The Ultimate Guide to Gambling in Atlantic City

Atlantic City is an American 바카라사이트 gambling hotspot like none other. Sure, the city is going through some tough times. Four casinos have shut their doors permanently in the last three years alone. But put that bad news out of your mind – AC is still very much alive. Where else in America can you gamble at eight world-class casinos just feet from the grandeur of the Atlantic Ocean?

Atlantic City was home to the first legal casinos east of the Mississippi River. In its heyday, Atlantic City was legitimate competition for Las Vegas. The numbers have fallen off, and a few properties have closed, but with twenty thousand slot machines spread out across an area that’s only five percent of the size of New York City, gambling is still a major industry on Absecon Island.

Most of the attention paid to Atlantic City’s casinos is on the boardwalk. And for good reason. Atlantic City’s boardwalk was the first in the country. Built in 1870, this five and a half mile stretch of walkway fronts the Atlantic Ocean and runs past all of the city’s glitz and glamor. But don’t overlook the three casinos located on the Western side of the island, clustered around Farley Marina.

Below is a guide to all four Atlantic City casinos, what sort of games they offer, notes on the amenities and lodgings, and helpful hints for getting around the various gambling halls on the island.

Atlantic City Casinos

1. The Borgata

Address: 1 Borgata Way at Huron Ave. Website: http://theborgata.com/ Known for: Having the biggest poker room (and the only racebook) in New Jersey.

Set back a bit from Farley Marina, The Borgata is neighbors with Golden Nugget and Harrah’s. The Borgata’s 2,800+ rooms makes it the largest hotel in the state. This property opened in 2003, and is by far the most profitable casino in the city. The Borgata has a modern Tuscan theme, and its giant façade of reflective golden glass (while not exactly on-theme) is one of the first things you see when you drive in on the Atlantic City Expressway. An attached boutique hotel, The Water Club, is a 43-story building featuring 800 guestrooms and suites, a massive spa, plenty of convention and meeting space, five pools, and a retail shopping center. All rooms at The Water Club feature ocean views.

The gambling floor at The Borgata is 161,000 square feet. You can find 2,475 slot machines and video poker tables, as well as a large compliment of 180-plus gaming tables. But the big attraction at Borgata is poker. The casino’s 85-table poker room isn’t just the biggest in Atlantic City, it’s one of the biggest in any American casino. The poker room hosts daily, weekly, monthly, and annual tournaments, with buy-ins ranging starting at just $40. The World Poker Tour hosts events at The Borgata, a testament to the room’s popularity and influence. The venue’s racebook has 100 seats with flat-screen monitors, ten slot betting windows, and a live video wall broadcasting races from all over the world.

Five fine dining restaurants are available on-site:

• Bobby Flay Steak, an upscale steakhouse featuring recipes by the celeb chef.
• Wolfgang Puck American Grille, the hotels’ other celeb-chef venue.
• Fornelletto, an upscale Italian restaurant known for its extravagant desserts.
• Izakaya, fashioned after traditional Japanese sushi bars.
• Old Homestead, the AC branch of a popular NYC steakhouse.

Other amenities include six casual restaurants and a food court on the retail floor, retail and boutique shopping, the Borgata Festival Park (for outdoor concerts and shows), two bars, one ultra-VIP lounge, rooftop dancing and beverage service, and a full-service spa inside The Water Club.

Tip: The Borgata doesn’t “accept” buses. That means you can’t pull up on a Greyhound or other bus and get off at the door. It’s annoying, but this is part of their image. They want to be seen as a Vegas-style residential hotel and casino. The appearance of tourist buses doesn’t jibe with their image of themselves as AC’s “luxury 온라인슬롯사이트 casino.” If you’re going to take the bus into town, as so many people do, you’ll need to call a cab to make it the mile or two from the bus station to the front door. You could also take the Jitney (a local institution, like a small air-conditioned bus) for $2.25, but the trip will take longer. Uber is now operating in AC, so if you don’t want to call a cab, just call for a (potentially-cheaper) Uber ride.

2. Golden Nugget Atlantic City

Address: Huron Ave. at Brigantine Blvd. Website: http://goldennugget.com/ Known for: Displaying the world’s largest golden nugget.

