From: stank@cbnewsl.cb.att.com (Stan Krieger)
Subject: Re: LV versus AC, compare & contrast
Organization: Summit NJ
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 14:51:43 GMT

>It seems to me that the general opinion
>of Atlantic City for playing BJ is that it
>is less preferable that Las Vegas.

>It seems that AC has less low minimum tables,
>less favorable rules, more crowds...
>Is there any thing else? Is there any dissension
>to these opinions?

After being to Las Vegas, Reno, and Atlantic City, all I can say is
that going to AC after Nevada is like going to a Six Flags park after
going to Walt Disney World; it's the same kind of entertainment, but
really a big drop in quality and value.

Here are a few comparisons from my recent (last week) trip to Reno
and my trips to my hometown of AC (for those new to the net, I was
born in the hospital across the street from Bally's Park Place and
lived in a building that's now part of a vacant lot two blocks from
Showboat).

    1.	Nickel slot machines-  In Nevada they are plentiful (I'd estimate
	at least 25% of the total), with a mix of reel slots, keno, and
	video poker.  In AC, the rule requiring at least 3% of the slots
	to be nickels was repealed about a year ago.  The only nickel
	video poker are about 20 machines at Trump's Castle (I think
	Merv's Resorts got rid of the few nickel video poker machines
	that were there).

	Just to  complete the comparison, when I was in Puerto Rico last
	year, there was a greater percentage of nickel reel slots, but
	no nickel video poker (actually video poker was not too common
	at all in Puerto Rico).

    2.	Low minimums- As best as I can tell, there are zero low minimum
	tables in AC.  Trump's Castle was once actually advertising that
	there will always be a $5 blackjack and craps table available
	(that's what they call "low minimum" in AC boys and girls).  I
	saw $2 tables virtually everywhere in Nevada, there were a few $1
	BJ tables around, and a 50 cent BJ table at Circus^2.  (There were
	a few $2 tables in Puerto Rico on a summer Saturday night.)

    3,	Restaurant costs-  Only recently are there anything resembling
	bargains in AC.  Merv's buffet has been $4.99 for two years, and
	Trump's Castle recently cut the price of a prime-rib buffet to
	$3.89.  Other dinner buffets are $9.99 and up.  There are no
	walk-in bargains in casino coffee shops as far as I know.  I mean,
	in Nevada, in a casino coffee shop, prime-rib, potato, vegetable,
	and salad can be $4.95, with comparable prices for other main
	courses;  in AC, the price of the main dish can be $9.95 and
	up, with the salad another $2.50 (and coffee is $1.00-$1.25 in
	AC, vs. 50 cents in Reno).

     4.	Room costs- Rooms can be gotten for $50 a night somewhere in the
	AC area if you know where to look.  It's a lot easier to find
	rooms in the $40 and under price range in Nevada.

     5.	Crowds- Since Nevada is in the middle of nowhere, most of the
	people there on any given day are vacationers; this contrasts
	to AC, where most of the people are day-trippers.  In any
	event, crowds are much greater at AC.

	Another observation I made (based on my one trip to Reno) is that
	people tend to play much much longer at the low stakes games in
	AC than in Nevada.  For example, at a place with one $1 BJ table
	in Stateline, NV (next to South Lake Tahoe, CA), it was full when
	we got there, but a seat opened up in 10 minutes; in AC, the
	7 people at a $5 BJ table will probably remain there for hours
	(or so it seems).  The same is true of nickel slots (i.e., at
	Bally's in Reno, or is it Sparks, all the 5 cent video poker
	games were in use, but one or two opened up in 5 minutes; someone
	once told me of waiting 3 hours for such a machine at Trump's
	Castle).  I was also surprised at the availability of seats at
	the 50 cent BJ table at Circus^2 in Reno; I grabbed the one seat
	remaining when I first saw it (thinking like it was AC, and if I
	don't get it now, I'll never have a chance), but within 15 minutes,
	half the people who were there had left (and I did shower that
	morning, and I don't smoke).

So why do I go to AC?  First, it's a lot closer than Nevada; second, if
I want to walk on a boardwalk by the shore, it's still the cheapest place
to go (if I don't mind having to choose between Merv's or Trump's Castle
for dinner; unless I want to splurge and pay $9.99 at Showboat or
the Taj for dinner), and third, for overall entertainment value in NJ
(e.g., comparing it to dinner and a movie, or something like that), it's
unfortunately also one of the best values available.

-- 
Stan Krieger                     All opinions, advice, or suggestions, even
AT&T UNIX System Laboratories    if related to my employment, are my own.
Summit, NJ
smk@usl.com
Newsgroups: rec.gambling