Borgata Craps
It’s poker and craps at Borgata in Atlantic City during this trip report from @snickers99poker. He was there on December 30th, 2016.
At a land-based casino, the craps table is often the most exciting and lively game on the casino floor. It always draws a crowd as the shooter throws the dice and is on a winning roll. Now, US players can experience this lively entertainment by playing craps online. Enjoy your favorite Borgata restaurants your way! BorgataEats allows you to order meals from Borgata eateries—like Old Homestead Steak House, BetMGM Sportsbook & Bar, Noodles of the World, Bread + Butter, and more—from the comfort of your guest room. Simply place your order, pick it up at the designated restaurant, and enjoy! Patricia DeMauro, a New Jersey Grandma, had the greatest craps roll ever in 2009 at the Borgata. She tossed the dice 154 times over 4 hours and 18 minutes wi.
Still hanging out in New Jersey for the holidays, I took a day trip up to Borgata today. I did this last week with the plan of playing a lot of 2/4 Limit poker. It did not go well as I lost $100 over four hours. Hoping for better results this time. And I might mix in some craps somewhere along the line.
High Hand
I wanted to get there around 11 as the 2/4 Limit tables start getting crowded around noon or so because Borgata has a high hand promotion. And I think it’s a good one. $250 for the high hand every 15 minutes, from noon until 10pm. $1,000 an hour, $10,000 for the day. And they did it every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday in December.
In January, it’s $250 on Wednesdays, $500 on Thursdays, and $250 on Fridays. Still noon until ten but it’s every 20 minutes instead of 15.
I got stuck waiting for a table last time so that’s why I wanted to get there early…around 10:30. Of course things didn’t work out and I didn’t leave until 10:50.
Didn’t Take Long
Pull into the Borgata garage at 11:28, and at 11:39 my name goes on the 2/4 list. There’s only two tables open but that will change. I’m ninth on the list so when the first new table opens, my name will be called.
And six minutes later they open a 2/4 table. Originally they said it was for 3/6 Limit but they called names and not enough people showed up. So it became a 2/4 table and I’m in.
No, It’s 2/4
Of course then two people come over and ask “is this 3/6? They called my name.” And the floor had to explain that they were too late. A couple more times the table was mistaken as a 3/6 table.
Last time I was there the room ran pretty smoothly. Today, there were a couple hiccups. Last time I thought the dealers were great. This time we had some clunkers. Cocktails were a little slow last time and maybe even slower this time.
Cut To The Chase
A lot of times poker trip reports can be boring. Especially if it’s 2/4 Limit. Especially if you don’t like poker. So all you need to know is my session started out bad like last week and I was down over $30 at one point. Then I got back to even thanks to a big hand and some other pots.
Then I was up $6. Then down $16, then up $10, then exactly even, then up $5 when I stopped four hours later. A woman had just sat down next to me and was waiting for the blinds. She had $100 bill, waiting to buy chips. I had $100 in chips, waiting for a color up.
Hey…the dealer says. Why don’t you guys just switch? She checked that the $100 bill was real and counted down my chips. Transaction done. I had one $5 chip that I had to take to the cage.
The poker room was packed today. It was the last day of the Deepstacks Challenge. One tournament each day starting Monday and every day the price of the tournament went up but so did the starting stack. Today was $260 + $40, $30,000 guarantee. The Borgata Winter Poker Open 2017 starts January 17.
“Free” Buffet
The original original plan was to play long enough last week and this week to get $10 in comps because then I’d get a free buffet. With the GF and me heading to Harrah’s next week, I know we’re going to end up at the Borgata buffet. We both really like it.
So last week I lost $100 trying to ‘win’ a $38 buffet. This week, I had just logged my fourth hour and was up $5 so I thought it was a good time to stop. So my free buffet is only cost me $95 but I was still $2 short of the $10 in comps. (Dollar an hour for 2/4.)
Craps? Hmm
I left the poker room and right outside the room was an open $10 craps table and there’s plenty of room. I guess it wasn’t open last week or I didn’t see it. It’s in this little pit area far from the noise of the casino and the pit isn’t open all the time. Hmm. I just might stop by.
I went down to the Marketplace Eatery (basically a food court) to decide what to do and text my GF an update. Told her I might go play craps. My plan was if I pass by the table and there’s still plenty of room, I’m stopping. It shouldn’t take too long to get my last $2 in comps by playing craps.
Up the escalator from the Marketplace and yep, still plenty of room. Cool! I brought a bankroll of $400 and I usually buy in for $300 but I thought I’d just buy in for the full $400. As long as I remember that’s what I did. Would hate to walk out with $360 thinking I won $60 when I really lost $40.
I’m in!
There’s a point established when I walk up so I wait. Maybe a roll or two later, guy hits the point so I throw my money on the table. I get my $400 in chips and I don’t know if I mentioned this before, but the Borgata chips are so slippery. I think so anyway. I’m even having trouble getting them to stay up in my racks. They’re just sliding all over the place.
Make my pass line bet and the guy rolls two sevens in a row. Cool! Up $20! LEAVE NOW!!!!!!
The guy shooting was pretty much out of old Atlantic City. Older, nicely dressed, rocking the fedora. He wasn’t exactly old school because his wife was right next to him. If he truly was old school, that would have been a much younger woman with him. Maybe his wife. Maybe not.
