Gambling and Casino Talk from Las Vegas to Atlantic City

East Coast Gambler -


Late Week Roundup 0

Posted on March 12, 2010 by The Commander

Before I leave the area I want to share a list of articles that I find interesting.  I’m also posting them in case I’d like to read them completely while I’m away.

  • It looks as if the racino at Aqueduct raceway in New York is dead.
  • New Las Vegas luxury – premium bathrooms!
  • Atlantic City’s newest excuse for losing money – “It snowed.”
  • New way to play 3 card poker – Ultimate 3 Card Poker.  First glance tells me to stay away.
  • Sad news.  Hard Rock Las Vegas president commits suicide.

My man Manny Pacquiao is fighting this weekend against Josh Clottey.  While this isn’t the fight most people really want to see this could be a real battle for Manny.  Clottey won’t fall easily.  I hope I can find a bar showing the fight tomorrow night.  If Manny wins it should set up a good fight in December with Sugar Shane or Floyd.

Keep up on fight news with ESPN Boxing.  There usually isn’t a lot of content, but the content is quick and easy to read.  Enjoy 5 Good Minutes with Freddie Roach.

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Harrah’s Resort February: Machines 0

Posted on March 12, 2010 by The Commander

I played a lot of machines this trip to Atlantic City for a few reasons.  I caught a cold about halfway through my weekend and didn’t want to get others sick and also wasn’t in the mood to be around people.  I also didn’t do too well at the tables, so I decided to stay away.

I played a myriad of penny, nickle, quarter and dollar slot machines along with nickle, quarter, dollar and five dollar video poker.  I had a pretty good run at all of the machines and made up just about everything I lost at the tables.

The first night of machines started with some drinks and video poker at the bar.  As usual, I was drinking Grey Goose and club soda.  The pay tables at the bars aren’t very good, but after 3 drinks I only lost $4 plus $10 for a tip.  Not too shabby.

After losing $200 at 3 card poker I wandered back to the the machines and decided to try a game I’m not too familiar with – Anything But 6.

Evidently there is a strategy when getting to the bonus game, but I was not in condition to figure that out.  The Goose was loose!  A very nice young lady decided to give me some advice, but I never got another bonus to try.  That was a fun $100 down the tube.

After the loss I regrouped at went to look for my friend who was still rocking on the 3 card poker table.  The night ended with a little more losing and a burger.

The next morning I was hungover and it started off very similarly.   A disgusting looking cheeseburger with a fried egg.

While this looks nasty, it did the trick and the hangover was gone.  The two latte’s didn’t hurt either.  Before the burger I won back some of my losses from the previous night.  I was lucky enough to get four 7’s playing my favorite $1 9/6 Jacks or Better machines.

I walked away up about $150 and decided to wander off to play some pennies.  I found a 40 coin/line machine.  I have no idea what I was doing, but the idea was to get 2x, 3x, 4x and/or 5x.

I inserted $20 and after a while I was up a little but got bored and moved on.  After breakfast I hit the tables for a while.  Nothing special there so I hopped back to video poker.  I played a little more video poker and had a net positive.

I then went to one of my favorite nickle machines – “X-Treme Reels.”  After about 2 minutes I hit 7-7-7 times 5 times 2.  I don’t know exactly what it paid, but I walked away up $500!

The only other machine I would play was at the X-Bar later on that afternoon.  I watched some college hoops and had a couple more Grey Goose and soda while playing video poker.  Again a small loss and tip, but a couple more drinks.  When the bartender doesn’t change glasses the fruit tends to build up…lame.

My final day brought some good and bad.  I caught a nasty cold and that slowed me down as the day progressed.  The good news is that I found one of the 25 cent 9/6 Jacks or Better video poker machines that have alluded for about a year.

I don’t play quarters too often, but it’s nice to know where the machines are in case I want to slow things down.  I placed twenty bucks in and won a few bucks after hitting my second straight flush!  Here’s my first.

The highlight of my day was when I found a new favorite nickle (or penny) slot called Time Machine.

This game had everything I like in a nickle slot.  Bright lights.  Loud noises.  Fun bonuses.  Surprises and most importantly MONEY!

The bonuses are random occurrences and happen in the past, present and future.  The first bonus I received was a dinosaur attack which yielded me 4 wild stripes which turned my $20 into $500+!

After another 4 of a kind at $1 Bonus Poker, I shut myself down and got some medicine and headed back to the room.

It was a great weekend with the machines.  I had great wins on the low limit slots and enough nice hits on video poker to keep the money rolling.  The machines made up for a few bad sessions of 3 card poker.  Sometimes it happens the other way around.  Almost even is always good.  Another successful trip.

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Parx Trip Report 2

Posted on March 10, 2010 by The Commander

JMP sent in a trip report to Parx casino outside of Philadelphia, PA.  I’ve heard that this place is beautiful, but still a racino.  With no table games and no hotel I don’t see Parx in my future, but here’s a first hand review from someone that’s been there.

If any of you want to know the real reason behind “Snowmageddon”, it’s this: umpteen months after emailing TC and saying “Can I be your PA casino guy?”, I finally set foot in one: Parx Casino (formerly known as Philadelphia Park Casino) in Bensalem PA.  I know, I know, I would’ve put money on it being Harrah’s Chester, as well, but the opportunity presented itself: my lovely wife gave me a day pass to head up to Edison NJ on Super Bowl Sunday to watch the game with some friends from back home and Parx is a few short minutes off of the PA Turnpike.
Parx is easily accessible by the PA Turnpike, Route 1 (aka ‘the Boulevard’) and 95 (aka “12 lanes of death”).  When it was just Philadelphia Racetrack, it was home to the PA state fair for some years and also to Smarty Jones, who won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness back in 2004.  The neighborhood on Street Road (yes, that’s what it’s really called) surrounding the complex boasts your typical strip malls, mid-level hotels and chain eateries (along with The Great American Pub, which wins the award for best diner year after year).  Contrary to what casino critics believe, there has NOT been an increase in crime since Philly Park opened, nor have pawn shops, liquor stores and check cashing places moved in to take advantage of the ‘poor stupid gamblers’ whom the casino industry allegedly preys upon.   Bensalem borders on the area of Philadelphia called “the northeast” and the complex is close to a large outlet mall called Franklin Mills (similar to AC’s The Walk, only it’s enclosed).

