Note: this is an actual trip report containing an actual story of actual gambling!
I recently had the good fortune of enjoying the best of both worlds when it comes to going down the Jersey Shore: we spent a week with another family to OC (where even the games of chance on their boardwalk always pay out), but the other husband and I also managed to get away Monday night to AC for some grown-up fun (and games that…. Well…. Don’t always pay out…. More on that later).
Despite the fact that both C and I like the Borgata, I wanted to be on the Boardwalk to see what it’s like on a summer weeknight. Leading up to the ‘big night’, I was settled on Trump Plaza for their abundant full-pay 25 cent VP, but thanks to this very blog, I knew about their A/C woes. So I called an audible to the AC Hilton b/c I had heard about their new full-pay VP area.
I strongly recommend taking local roads when going from OC to AC, but if you want to grab a coffee or something before heading out, make a detour because there won’t be a Starbucks or a Dunkin’ Donuts anywhere between the two cities. On the plus side, you’ll get great views of AC the closer you get, especially of the ‘video’ playing on Harrah’s Waterfront Tower if you happen to travel at night. Having said that, I’ll talk about the best way to get home later on.
As you can probably guess, we did NOT take a detour so C could get coffee, so upon parking at the AC Hilton, we immediately had to walk up to the Trop for his fix. (Ed: I would have gone to Cappuccino’s at the Hilton for coffee, I don’t like waiting.) Despite the darkness, we could see that some upgrades have been made to the facades of many of the stores and possibly one or two new establishments as well (for example, I don’t think I’ve noticed a ‘Playcade’ before). Despite the upgrades, the boards were dead at around 10:30 pm on this Monday night. I think they need better overhead lighting, too. When we got to the Trop, we were really dismayed to find the Starbucks was ALREADY CLOSED! What does it say about the Trop (or AC in general) when the Starbucks Corporation takes a look at the numbers from that location and says “You know what? You guys can close early from now on.”?
With caffeine in our systems (I had a Pepsi in the car on the way up), we proceeded to the AC Hilton for some VP and some free alcohol to counter said caffeine’s effects. The full-pay area was VERY easy to find. We’re not just talking about 2 banks of 6 machines each here; they have what must be a 50×30 area filled with various forms/denominations of full-pay, with signs advertising as such all above it. It was a lot bigger than vpfree2 made it seem.
Since the casino, overall, was pretty dead, we had no problems finding adjoining machines. C is sorta new to VP, so naturally he hit a straight flush pretty quickly. I, on the other hand, proceeded to grind my way through about 1.5 hours, slowly bleeding credits. Long story short, you need more than your fair share of full-houses and quads to just break even at VP and I was hitting at a level a bit below that. Somewhere in there, C took his winnings over to the $5 craps table, only to return 20-30 minutes later with a story about a guy hurling the dice overhand thinking he was Johan Santana, but in reality he was more like Ollie Perez (the dice kept leaving the table).
Finally, after about 1.5 hours (and only about $70 down), I made the comment about how good a time I was having because all I ask for is a decent amount of play for my money. Well, THAT apparently angered the gods – my remaining $30 evaporated, as did the additional $50 of ‘emergency cash’ I loaded up.
Our collective tails tucked between our collective legs (C finished the night down as well), we decided to take our leave. On our way out of the garage, we encountered he who I can only describe as ‘the loneliest man in AC‘ – they weren’t charging for parking, but they still had this older gentleman sitting in the booth handing out flyers about upcoming entertainment. Poor guy!
We decided to head back via the ACX and the GSP; I recommend this to anyone. The way I see it, if you won, you don’t want to risk getting jacked taking local roads; if you lost, you want to put AC in your rear-view mirror ASAP.
So, despite the loss, I enjoyed my time at the AC Hilton. Besides the VP, they are really making interesting strides to improve their fortunes. You’ve probably already heard about their summer speaker series, which brings political names such as Dick Cheney and Bill Clinton to town. They’ve also opened some new restaurants and have also worked with local businesses to let you use your comp dollars at their establishments. It’s like they’re a Vegas off-Strip casino, but on the ‘strip’ of AC’s Boardwalk. It’ll be interesting to see if they’re as generous with the comps as a Vegas off-Strip casino; C gambled on my card so it’s like I played for 4 hours not 2. Hopefully they’ll make it worth my while to return. That said, I encourage everyone out there to check this place out for yourselves and make your own decisions. With full pay VP, low-limits on table games (at least at night on weekends) and a good mix of slots as well as ‘good in theory restaurants’ (Patsy’s, Kerry Simon’s new steakhouse), there’s something for everyone.
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so it’s been about a month since the trip and still no offers from the Hilton. wasn’t expecting much, but a free buffet would’ve been nice.
guess we should’ve gone to the Borgata.
I’m surprised by that…I would figure you’d have seen an offer that week.
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