Atlantic City – October 8 to 12

 

 

Overall it was a fine trip except for the gambling score which left me $799 poorer, a huge loss for just 4 days of gambling.  I consider that large for 23 days of gambling in Vegas.  Most of it was in video poker.

Well, here are all the details.

 POKER

The problem I faced is the same problem I face in most live poker venues.  The games were dominated by locals who play every day and all know each other. They played well and tight.  Pots were just too small to overcome the rake in these games, and unless I got a run of very good cards, I could not expect to leave with much profit.  Even then, the tightness of the games meant my good cards were just not paid off.

At Bally’s I found a game I love, a 2-4-6 game.  About my third hand I caught broadway on the turn.  I just called because there were people behind me calling and I saved my raise until the river when I could raise $6. 

Two people hemmed and hawed but called my raise, although they knew that I was representing that large straight or a smaller one that was also possible.  I suppose was new to the game and they could not put me on a winner with enough certainty to fold.

It was a good pot. But after that the tone of the game changed. 
After a while I held pocket aces. There were only six players left at the table and they were likely to fold preflop with anyone showing any strength. 
I did not raise preflop. The flop looked good;  it even included a king.
A woman held a king and bet $2 after the flop. I raised $2. 
She folded her king and showed the king but not the kicker. 
I could not believe she folded top pair that she had bet with just my $2 raise. 
So while my pocket Aces had held up fine, the pot was tiny.  I actually showed the aces, because at that point I could see no advantage to staying in that game.

My best session was one evening when I just got great cards all in a short while.  I was in middle position and three times my low pocket pairs caught trips on the flop.  Twice I slow played, and a bettor just a couple players behind me emerged with callers, and I check-raised at some point depending on the possibilities.  One time I was on the button with everyone in the hand, so I did a button raise.  Often with low cards that both builds a pot, gets me a free card, and disguises my hand.  This time I did not need a free card because I caught trips on the flop.  I bet each time and quite a few called me because it looked like I probably just had a high pair, and my trips held up and took down a fine pot.

Second best session was one where I had a young, no limit player to my right who was very aggressive.  Few raised in this game preflop, but he raised often and with hands that I would not have played.  It was fine to decide what I might play based on how he bet because he dominated the game and determined the action.  I did well, but did not get good cards enough to take full advantage of my position.  High pocket pairs would have let me use his raise to add a reraise and push out all the drawing hands.  I never managed that.

He could read the people, so his aggressive style did win chips.  He was skillful.  I wish I could read people better than I do.  I am left with just tight play as my advantage, providing the rest of the table are loose players.  I rarely can guess what people hold.

I was attracted to the cracked Aces promotion at Harrah’s and that was perhaps a bad idea.  These locals all followed those promotions, and they especially loved this one. They came and played very tight, basically playing for the cracked Aces. The same pattern happens at Imperial Palace and Flamingo in Vegas.

I left one game once I realized that the pots were just not going to overcome the rake and there was no one to pay me whenever I caught good cards. 

Over the course of my play for cracked Aces, my single pair of Aces won that hand, so I did not get the $100 bonus.

There was constant talk of the “bad beat,” but I think I still like playing at tables with high hands, although the one “bad beat” I caught in my life was when my quad Jacks were beat at Imperial Palace in Vegas and there was no bad beat jackpot at that time.  While there is plenty of talk about “bad beat,” it is a true long shot.

Some of the players also did something that really astonishes me on a 2-4 table. They failed to bet the nuts on the river when they were head to head.  I am likely to check raise the nuts, but they missed that bet even when they were second to act.  Those extra 4 dollar bits in the pots pay the rakes.  I can’t understand the attitude that skips them.  However, I guess these guys play with one another every day and have just decided not to increase the rakes by increasing the size of the pots when they are heads up.

I liked the players.  A decade ago, when I was last in Atlantic City, I seemed to find the table dominated by old whiners.  This time the guys were lively, positive, funny, and welcomed me easily into the group.  But whenever I get up to Atlantic City again, I need to change the way I select tables and look for softer games.

