AC and the Mohegan Sun

[FloridaPhil]

Our original plans were to spend four nights in AC and two nights at the Mohegan Sun.  We chose to fly into JFK about midway from each, rent a car and drive back and forth.  Most of our driving was on weekends and this worked out fine.  We arrived in AC about 2 PM Sunday afternoon and checked into the Borgata.  The Borgata is a nice casino hotel away from the Boardwalk.  Our rooms were comped and they were spacious and well appointed.  We spent some time scouting the casino and found the VP odds awful.   My wife plays deuces wild and they have two quarter games, a 96.765% game and a truly terrible 100/60 95.105%.  The odds were the same at all denominations.   The Jacks or Better Game was 8/5.  I couldn't find the Bonus Poker Game I usually play.  From a forum member tip we were able to find 9/6 Jacks on a few machines scattered around the casino.Atlantic City itself is not all that bad.  We did not go out at night and we never felt uncomfortable.   All the casinos have a worn look to them and it permeates the entire area.    The Borgata was a few broken windows in the side, probably left over from the hurricane.   The biggest turn off in AC are the parking fees.  They charge you $10 to park in all the casinos.  It's good for another stop, but this alone keeps players from casino hoping which is much of the fun for us.  This can't be good for business.  Another thing about New Jersey that is troublesome are the tolls.  We took a side trip over to Delaware to visit my childhood home and we had to pay money all along the way.  The tolls in Jersey are ridiculous.We played mostly at the Borgata.   You can't make assumptions about results from just a few days play, but ours were pretty terrible.   Quads were very rare. Quad deuces nonexistent.  This is truly out of character compared to our normal results.  It could have been a stroke of bad luck, who knows?   We did play a little at Harrahs and Caesars.  Again, the worst odds we have ever seen.As I've stated before, my wife holds all Ace high two card royal flush draws without a deuce.    It works for her and we have had many discussions back and forth.    It paid off for her again and she hit a royal flush for $1,000.   Later than night she told me the machines were acting strange.  I won't go into it again here.  We spent the next 2-3 hours verifying what she saw and when we were convinced it was real, we decided to check out early and move to the Mohegan Sun.   I don't know why those machines were doing what they did.  They were very old, covered with cigarette ashes and the buttons stuck.  All of AC needs a reset.  With all the new casinos around the area, there is no reason to go there.  Perhaps the new Hard Rock will wake them up.On Wednesday we drove to the Mohegan Sun.  As soon as you cross the Connecticut border you know things are different.   The Mohegan Sun is by far the best Casino Resort we have ever been to.  It's beautiful everywhere you look.  The machines are new, the lighting is perfect and the decor has a great Native Tribal theme full of interesting artwork.  It's bigger than it needs to be.  If you can't walk far, you definitely need to rent a scooter.  They have every restaurant you could image from famous chefs to Johnny Rockets.  We found an Irish pub that we just loved. Later at the Mohegan Sun we met with Olds442JetAway.  He went to all kinds of trouble to get us a comped room which was much appreciated.   We enjoy his company and he is one of the nicest people we have met.  He told us where the best machines are.  This casino does it right.  They give you a choice of better odds or comps.  The machine with the best odds have a sticker on them informing you that the game is not eligible for points.  This is the perfect way to handle this and makes everyone happy.   I was able to play 9/6 jacks for the rest of our time and my wife played 98.9% deuces wild.   No more royals or quad deuces showed.   My wife gave some of her royal back and I lost more slowly.The Mohegan Sun is actually three casinos build around a huge upscale shopping mall and convention center.   The Casino of the Earth is nonsmoking.  All the rooms are nonsmoking as well.  It's first class in every way.All in all, we lost about $1,800 last week.  This is well over our goal of no more than $1,000.  My wife and I were both substantially up for the year, so this set us back some. The air quality in AC was bad while we were there.  I got a sore throat right away and it got worse the whole vacation.  At the end of the trip, I was so sick I could hardly walk through the airport.   When we got home, I went to the hospital and they told me I had  an upper respiratory infection.  They patched. me up and I am recovering. If you have any questions, let me know.

