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We have great AC players who keep us informed up-to-the-minute on conditions at the games and in the casinos. We want to thank all of them. We have received a lot of emails this issue, some of which we want to respond to, so here they are:

Frank,

I couldn't help but to laugh when I read about your experience at Taj Mahal in the last issue.  A similar thing happened to me when we got a room there that was supposed to be comped only to be told that they had no record of it and were completely booked. 

Also it seems that Taj is no longer comping me for some reason as I must have played there for about 6 hours and did not receive a single cent.  They tried to tell me some BS that the reason why I didn't get any comps was because I had used the free room comp that they had sent in the mail.  I just might believe that except for the fact that my friend who was playing with me didn't get any either despite us giving them our cards. Needless to say I wasn't happy. 

Also I don't know if you're aware of it or not but I see a dangerous precedent starting at Bally's and Wild Wild West. I went there this past Saturday and it seems that they have some 8-deck tables where the dealers are now hitting on soft 17's.  From what I understand, this increases the house edge there by 50%!   It's bad enough that Atlantic City has gone from being mostly 6 decks to now 8 decks with $15 minimums for the most part, but this really is going to be cutting into our pockets. 

In addition, I played for 11 hours there with an average bet of $25 and only received $15 in comps.  Just last year I used to be able to play at a $10 table for 5 hours and get $10 in comps.   Oh well, I guess times are changing.

Ben

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Dear Alene and Frank,

I was able to spend a little more time at Borgata and I'd like to report the cuts are still running in the 75% range.  Some dealers go up to 80% and some are closer to cutting off almost 2 full decks (70%).  Despite the cuts not being so deep I was suprised to see you move Borgata one notch behind the Taj.  Borgata has so much going for it.

They offer what is probably the only $5 table in all of AC.  They are the only all six deck casino in AC.  This is a slightly better game for all basic strategy players.  The Borgata lacks the paranoia of the other casinos and allows mid-shoe entry at any table.  This has to help the Borgata. 

I see so many people come up to the table play a few hands and walk away.  There are table hoppers at Borgata too.  So many other places eliminate this freewheeling gambling.  Reducing the freedom must cut down on dollars played at the tables in other casinos!  The Borgata also has only 6 seats per table instead of the standard 7.  All things considered I believe the Borgata is the best blackjack casino in AC.

I was also wondering if you had any comp advice.  As summer approaches the comps will tighten.  Do you or any of you readers have any advise on which casinos offer good summer time comps for blackjack play?

Thanks,
Jon

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Dear Frank and AP:

Well, here is my 2 cents worth on the Taj. When I checked into the Taj I had RFB on my reservation and I thought that never having played there that I would have to play the hours they need and with the dollars they want to see.

For some reason I got the 50th floor right next to "The Donald" that needed keys for the elevator and floor. Great view. Nice room. Big room.

The next day I heard how people in our group did not get those return calls from the host concerning the problems they encountered with lost reservations and the like.

I contacted the host and requested a meeting. He did come down and we sat in an office to discuss what we all thought were slights to our whole group. Heck, I even told him he did not call Dominator and Frank to say thanks for the gift that they sent him earlier. He claimed he never received the gift even though Dominator personally gave it to the host’s secretary.

He said he would call everyone who had a problem and send letters apologizing.

When I got home, I wrote a letter to his supervisor. I did mention the great time we had and the crews were great. But I also did mention how two of our group, two pretty big rollers, got the royal shaft along with the no calls to everyone in our group.

Since that letter I have not heard from the supervisor, the host, or anyone from the Taj. In fact, no one has received a call or letter from the host. It’s now over six weeks! The dealers were great, I gave the Taj the required time at an average bet of over $200, but I am disgusted otherwise.

"Righty"

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Hi Frank,

Yes the arrangements at the Taj were a disaster, however [host’s name] did actually reserve a room for you albeit not for the proper number of nights. After speaking with [host’s name] five, yes that's 5, count ‘em FIVE TIMES, there was never any reservations made for No Field Five and me when we showed up, so we stayed at Resorts which by the way had it's very own set of problems.