I originally checked out the original casino shortly after it opened in late 2006.  Those of you who followed me on the tripadvisor.com AC forum may remember the following review: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g29750-i78-k923726-Philly_Racino_TR_12_29-Atlantic_City_New_Jersey.html.  What’s especially pertinent, though, was the 2nd to last paragraph, in which I called the place as generic as generic could be and ended thusly: “Now, this is supposedly only Phase 1. I certainly hope so because they’re gonna need many more phases to get me to walk through their doors again.”
Of course, if you were following me, you’ll know I did walk through their doors again.  Philly Park became ‘that annoying kid in high school who you hung out with b/c he could get into the liquor cabinet’.  What I mean is, despite the flaws (genericism and poor ventilation) they were comping alcohol, while Harrah’s Chester wasn’t.  What made it even more attractive was that their VP bar had 8/5 JoB, so you could play a decent paytable and get your drink in a timely fashion.  Unfortunately, the paytables got lowered to 7/5 when they embiggened the bar.  With that change, I stayed away…

Until now!

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Video Lottery Terminal 1

Posted on March 09, 2010 by The Commander

The term Video Lottery Terminal, or VLT, is thrown around often in articles about gambling now.  This comes along with the rise of the racinoWikipedia offers an nice and simple explanation of what, exactly, VLT is.

A Video Lottery Terminal or VLT is a gaming machine that allows gamblers to bet on the outcome of a video game.

A VLT is similar to a slot machine, except that it is connected to a centralized computer system that determines the outcome of each wager using a random number generator. Although the outcome of each wager is random, VLT operators are able to program in advance the total amount and number of payouts that its central computer system will allow at its connected VLTs. In this manner, VLTs can be thought of as computerized scratch-off lottery tickets.

Further, Racino VLT’s are treated differently than others.

Racinos differ from traditional VLTs in that all video lottery games are played on a Class II gaming machine. Class II games are played in a traditional Bingo format.

Other states that have legalized Class II VLTs in racinos are Delaware, Rhode Island, Louisiana, New York, and West Virginia.

And even more close to home for most gamblers.

Currently, only Oregon and South Dakota employ Class III gaming technology into their VLT games. This means that unlike any of the Class II states, Oregon and South Dakota lottery players compete against a house edge rather than other lottery players. This is the same type of gaming offered in Nevada, Connecticut and Atlantic City. Currently, the state of Oregon offers its players a 91-95% payout on each of its games. South Dakota offers an 88% payout.

Most US jurisdictions do not allow VLTs and those that do have attracted the same criticism the Canadian provinces have. However, some non-players have expressed tolerance for the machines.

I have plenty of reasons to stay away from VLT’s, and given the choice I’d stay away from them because I’m not very familiar and because of that don’t trust them.  Everything I read about VLT’s has a negative tilt so I’ll just stay away.

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NASCAR Betting On The Rise 0

Posted on March 09, 2010 by The Commander

I’ve made a couple of posts on betting NASCAR races around the past couple of Daytona 500 races.  Few people have told me that they actually bet on any NASCAR events.  From what I’ve read NASCAR television ratings are dropping so the fact that betting on NASCAR is on the rise is a little surprising.

“We have grown every year in NASCAR wagering,” Hilton manager Ed Salmon told ESPN. “Our odds to win handle has increased an amazing amount from when we started in June of 2004.”

Ya learn something new every day.  I don’t know NASCAR well enough to bet on it, but I have noticed myself watching it a little more than I used to so maybe I’ll dabble in this down the line.

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Allen Iverson Has Some Problems 0

Posted on March 08, 2010 by The Commander

I came home to the end of a report about Allen Iverson having some personal problems.  As it turns out he’s been kicked out of casinos in Atlantic City and Detroit and has gambling and drinking problems to go with an upcoming divorce.  I just checked ESPN.com to get the details.  Here’s the report.

I like Allen Iverson as a player.  He was gritty.  I love the small scrappy types.  Hopefully he can get his life together.  Good luck AI.

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Harrah’s Resort Waterfront Tower Handicapped Room 0

Posted on March 08, 2010 by The Commander

On a recent trip to Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City i was offered a handicapped room in the Waterfront Tower.  I love the Waterfront Tower because it’s the newest tower at Harrah’s and prefer to stay there.  I also don’t mind handicapped rooms as they are usually easy to get to and a little larger than normal rooms.  Both cases were true.

First, I had to get to Atlantic City.  I wasn’t sure how the trip would go because there was a “snowicane” which brought anywhere from 6-28 inches of snow to NY and NJ.  As the day progressed the roads were tended to and there was clear sailing with a cup of coffee in hand.

The trip took about the normal 2.5 hours and with one pit stop for overpriced wiper fluid about halfway through the trip

I finally arrived at Harrah’s Resort at about 6pm.  I love the lights on the outside of the Waterfront Tower.  This is a pretty awesome feature.

The main area of the room was about the same size as other Waterfront Tower rooms.  There may have been a little more space for wheelchair access, but I don’t think so.  Excuse the dark photo, it was overcast much of the trip.

The sitting area was as tight and, somewhat, comfortable as the other Waterfront Tower rooms.

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