the casino is doing a good job with signs to point people in it's direction. New room is gorgeous. Well lit, plenty of tables and nicely light painted walls that help lighten the room even more. Plus it feels like a poker room. The old room just kind of felt like a section of the casino that wasn't on it's own. You could always hear the machines and the people and at night the live bands playing at the bar next to it. This new room is nicely tucked away from all the commotion.
When I arrived, there were 6 tables running. 2 limit and 4 NL. I didn't have enough to sit at 1/2 so I waited for limit. The rest of the story is in my earlier post about the blackjack table. Sorry PCF for breaking a rule of not playing games that involve 21, but I couldn't resist. And it paid off.
That being said, this new room at Tropicana may be my 2nd favorite in the city, solely based on the look and layout. Hopefully I'll get to play it someday.
Never seen Trop run anything other than holdem games before.
Bally's
I didn't play it today, but I have before so I'll review it anyway for anyone interested, since it's the last of the rooms in town.
Bally's is my least favorite room, for a multitude of reasons. #1 feel and lighting. I like to actually be able to see my cards and where I'm at. Bally's just feels dark and dreary. I can appreciate the "old west saloon" vibe, since it is in the Wild Wild West part of Bally's, but it's so dark and dreary. I have no idea how people can sit in that room for hours and play. I would go mad. Plus it just feels weird. The saloon vibe doesn't work for me. It's sad that at one point they used to have two sections of it that would be relatively busy. Last time I was there, it was down to maybe 12 tables.
#2 is location. Awful again. It's in the back corner of the Wild West casino. Nowhere near the entry from Caesar's or the main Bally's. I sometimes wonder how they manage to keep it open. But then again last time I was there I recognized a good 7 or 8 faces from the old Taj, which makes me think those folks just went to Bally's. No idea why, since neither were connected via player's cards or anything.
My hope is once Hard Rock and possible Revel open that Caesar's Entertainment will put Bally's out of it's misery and close it to offset the market a little bit. Anyway...Bally's poker room is very tough to get to, unless you're coming from the Caesar's parking garage and you can easily take an escalator to it. Other than that, enjoy walking. I wish they would just return it to where it was at Caesar's on the ground floor at the bottom of the escalator's from the valet entrance. Sure the location isn't great, but I've seen that room sitting empty. It's a good size and still looks nice and has way better lighting. If Bally's ever closes, I would hope they keep the Wild West part open, since it is great with Mountain Bar and the new live entertainment stage and area. But please put the poker room out of it's misery and move it somewhere else.
I also stopped at Resorts to pick up a half-barrel of $1 chips to shuffle. They are maybe my favorite chip in the city. Both in terms of design and feel. Plus most of their chips still have edges since they only put these chips into play not too long ago. Some of them, minus dirt, seem almost new. No poker room at Resorts, but I would hope that with PokerStars NJ partnering with Resorts that they would put one in soon. I talked with some folks at the PS Live event there last Fall that said they were looking into it. Hasn't happened yet. I think they're waiting out Hard Rock to see what happens there.
That's about it for reviews. Overall it was a fun day. I came home slightly up from what I started with. But that ended once the fiance and I decided to go out to dinner after I got home then go to a haunted house, attraction thing. But still, a good time in Atlantic City. Possible my last time for a while. Maybe even the last time til Hard Rock opens in May, which I plan on being there on Opening Night. Depends on my work schedule the next few months.
I'll upload some photos in another post below.