[Carcounter]

Sorry you didn't find the 98.9% deuces at Borgata Phil. They were on the same game kings as the 99.69% SDB. Agree with you on Mohegan Sun, it's a wonderful casino. If I get up there, i like the 99.95% full pay Pick'em. Have hit many $600 quads on dollars.Hard Rock opens on June 28th, the Revel ( now Ocean resort?) sometime this summer. We'll see what it means for VP and the rest of AC. I think if the new casinos do things right, it will be the demise of Resorts and probably Bally's. Not enough business for 9 casinos.

[FloridaPhil]

AC is just old.  Like most casinos there are decent games if you know where to find them.  As a new visitor we had a difficult time weeding them out.  We are getting to the point where VP is not worth playing unless you can find these better games.  I can't see much future in AC.   I went there years ago when they were the only game in town,  Olds442 told me they are going to build a new casino in CT.  How many do you need?  Anyway, except for getting sick I enjoyed our vacation.  AC was not on our list of places to gamble, but we wanted to see what it was about.  Too many people, too much traffic, not much scenery and poorly maintained games.   I will have to say the people were nicer than we expected and the food was good.  The parking situation is a problem.  It prevents you from exploring and keeps most people captive where they are staying.  It must be a huge negative for the smaller casinos.  We like seeing different casinos, but we're not shelling out $10 to move three blocks. As a recreational player it's not always about the odds.  We want beautiful surroundings, pretty new buildings, marble floors, attentive waitresses and well maintained games.  If you can find all that with decent odds to boot you have the perfect VP vacation.

[FAA]

You must have been uninformed about the jitney. Best way to roll in AC and $2.25. That's not even two spins. They come every other minute. Wish I had taken it anywhere yesterday as I gave back my $120 winnings.

[Waiting4RF]

Parking is free at the Golden Nugget and Resorts.

[FAA]

Yep! Knowledge is power.

[Waiting4RF]

And free on the internet!

[FloridaPhil]

What's not getting through is why we play VP.  It's not about beating the game or the gambling.  It's about having something enjoyable to do together.   Our favorite casino vacations are located in places with lots of scenery and natural sights.  AC has none of that.  The Beau Rivage has the Gulf.  Blackhawk has the mountains.  Vegas has the Strip and the desert.  Tahoe is just plan gorgeous.    If you have never been there, everyone should visit Miami once.  They have the best beaches in the world.When we go on these vacations, VP is there to fill in time between the experience of being somewhere new.  We like using casinos as our base on these trips because they are usually the nicest hotels in the area and many times they are free.  The greatest casino/resorts rarely have the best odds.We are lucky enough to enjoy each other's company after nearly 53 years.  Very few couples can say that.  When you have a relationship like we have, you already hit life's biggest jackpot.  When I play VP next to my wife, I could care less if the odds are 99% or 97%.  On the other hand, playing games with better odds stretches our money so they do have value to us.    We both enjoy playing the game.  We take walks, eat out together and we go on week long dates.All this must seem pretty meaningless to a professional VP player.  It's not to us.  All this gets lost in the discussion of odds, comps, perfect hand play, ER and the like.  If that's all there was to VP, we would find something else to do with our money.

[Carcounter]

Well, I don't have much choice when it comes to casino options. I'm a little over an hour from AC or the Philly casinos. If you think AC was blah, you should have visited one of the Philly casinos. The Borgata is the nicest casino in AC and if you know where the good games are, has the best odds. Also terrific restaurants. It's not Vegas , but it"s all I got right now and I'm ok with that.

[FloridaPhil]

Tampa is no garden spot either.  It's the closest to our house, so we play there often.  You deal with what you have.   It's a nice day trip.