Part of the issue may simply be that I wake up too early in the morning and tend to play morning poker.  This is a mistake in almost any venue.  In the morning is when these groups of locals arrive and few tourists play.  Late night is when the games are the softest and I never am up past midnight.  I need to develop a nap structure as I do sometimes in Vegas that lets me start playing fresh at midnight and catch as opponents the players who are tired or drunk or the its-only-money crowd.

It also may be a Catch 22 that I came off season when many tourists are not coming to Atlantic City.  The rooms are affordable, but the fine opponents, the passive callers, those who play third best hands, they were all in their regular lives at home.  On some tables half the players folded preflop on a regular basis.  That is not my game of choice.  I want to be the guy folding preflop while everyone else is playing anything for $2.

9/6 DOUBLE BONUS

I should not have played this video poker as hard and heavy as I did.  I really have not practiced the strategy, so that put me at a disadvantage.  It is just that finding any full pay VP games is rare in venues outside Vegas.  9/6 JOB existed, but every time I played it I would catch quad 3’s or quad Aces and wish I was on the more volatile game where those quads paid out huge amouts.

I caught quad 3’s once with a kicker for $200 and quad Aces without a kicker twice for $200.  The rest of my sessions were very dry and that contributed to my rather large loss.  I did not get quads much otherwise.   I suppose it did seed Harrah’s group for some future offers.  However, this is a huge loss for a frugal player, playing only 4 days.  $200 a day is not my bankroll. 
I had four to the royal so many times.  Just one lucky pull on those possiblities would have kept me even for the week. 

Of course, in Vegas I stay for 23 days, so it would really be beyond me to play as much as I played here in Atlantic City.

Part of what happened is that I knew this was my last VP for a long while.  In Florida over the winter I won’t gamble very much at all and they have no decent VP.  I don’t really do well at the Hard Rock in Tampa and I expect to just skip going unless I am picking someone up at the airport or have some other reason for the trip.  Maybe I’ll go down on the bus.  And the Silks has not worked well for me either.  So I pushed the envelope this trip.

 OTHER GAMBLING

The Atlantic Club offered a promotion that gave free slot play to any new cardmember who played for 30 minutes.  I played some penny slots at 5 cents a pull.  Then I thought it must be $30 and not 30 minutes, so I played a quarter slot for a while before heading back to promotions.  However, I could have gone after the first 30 mintues playing at a nickle a pull.  I was down about $10 when I got $10 freeplay. The freeplay was on scratch cards in a large drum and might go up to $1000.  A car was in there somewhere as well.   It hit for a profit on the freeplay and I left $16 ahead, having had some frugal slot fun.

I also played a bit of the video roulette at Showboat.  I like that slot because it is a single zero wheel and it pays back high (house advantage is just 2.70 percent compared to the average of about 90% on other slots.  I also can play for a while, using a low volatility betting pattern of one dollar on black and one on the third column and so covering most of the numbers on the board.  I won $10 just playing that pattern.  Sometimes I take profit dollars and put one on a number, say 17 for one spin.  Sometimes I increase my bets with wins, hoping to catch a streak of luck.  But I was content with just a bit of play this time and a frugal win.  I can get a similar deal on any wheel that plays the enprison rule; however, I can't play for very low stakes.  It is a losing game in the long run, so I want to play low stakes for just a while to have the fun of it.

 MY BIKE

Bringing my bike was great decision. The new Atlantic Club is trying free parking to attract players. They have an outside lot, so it was very easy to park and ride my bike up and down the boardwalk. What a great place to ride for an old guy. No hills. No traffic. Plenty to see. I shopped for cheap dollar hats, locked the bike along the railing to play poker, and just enjoyed the whole experience.




 I loaded it on the back of the van, parked for free at Atlantic Club and had an easy ride to the boardwalk.