No Field Five and I made our reservations at Resorts using an offer that we received in the mail. I called first and reserved a room for two nights (Sunday - Thursday only) and while completing the reservation was asked by the clerk what the super small series of letters and numbers were at the bottom of my mailer. After I read these to her she told me that this offer came with two comped buffets for 2 and a $25 match play coupon. I thanked her and while chatting she remarked that this was a nice offer BUT that if my super small code at the bottom of my mailer was xxx123 I would receive three comped nights including weekends, two dinner buffets and a $100 match play coupon.

Ring, ring, ring, "Hey Daryl guess what the super small code at the bottom of YOUR mailer is? Why it's xxx123 of course!" Yep No Field Five got the weekend nights comped and we started planning how to use those match play coupons.

At check in the clerk told us to use the little cards that we were given to get our buffet comps and that the cage would give us the match plays with proper ID. There was no time Friday to see the folks at the cage due to setting up the room and dinner with all of our friends at the Taj steak house.

On Saturday afternoon, we went by the cage to get those coupons. The reply from the cage was "HUH ? What coupons?" Off to the players club to speak with an employee there. He said that he would take care of it and to come back after dinner. At the cage, the person said "HUH ?" again we had no one else to speak to.

Now it's Sunday we have 30 minutes before our dinner reservations with the crew next door at The Taj so we went to the players club again. We spoke with the nicest gal in town who got on the phone and called every one short of the company president. All of these calls resulted with her being put on eternal hold, each and every time. That 30-minute window evaporated so we had to leave our princess while she was still on hold all the while being assured that she would handle the problem.

Dinner was great and believe it or not we were able to take over a table at the Taj and play for hours having some great rolls and a wonderful time with all of our cool Jersey friends. Well now it's 2:00 AM and we are dragging ourselves back to Resorts and while passing the cage No Field Five says, "Hey, lets check on our match plays."

We handed in our players’ cards and viola, the match plays started to appear. This is great except in bold print on the coupon it says good only on date issued. OK what is the date? hmmm lets see it's Sunday no wait it's Monday the 20th now and stamped right on the coupon it says..... 3/19/06. But it’s the 20th I say, yes but it's the 19th for our cage friend since he came to work on the 19th. Well that's gorilla math if I ever heard it and no amount conversation or complimentary bananas, was making this guy believe it was in fact the 20th of March. We were told that we had to use them before 6:00 AM. when it was officially the first day of spring, using of course the revised casino calendar.

We sure had a great time in AC this year and if any of you ever invents a time machine, No Field Five and I have lots of match plays that will be good if your machine can be set back to March 19, 2006.

BTK

Hi Frank:

Last summer I had some problems with [host’s name] also screwing up reservations and such. I said the hell with it and went elsewhere. My son and I like to play at the Taj but I don't need the other aggravation.

T.S.

Dear AP and Frank:

I once called [host’s name], and he gave me a quick brush off. Normally I take that as a challenge and would try to get the rooms in spite of the host, then call him and tell him what a schmuck he his. But work being what it is and not having time, I just called a friend in Chicago who set me up with a great Harrah's host who in turn set me up for a weekend in AC at Harrah’s.

As much lip service as we give the Harrah's Corporation, I have to tip my hat to them as a organization that has their stuff together. The Harrah’s property in AC was excellent.

They have standardized the entire process of comps, rooms meals etc. They may not give the personal service that an old school host might have given you, but they can get you a room based on standardized comps. So that was great.

Apart from the hotel and host problems, I really enjoyed AC this time around and would not mind going back there. Especially if we can more of that great East Coast food like the sandwich shop near the Sheraton.

P.B.

Dear Frank and AP:

I love Borgata. I have never had a problem with any hosts there and my reservations are always made. You might consider Borgata on your next trip to AC.

Billy

Dear AP and Frank:

I like Showboat of all the casinos in Atlantic City. While small I have found the service to be excellent and the dealers to be friendly. Their high-roller blackjack game is excellent as well.