Atlantic City’s Golden Nugget is built right at the edge of Farley Marina. It neighbors The Borgata and The Water Club. The Golden Nugget is the home of Farley Marina – this also makes it the only US casino with an attached functional marina. This property was originally called Trump’s Castle, before being renamed to Trump Marina just a few years later. The Trump organization sold the casino in 2011. The 728 guest rooms at Golden Nugget AC make it the smallest of Golden Nugget’s casinos, and among the smallest in Atlantic City. One of Golden Nugget’s premier amenities is its massive recreation deck, which includes a jogging track, a health spa, heated pools and spas, and tennis and basketball courts. The venue’s theme is The Gold Rush.

The Golden Nugget’s gaming floor is 70,000 square feet in size, making it one of the smaller casino floors in the city. But what the venue lacks in size it more than makes up for in its variety of available table games. Golden Nugget has more tables per square foot than any casino in Atlantic City, hosting multiple version of blackjack, craps, roulette, and casino-style poker in the center of the gaming area. As for that world’s largest golden nugget – the 62-pound Hand of Faith is on permanent loan to the Golden Nugget from the casino’s Vegas location, and can be seen just as you walk in the casino from the hotel’s lobby.

The Golden Nugget is currently home to eight restaurants:

• Chart House, a traditional seafood joint
• The Buffet, a Vegas-style buffet that serves brunch on weekends.
• The Deck Bayfront Bar & Restaurant, serving modern American food.
• The Poolside Café, with snacks and drinks by the pool year-round.
• Vic & Anthony’s, the AC branch of a popular steakhouse.
• Michael Patrick’s Brasserie, presenting French food as cooked by the celeb chef.
• Grotto Italian Ristorante, a NJ-style Italian restaurant.
• Lillie’s Asian Cuisine, offering pan-Asian food at a reasonable price.

Other amenities include a recently-remodeled indoor-outdoor pool complex, one of the only smoking sections still available in the city, 24/7 bus access for guests, and the 600+ slip Farley Marina, which is managed jointly by the owner of the Golden Nugget and the New Jersey Division of Parks & Forestry.

Tip: If you’re into blackjack, check out the state’s only $5 game that’s available on weekdays. It’s at the Golden Nugget. The table moves around, no doubt to keep people from mobbing it, but it is always available.

3. Harrah’s Atlantic City

Address: 777 Harrah’s Blvd at Renaissance Point Blvd. Website: See link on next casino. Known for: Hosting the most slots in the city.

Harrah’s is the furthest-west casino in Atlantic City, built just west of the Farley marina. It neighbors the Golden Nugget and Borgata. This is Harrah’s flagship casino, housed in one of the tallest buildings in the state of New Jersey. Harrah’s was a big deal when it was built in 1980, for its gargantuan façade (facing Atlantic City Expressway) and its choice of location. Eschewing the boardwalk in favor of Farley Marina, Harrah’s AC set a standard that casino construction companies are still following today. Harrah’s is also one of the largest hotels in the state, and held the title of largest for many years before Borgata was completed. The main amenities are The Waterfront Shoppes retail complex and The Concert Venue, one of the more glamorous such performance spaces in a town with plenty of them.

Harrah’s Atlantic City is the best match for slot lovers in the entire city, by virtue of the massive number of slot and video poker games they host. The gigantic 175,000 square foot casino is stuffed with more than 3,600 machines. If slots aren’t your thing, the 140 table games available rival only Caesars in terms of sheer numbers. Most of those tables are dedicated to casino-style poker, though plenty of blackjack and craps tables are available around the clock as well. The 40-table poker room, open 24 hours a day, may not be the biggest in the city, but it’s one of the best-known – it hosts both World Poker Tour and World Series of Poker satellite tournaments.

Besides a shorefront food court and a few casual restaurants, Harrah’s AC is home to four fine dining venues:

• Dos Caminos, a unique upscale Tex-Mex dining experience.
• Luke Palladino, a celeb chef American-style grill and bar.
• Martorano’s, serving family-style Italian food in a modern environment.
• McCormick & Schmick’s, the AC branch of a famous chain of fancy seafood restaurants.

Amenities include the Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa, with twenty-three treatment rooms, a massive Jacuzzi and sauna area, and an organic café.

Tip: Harrah’s Atlantic City is positioning itself to become the most profitable casino in town, and to do that, they’re trying to win over other casino’s players. When you set up your next visit, mention that you usually visit one of their competitors, and they’ll be more amenable to room upgrades and other perks. The best way to get a free room at Harrah’s is to have VIP standing at another property in town.

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