There were plenty of restrictions on the beach, but you can note that riding a bike is not one.  I did not ride in the sand, however.



I could just wheel the bike up to where I wanted to look out.





I could also lock it right on the boardwalk fence along with my helmet and then walk the beach as long as I wanted, or shop, or play some poker inside.  The nice thing about owning an old bike like this is that if someone did manage to steal it, it would not be a tragedy.  In fact, I always have to decide whether to lock this old guy up or put a sign on it that says, "Steal this bike, please."


Note that the bike lock also locks my helmet, so I don't have to carry that into the casino.

 

The rides were not without incident.

Once a small bungy cord got caught in my gears and I thought I was done but I managed to pull it out and there was not damage.  I was a bit greasy, but my hands cleaned up easily at Bally’s where I played a bit of poker and then rode home.  I was sure my arthritic hands would drop the lock key, but I managed to keep that from happening.  All the plastic on the key snapped off and I am left with a very little bit of metal.  I’ll have to find a day to drill it and put a larger key chain on it for another trip.  I did drop the horseshoe part of the lock and had to go down on the sand under the boardwalk to retrieve it, but that was no big deal. 

I have been stubborn about upgrading to a more comfortable seat, so my butt is the first thing to tire.  Here along the boardwalk, I could take plenty of breaks to shop or take a photograph or gamble.  It was fine to have a place to ride.  I can’t really ride here around my house as the roads are too hilly and there is no shoulder and what space exists on the narrow county roads has too my gravel for my comfort.

The times allowed are only 7AM-10AM in most months, but in October they are 7AM-12NOON and again at 4PM-7PM.  I actually rode some of the board walk as early as 3:30 PM and passed patrolmen who said nothing to me.

I found driving through the crowds very easy on this wide boardwalk.  The hardest thing was to remember to check behind me when other bikers came up on me and passed.  No one made much noise to help with that.  If I happened to swerve around walkers just as some biker was passing me, there would have been an accident. 

Here are some views of the Boardwalk

Here is the casino I think looks best with all its interesting shapes and towers.





 It has some interesting design instead of just the modern angles in so many of the others.





I did spend some time walking along the beach.  It was deserted for the most part. 



It was too cold to swim there and not allowed anyway.  I was happy to have the pool back at Harrah's.

I used to collect shells, but they never look as good once we get them home and they lose their salt water shine.  I do like the found art look of them. 

I see that this poor fellow had been playing 9/6 DDB as well.

I don't think I would ride all the way from Harrah's to the boardwalk, but going to the Nugget would not be impossible.  Actually, walking would be easy enough, and I think I could bike to Borgata without too much tough traffic.  I did not do that this trip.  I might have used more time exploring and less time at the video poker and come away less behind in funds.

 

I do hope my play will generate some free rooms or good deals in the future.  I talked to one fellow who would take his cards around to other places and try to match his tier levels.  I can't do that, being the lowest of the low.  I probably do best by just taking the deals that Harrah's offers.

I'd play at Harrah's in vegas if they offered full pay VP.

HARRAH’S ROOMS

I had read that the rooms in the Waterfront Tower were the nicer rooms, so I asked for one.  They gave me a room on the 28^th floor facing out over backwater with even a long view of the ocean on clear days.  There also was a long bridge with traffic at night winding along.  I loved the view.  I could see fishermen on some days and see gulls down by the water.  At my level I watched some circling bird.  It was not an osprey like those around the lake here, but it was some such bird and fun to watch so high up in the air.

Nice heavy curtains shut the light perfectly from these large windows.  I have not been in a room that had so much to see and yet could be closed down dark for sleeping.

The entire room was very upscale and delightfully clean and comfortable.  It included refrigerator and coffee maker and 42 inch TV.  It had a large walk in shower with a great soap strainer and a seat. 

I don’t stay in rooms of this quality in Vegas.  It was priced at about $44 dollars a night with all the fees and what not included.  Using points I got it down to $25 a night.