Martin

We’ve decided since many of our Golden Touch Craps dice controllers are now Speed Counters subscribing to this site, we are going to give a quick rundown of the craps games as well. We haven’t played in all the casinos in AC so we would appreciate it if you could email Frank with the table minimums, the odds bets, and anything else you think we might want to use (table lengths very helpful – if you just say "big" we will assume 14-feet as they are at Borgata). If you send us info we will give you a free month on our members-only board. Email address is fscobe@optonline.net.

All the ratings of casinos are based on the blackjack games.

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Here are our ratings for May 2006.

BALLY’S PARK PLACE: Say it ain’t so! They are now hitting on soft 17 at many of the tables. With all other things being the same as last issue – this stinks! No mid-shoe entry in high roller room and on a few of the main $50 tables in casino, otherwise you can usually Wong here if you wish. Mixed reviews about how deep the penetration is. For craps players, this is a good casino for the game. There is one 5X odds table, usually a $25 minimum; the rest are 2X odds. Crews are friendly. Tables are somewhat high so short shooters get your platform shoes. There are many more carnival games than ever before. Looks like Three-Card Poker rivals blackjack!

BORGATA: Back to the number one casino in Atlantic City. Hotel rating is an A. Penetration is not as good as in the past, which now puts this casino into the runner up category. Penetration on all the 6-deck games varies between 75 and 80 percent so you can get some good games here. Craps has long tables, 14-footers, and very bouncy, although there is talk of two smaller tables - somewhere. There is always at least one $5 game available. Great casino for Golden Touch Blackjack.

CAESARS: No change from last issue. Excellent restaurants. Cheerful place and worthy of the name it bears. Hotel/casino rating is A. They are going deeper. You can expect about 80 percent penetration with most of the dealers. The main floor of eight-deckers has some of the upper-limit tables ($25 and $50) with no mid-shoe entry. All the games in the high roller pit are also no mid-shoe entry with $100 minimums. Table game action has improved and that is very noticeable in the blackjack pits – which are all 8-deck games. Six-deck games in high roller room have 80 percent penetration, as do the eight-deckers on the main casino floor. Good casino for Golden Touch Blackjack. The craps games here are good with 12-foot tables and friendly crews. The tables are a little high so smaller controlled shooters should wear their "special shoes."

CLARIDGE: No change from last issue. AC regulars are all sad about this place and I feel their pain. This was the "friendly" casino and now it is anything but. This was once the Captain’s favorite casino in Atlantic City and it was once ours as well. Maybe it will recapture its glory days again? Blackjack games have about 70 percent penetration. The rumor is that the casino is going to be closed so those glory days might not be coming back.

HARRAH’S: Excellent property, good rooms, good views, good staff in all areas. As a corporation Harrah’s is doing something right! Harrah’s has maintained a great corporate image and deservedly so. Hotel/casino rating is A. In the casino you will find very friendly dealers and pit personnel. Penetration now ranges in the 75-80 percent area. Resplitting allowed except aces. No midshoe entry. High roller room is 6-deck action, the rest of the casino was 8-decks. Play here and at Showboat and your play counts all across the nation. For those of you who like to go to Vegas you can get some good comps from your AC action in the desert! A room that would be discounted for $80 in AC would be free in Vegas based on the same play – this is not official but based on our calculations of the offers we’ve received. Good casino for Golden Touch Blackjack. Friendly crews and decent tables at craps.

HILTON: No change from last issue. A place to look at when you are in AC. The blackjack games here are getting good reports from some of our correspondents but you must pick the game based on the dealer because the penetration is dealer dependent. Resplitting allowed except aces. High roller room is 6-decks, rest of the casino is 8-decks with a few $25/$50 6-deckers on occasion. No mid-shoe entry on the six-deckers. High table minimums, especially on weekends, a lot of $25 tables, rare $10 tables. Penetration about 75 percent, sometimes up to 80 percent. Good casino for Golden Touch Blackjack. For craps, we are dealing with 14-foot tables and a couple of 12 footers. Casino is dark. This place needs a buffing.

