East Coast Gambler

I haven’t stayed at Bally’s in about a year and my last few visits have had me at the Garden and Dennis Towers since they’ve been renovated more recently than the main tower of Bally’s.  In fact, with the Claridge currently being renovated the main tower should be up for renovations next.

I heard that the rooms are still top notch even though the main tower at Bally’s hasn’t been renovated recently.  I didn’t expect to be blown away because, between Las Vegas and Atlantic City, I’ve been staying in newer rooms for the past couple of years.

I asked for, and received, a corner room in the main tower and got the kind of room I expected – a nice and big room that was build for the 80′s.  The room was oddly shaped, but very large.  Complete thoughts on the room at the end of the photo tour.

The room was kind of triangular as you can see from the image above.  You can also see the old tube TV.  I haven’t had a room with a tube TV in a couple of years.  I think that might have been the last time this TV was cleaned.

The seating area was nice and spacious and while the chairs were ugly and uncomfortable they were near an outlet (as you can see by my phone charging).

There was also a pretty sweet view of uptown Atlantic City and the Atlantic Ocean.

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I spent a few days at Bally’s in Atlantic City and my room had an awesome view of the Atlantic ocean and the Claridge hotel.

Bally’s began renovations to the Claridge hotel at the beginning of the summer, they really started renovating the casino last year closing off part of the building and opening The Ridge.

There were workers cleaning up the outside of the hotel every day trying to resuscitate the old building.  While taking a walk through and around the Claridge I wondered to myself if these renovations would bring life back to the old hotel.  Albeit a weekday, there were few people in the casino.  There’s no compelling reason go to the Claridge other than $10 table games that you can find anywhere midweek.  There are low limit slots, but that’s not a reason to walk over there.  The video poker machines have typical poor pay tables.

There’s no desirable place to eat and there’s nothing connected to the Claridge, since Sands was imploded years ago.  It’s almost as if it’s the end of the middle of the boardwalk.  So why go to the Claridge?

Plans are to make the Claridge more of a boutique hotel, so there is hope that they will add a few really good restaurants similar to the Chelsea, which houses the best steakhouse in Atlantic City.  Seeing the makeover at Wild Wild West, I can see that Harrah’s will move forward with their plans for the Claridge.

However, the missing link from all of the discussion of the makeover is the gambling.  The current casino is tiny, with low limit machines and poor video poker.  I think a way to really generate buzz when the renovations are complete would be to improve gambling payouts to draw gamblers to this section of Bally’s.

Here are a few simple things that can be done to attract gamblers to this dead end of Bally’s.

• Full pay video poker of a few different games in different denominations.
• Optimal blackjack payouts.
• New slot machines.
• “Loose” slot machines.
• Higher odds craps.

I’m sure there are more, obvious gaming additions that can be made that I’m not thinking of but this is opposite of the way all gambling has been going in the past few years.  This would draw the “gambling nerds” to the hotel to gamble and along with new rooms and restaurants would bring the Claridge full circle as a desired location for anyone in Atlantic City.

I’m curious to see if Harrah’s has the balls to do the opposite with this property, but I think it’s the only way for Claridge to survive as the dead end at the center of the boardwalk

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Wild Wild West recently went under a minor makeover and cleanup.  The essence of the casino remains the same, but a few entertainment items have been added and it looks as if they cleaned the carpet.

Wild Wild West was touting their “24 hour happy hour” with $2 beers and $3 shots all day.  However, judging from this sign that wasn’t entirely the case.

Truth is you only get a choice of America’s worst beers; Bud Select, Miller Light or Coors Light at $2 for a draft.  There were no signs with the specifics. I opted for the lesser of the evils…Coors Light.

I didn’t bother asking which shots were $3.  This seems like false advertising or bait and switch, but I’m sure there’s a way to get around truth in advertising.

As promoted Bally’s has added Beer Pong to their nightlife activities.

And there’s a mechanical bull as well.

Most of my visit was mid-week so I didn’t see much difference in activity at Wild Wild West.  However, once Thursday hit things changed.  The Mountain Bar was packed with people enjoying their crap beers and bad dance music.

I’m not sure if there’s money to be made here, but it seems as if the changes are breathing a little life into Wild Wild West.  It was nice to see a little action in a relatively quiet area that acts mostly as a pass-through for Caesars and Bally’s.

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I was walking through the lobby at Bally’s one afternoon last week looking for some help.  I saw this sign and received no help.

Why would guest services be closed during the middle of the day?

I had a simple question about wifi access and couldn’t get a straight answer.  I can’t imagine I’m the first person to look for wifi access at Bally’s, but I felt like I was.

Truth be told, the staff at Bally’s was very nice when they were available.  They just weren’t always helpful (like in this case).  This is just an sign that is indicative of how customer service is treated at the Bally’s.

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Bally’s steakhouse, The Reserve, was renovated about two years ago and a bar, Preview, was added outside in the lobby.  The bar is usually empty, but it’s a nice quiet place to grab a drink with little disturbance.

Recently Preview added a burger bar and I decided to check it out.  I started with an excellent glass of wine.  I believe it was a 2005 Malbec.

I decided to get a simple cheeseburger with cheddar on brioche for the burger.  I like to keep it simple when trying out a burger joint.  If anything, I’ll add bacon. The burger came with a side of fries in a little basket.

I don’t have high expectations for food at Bally’s as I’ve never been wowed by any of their restaurants.  However, I was happily surprised with my burger at the Preview Bar.  Even though the burger came out a bit faster than I expected, it was excellent.  The brioche bun was really good and even the fries were good.  I’m not much of a fry guy, but I finished everything on the plate and even ordered a second glass of wine for dessert.

The Preview Bar doesn’t open until Happy Hour where they have half priced drinks and appetizers.  I will definitely make a return trip and would recommend this to anyone looking for a quick drink and bite to eat.  If you’re not inclined to eat dinner at a bar, there are tables.

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I don’t walk with my head down so I don’t notice casino carpeting very often.  However, the carpet at Wild Wild West at Bally’s in Atlantic City is pretty awesome!

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