The parking was fine.  It cost $5 once and after that it was free.  On the first day they gave me one opportunity to park free at another Harrah’s property.  The other days I would have had to pay for parking in other locations without the promotional parking of the Atlantic Club.

Parking in town was also too much of a hassle.  Everything was metered and My van with bike did not really fit well into the short parking spots even if I wanted to pump quarters in the meters.  Quarters are useful on the Gardenstate Parkway as well with a fee every little while of 75 cents to $1.50.  I had a good bit of spare change to get ride of and thought the exact change bins were the best idea until one jammed and I could not get it to operate even with $3 in coins.  I am hoping that I don’t get a mailing with a photo of my car and a fine for driving through.  The attendant waived me along, but who knows.  After that I just went in cash lines with people.

 THE POOL

I had read this was a good pool and it was.  It is covered with a huge structure of glass which lets in sunlight and gives space for growing palms and other greenery.  The pool is large and there are a few hot tubs set behind  and out of view of the pool area.   Some nights at 10 PM the place becomes a night club. This is a wonderful way to use space.  The pool hours are 7-7 and I really liked that.  I woke up every morning at 6 AM and the pool would give me something to do.  I was there to see the soft lights come out at dusk and it looked wonderful.

I also liked the security.  If I wanted, little lockers were available for me to lock up valuables.  I did not bother except once.  Pool visitors must have proof of being in a room and they are checked in with ID, so that the person in the room is the person showing the room ID.  I liked to see the security filter out folks who might want to steal.

I don’t know if I will stay at Harrah’s if I go again.  I wonder if the players at Showboat are more tourist types, and I’d be happier at those poker games or others along the boardwalk.  I heard that Caesar’s rarely has a limit game, but when they do, it is the softest.  However, that usually means weekends and I am not likely to earn free weekend nights anywhere except Vegas.

I would hate to give up the pool, but having my bike would give me plenty to do in the morning on the boardwalk so that might be a good tradeoff.  I would not have the good video poker, but given the cost of that game this trip, it might be good not to be tempted too often.  I would not play low pay tables in boardwalk casinos, and I want to play only at Harrah’s because that is where my play may generate mailings.

DRIVING

All that nickel/dime/quarter stuff along the Garden State  and parking fees at the hotels and the meters on the street is probably the most frustrating part of the trip.  Vegas is so open and free.

Driving down went well enough, but it is not my favorite kind of driving. I am not comfortable in aggressive driving venues with the unblinking lane changers and the tailgaters.  I drove in the daytime both times.  Going in I had figured the traffic patterns well, but coming home I hit the middle of my trip at rush hour and so encountered some hold ups.  If I go again, I guess I’ll wait the last day and leave around rush hour to hit the real traffic two hours into my journey.  Once on the NY thruway, the driving was easy, so I could manage that in the dark with no trouble, especially since my new glasses sharpen every image and reduce glare.
 

 

FOOD 

I had brought a cooler full of food, and so I ate most of  my meals right in the room.  My diet is strict now and the prices for food are outrageous.  The Harrah’s buffet is $32.40 and not very impressive.  I just walked through.  And while buffets are my favorite because I can always find plenty to eat that is on my diet, I don’t get that kind of value.

Discussion board friends recommended the Sack of Subs shop and I did have a good wrap there once, but I don't eat even the carbs that are in a wrap and my own food was much cheaper. 

My cooler contained:  pecans, peanut butter, wasa crisp bread,

I ate two buffets at the Atlantic Club (old Hilton) at $14 (with tax)  and those were worth the price because they included steamed clams and nice salads, summer squash, stewed tomatoes, sliced tomato and onion with horseraddish,  as well as some other treats.  I ate a sweet potato and a bit of a low sugar blueberry pie and one slice of sugarfree cheesecake.  The iced tea was very good there.