RESORTS: Resplitting is allowed at all tables but penetration barely makes it to 75 percent now. Casino also offers multiple-action blackjack and Spanish 21 at $10 minimums. But Resorts has brought in those single-deck zombie-fied blackjack games too. Avoid the single-deckers. Excellent place for craps. Mostly small tables, with some games 5X odds. Last we were there, the high roller room had two 10-foot craps tables that were open on the weekend.

SANDS: No change from last issue. The El Cortez of Atlantic City with apologies to El Cortez, which does occasionally have good blackjack games.

SHOWBOAT: No change from last issue. The table game area has shrunk considerably. Good casino-hotel. Excellent blackjack in high roller room and sometimes the game is just $25 minimums. The penetration is about 80 percent now. A game worth looking at. Rooms are all full-sized and spacious; suites are great. Hotel/casino rating is A. Resplitting now allowed up to three hands. No mid-shoe entry. Eight-deck games have 80 percent penetration and allow mid-shoe entry, although there is not that many tables available. We remember when this place had great table-game action. Can now find $25 games in high roller room at those very good 6-deck games. You can get great deals in other venues by using your card, as it’s a part of the Harrah’s Total Rewards program. Good casino for Golden Touch Blackjack. Craps is fine here too. All the tables are now 12 footers. There are 5X odds on all tables.

TROPICANA: No change from last issue. The biggest moneymaker in AC. Hotel/casino rating is A. Blackjack games have actually improved here. The main floor now has 6-deckers with mid-shoe entry allowed on almost all of them. High roller room is 6-decks with no mid-shoe entry. Penetration is about 75 percent on all games. Big improvement here in all areas of play. Craps tables are 12-footers. Good casino for Golden Touch Blackjack. Three Stars and a half stars: * * * ½ *

TRUMP MARINA: No change from last issue. Six-deck games in high roller room and 8-deck games on the main floor have penetration of 70-75 percent mark, but you won’t find any dealers going much deeper. Games are mostly $15/$25 and up, especially on weekends. No mid-shoe entry on the 6-deckers but you can jump in and out on the eight-deckers. Craps tables are 12-footers with 2X odds. Haven’t played here in years.

TRUMP PLAZA: This place is doing better and better now that it is cleaning its act up. Some of our Golden Touch craps players love this place. There’s a multi-million dollar renovation going on to make this a prize casino-hotel again and it is starting to get back its old glamour. The 8-deck games have penetration at 75 percent, depending on the dealer. No midshoe entry on eight-deck games outside high-roller pit but you can find $25 (a few) to $50 minimums on these. Allows resplits, except aces. Most eight-deck tables are $10 and higher. High roller room is 6-deck games. Craps tables are 12-footers. Very friendly crews. Good casino for Golden Touch Blackjack.

TRUMP TAJ MAHAL: We are patrons of the Taj because their dealers and crews are so friendly and professional. Unfortunately we have gotten numerous reports of screwups in other areas and this has hurt the property as a whole. Too bad. Good games with 75-80 percent penetration. You can find 6-deck games with $25 minimums right outside the high roller room. In the high roller room all games have $100 minimums. Excellent casino for Golden Touch Blackjack. This is the best casino for craps in AC as well. All 5-X odds tables. The crews have been universally pleasant. Tables are all 12-footers. In our estimation, this is the number one craps and blackjack casino in Atlantic City. Three and one-half stars: * * * ½ *

WILD, WILD WEST: Hitting on soft 17? Nuts! All 8-deck games too. Double nuts! This is a part of Bally’s Park Place. Penetration is about 75 percent on all games. For craps this is a fun place to play with one 5X odds table and one 2X odds table. I remember when this place had many more tables. Crews are very friendly.

THE BEST BLACKJACK IN ATLANTIC CITY: Borgata

The Best Craps in Atlantic City: Taj Mahal

The Best Hotel/Casino in Atlantic City: Borgata and Showboat