You Can Do Anything You Want
He took FORVER to roll but he was hitting numbers so who freakin’ cares how long he takes? Usually with a $10 table, I’ll do one come bet (more on a $5 table). But with a hot shooter as soon as I get there, I’m able to make two come bets right out of the shoot.
He finally sevens out but I’m up right away. Nice. There’s maybe five of us playing at this far away table. I really liked being away from the noise but I know there’s people that want that casino noise all around them to add to the excitement. I’ll take quiet.
Oh…no fire bet or small/tall/all on this table. Not sure if the other ones in the middle of the casino are the same way. And 5x odds.
Next guy rolls, doesn’t do too well. I roll, I don’t do too well. I’m so close to just passing every time. I’m to the right of the stick man and when I seven out, the guy to his left starts his roll.
Hot Shooter Wanted
And it was a good one. Recognizing another hot roll, I start putting come bet after come bet out there. And now my favorite part. I start stashing chips in the upper right rack. Soon I have my $400 buy in set aside in the ‘don’t touch’ pile in the upper right rack.
The guy is still rolling and I’m pressing my six and eight on this guy if it wasn’t replaced by a come bet (I didn’t do a come bet EVERY single time). Using the six as an example, first time he rolls a six, same bet. Second time, press it. Third time, same bet. Had there been a fourth, I was going to up my bet one unit to $36.
With my come bets out there, I’m doing well. And he’s hitting numbers. My upper right rack has my $400 buy in so I know I’m not leaving a loser. But now I get to add to it. Anytime I get a quarter, it goes into the don’t touch pile.
Soon I’m up $100 in my don’t touch pile. Then add another $50. Now I know I’m not leaving without winning at least $150. I stop keeping track of my upper right rack, choosing to be surprised when I color up.
Planning Ahead
Guy’s still rolling and I know it’s going to end eventually so I start slipping more and more into the don’t touch pile. Table is going to get cold. I don’t see myself sticking around long after this guy gets done.
I set aside enough money for another shooter so I know if this guy sevens out, I have enough for another round. $24 total for the six and eight, $10 pass line with $10 odds, one $10 come bet with $10 odds. Any winnings from this point goes straight into the don’t touch pile.
Unfortunately, he finally sevens out. I did do some bets for the dealers during that roll. Half won, half lost. I have my $64 in reserve ready for the next shooter. Of course, after a hot roll, some people color up and leave. We were always right around five players.
Next shooter doesn’t do too well. Crap. I think the fun is over. A quick check of my chips shows I do not have $64 for the next roller. I look at my don’t touch pile. Hmm.
Don’t Do It!
NO! Table is cold. Don’t be greedy. Take your winnings even though you don’t know how much that is. It’s only been 50 minutes but I’m thinking that’s long enough to get the $2 in comps I needed to get to $10. And I got my $100 back from last week’s poker, plus more. LEAVE!
I tell the dealer that I’m done and move my chips down on the table. He slides them over to the boxman who counts them up. I’m watching and it looks like he has six piles of $100 each, plus some scraps. Cool.
Total comes to $640…up $240. Awesome. He gives the dealer a $500 chip and $100 chip, the dealer adds the $40 ‘leftover’ and slides it to me. I have four $1 dollar chips and throw it on the table for the crew.
I notice right away that the $500 chip is oversized. Weird. Not sure why. Like the $500 Harrah’s chip I had in my hand once, I wish I could keep it. It looks neat. But a picture will have to do. Come on…it’s $500!
The Exchange
Off to the cage and I cash in my chips. I start walking towards the garage but then I see the poker room coming up. Oops. Wrong way. Turn around, out to the garage.
Got home and jumped on the computer. $13 total in comps. Guessing that’s $4 from last time, $4 from the poker today, and $5 from craps. Free buffet AND a $140 profit between the two day trips. I played poker for four hours and won $5. I played craps for 50 minutes and won $240.
Granted, it was 2/4 Limit and you’re not going to make a ton of money. And I managed to catch the tail end of a hot shooter and then the full force of another one for a good, quick session. But it’s still fun to say.
I Liked It
As far as the ‘faraway’ craps table, I mentioned before that I liked it. It was almost like playing in somebody’s house because it was so quiet. Drink service was fast. Nobody walking behind me bumping into me. Plus if it’s loud around me, I have trouble hearing so that’s another thing I liked.
I know the excitement of being in the middle of the casino playing craps is great. But if I play at Borgata again, I think I’ll check to see if my new favorite table is open first. I don’t know how often they open the pit.
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Related
This is the next entry in the Real Craps series of RoadGambler videos. This time, I am in Atlantic City playing craps at the ultra-luxe Borgata Hotel Casino.
The Borgata is a very nice casino with a clean atmosphere, fast and efficient drink service, great food, and friendly dealers and players.
Borgata is an ultra high-end casino, and the players come with big money. In this video, you will see some significant action by the players. I do not bet large because I am not a fan of 3x, 4x, 5x craps games. Borgata broke Atlantic City tradition by becoming the only Atlantic City craps game that didn’t offer at least 5x odds. The players don’t seem to mind because when it comes time for Atlantic City casinos to report revenue, the Borgata blows away the other casinos by a wide mile.
The real attraction in this video is the action of the other players.
Also, I take somewhat of a contrarian approach in this game. Watch it, and you’ll know what I mean.
I hope you enjoy this video.
Borgata Craps Record
Posted in: Casino, Craps, Gambling