I also ate at Mcormick and Schmick's which had affordable lunch prices.  I had salmon salad and some mushrooms.  I don't recommend the mushrooms.  They were called wild, but I suspect they should have been called canned.  I ate at the bar and that was pleasant.  Service was great.  They had other entres which at lunch were just around $15 so it would be an affordable place to grab a late lunch and make that the meal of the day.

 

  The rest of my meals were in my room.  I looked around town for some interesting places, but did not find anything that attracted my attention.  I was going to search out this spot, but the one day I might have gone there, I had left the address in the room.

The Atlantic Club only serves the cheap buffet on weekends.  I stumbled into it on Wednesday because the café was closed that day.  Also, if you go be prepared to wait in line after you pay.  There is a place to sit along a window, but bringing a book or entertaining phone is a good idea.  For some reason they are not prepared for very many customers and it takes a while to get a table.

It was lucky that I had a coffee pot because I had left my traveling pot at home.  I drank my green tea often.  The trick there is to run the water through the pot once to warm the cup and then the second time to steep the tea.  I always carry a cheap ceramic cup with me as well as a cheap bowl and silverware.  It was fine to dine there in the room with a table provided and  television.  No tips to consider beyond what I leave housekeeping.  This trip I just tipped on my way out and skipped housekeeping the other days. 
The key to making good tea in the coffee makers is to run the water through twice, once to warm the cup and a second for the steeping directly on the bag.  I always carry a ceramic cup with me for tea.  It is comfortable, makes a good drink, and washes easily so I keep more foam out of the landfill.

I had much easier access to downtown eateries if I rode my bike. I saw a Thai place that would probably fit my diet and wallet. Next time I may try some smaller eatery off the boardwalk.
I can't eat the junk food that is sold along the boardwalk or I'd have had a dollar hotdog and some taffy. However, next time I might plan a meal at this place. Indian food is definitely encouraged. Their menu is a bit pricey, but the selections fit well in my diet.
http://www.royalalbertpalaceac.com/menu.htm

So, overall I want to go back to Atlantic City again.  However, off season will give me poor table selection.  I used to encounter the same thing when I went to Vegas during the cheap room times in December.  Now I go in more popular times and the games include poor players as well as the regulars.  In strip games I may find a table with just one or two regular rocks.  That is fine.  The same is true of Foxwoods even during the day.

 

I enjoyed the people.  They were just average New Jersey old guys, but they were good humored.  No extensive whining.  They had plenty of gambling stories and sometimes something else thrown in the mix.  Ron at the Harrah's table had just come back from Italy and could not stop talking about it.  He so throughly enjoyed the trip that it psyched me up for the French trip.  One thing he mentioned was the good taste of the Italian mozzerella which he mentioned was made from Buffalo milk.  Today in the NY Times I see the whole story of that process.  I almost wish I was eating cheese again.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/magazine/buffalo-mozzarella-craig-ramini.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20121014&_r=0

 

Harrah's was hosting the Ms. Senior pagent, so there were all these old women in beauty pagent banners from all around the country.  My favorite on looks was Ms New Mexico.  I stopped and watched them dance a bit at one of the rehersals.  They were terrible, but I enjoyed the whole idea and enjoyed seeing all the different outfits.  It was not a beauty pagent.  It could not have been.  Many of these women were far from beautiful. 

 

http://m.pressofatlanticcity.com/mobile/article_263514a0-13e4-11e2-9920-0019bb2963f4.html

The day after I came back was my 66th birthday.  Here is what my son Keith wrote to me:

I decided to celebrate your birthday by heading out for some poker last night. Good decision!

At 11:00 I bought in for $300 at 2-5 no limit. At 4:30 I left with $4560. My best poker win ever...by a long shot. It was incredible, I couldn't lose. Some good cards, some good reads, some nice draws hitting, and some bad play by others. It was a blast. I didn't want to leave, but I had to get some sleep before the kids woke up.

Meanwhile, this hat I bought rather sums up my video poker playing.  It happened plenty of times.