What was Sammys last name? I guarantee you I know him from when I was a kid. The 2 big bacc tables were towards the front of HL closest to the casino floor before the remodel and the bar is still in the back next to the bathrooms.

Not sure how it looked there before I was able to go in to play even though I frequented with family a lot.

That's not a good thing btw. I have been to ac too much at a young age

 

The shame of it all with AC is poor planning. The airport sucks and they never incorporated a good shuttle service or tram to the casinos. Few major airlines fly into AC. You can't even get a direct flight from Reagan/Dulles/BWI into AC which turns the Friday afternoon drive into an absolute nightmare.

Toll roads in and out of AC in all directions is a mistake. The casinos need to attract midweek gamblers and tolls don't invite the Wednesday afternoon value gamers that pump revenue into an otherwise stale casino floor.

Many blame the resorts for letting things slip, but the casinos in Philly and Connecticut simply offered better options for the Philly and NYC gamblers. The lower end properties like Trump Plaza and the Atlantic Club (the most recent debacle) died slow painful deaths.

My idea for AC would have involved unpopular subsidies from the State of NJ and revitalization of the area. Continued development of outlets and entertainment, shopping and dining options and working with the major carriers to offer $99 one way flights into AC and with the casinos to offer free shuttle service a la Reno.

AC to this day does a KILLER weekend business in the summer months which few realize. Even Dump Plaza was selling out Fri-Sun in its final summer, complete with leaking windows and peeling gold wallpaper. The beaches in AC are underrated. There was hope, but unfortunately now it's a lost cause. It would take a Wynn type resort in the middle of the Boardwalk to revitalize AC, and that success would likely be short lived.

Part of the Vegas draw is the combination of value, a dynamite airport which has direct flights from everywhere and the ease of visiting, with easy access from Motel 6 to the Wynn. AC doesn't offer those things. There are no $39-$59 TI and Harrahs room specials. Weekend rooms at Ballys are higher than the 5 stars in Vegas. Even in the dead of winter with that brutal wind, Friday nights in AC are pricey. It's too late AC. A damned shame, but you knew it was coming. You all were forewarned.....the state, the city, the casinos and even the unions. Nobody did a thing to help the situation. The urban decay that we'll see in AC in the next decade will make the current areas off of the boardwalk look plush by comparison.

 

Yes, that is the front. Now bj tables are there

 

I agree with a lot of this. The beach is cleaner with beach bars, music at night etc. I've been there a lot and it's tons of fun (no pun intended). ACY's major airline is spirit and I don't think it's a major airport since a lot of locals fly out philly. Borgata is doing a lot of charters from DC, NYC and even Canada. Caesars does the same. They are trying but to tell the truth, I haven't been since last year back in April. They really need to have an incentive for knowledgeable gamblers to go there with discounts. They will not offer that unless you really show big losses or have a huge line or front money from what I've been told. But hey, I can get a reserved table lol. Fuck them

 

I did a CET junket once. Once. Having Spirit as the main carrier is indicative of the problem. The last time I checked, I could fly direct from Boston, Ft. Lauderdale and Detroit. Detroit has 4 casinos in the immediate area plus it's Detroit which isn't offering a huge flow of traffic to AC. Boston adds some traffic to AC floors I'm sure, but the transit bus blue hairs rolling in to play the $25 slot play voucher and eat the free buffet are a lost cause. Where are the Reagan AA directs and Pittsburgh, Charlotte, BWI directs?

It's a shame because if the place were accessible and had more upscale resorts on the boardwalk, I think it's the nuts. I've never given the Marina area much play because of the lack of a connected feel, which the Boardwalk has lost as well. If you like to Casino hop, you've added 5 gaps.

The bulk of Philly gamblers are lost to convenience. Lost cause.

The bulk of NYC gamblers are list to convenience and superior resorts in Foxeoods and Mohegan.

The bulk of Baltimore and DC gamblers that were willing to suffer the brutal traffic to AC (which starts at 2 pm on Fridays) will be lost to the MGM National Harbor.

Borgata can obviously excel while dominating the upscale market. Can the remaining casinos survive? Will people trek into an eroding AC for subpar casino options?

 

Here is a link to the Carl Icahn letter. I also read an older letter to the emloyees from January 2015 where he mentions changing the health plan from the union sponsored plan to Obamacare and Medicad and increasing pay by $2000 to help subsidize the new plan. I realize the union's position of not wanting to cave in and make a special case for this one property, but it looks like union president screwed the pooch on this one.

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As a teenager, I worked at the restaurant of a hotel in South Jersey, I was a union busboy. In the late 1970's, the union was mobbed up and Ralph Natale often came by as it was close to the Garden State park. I moved on to another job at the hotel for a year or so that didn't require membership then got a cashier job at a Shop Rite, which was the Retail Clerks Union. I think I was making over $8.50 an hour in 1980, this was before upc scanners, but a decent part time wage. So I have seen the bitter and the better of unions.

A famly member married business agent of a Philly based building trades union, he is pulling down an incredible pension and retired in his mid fifties. Nice work if you can get it.

 

The union didn't even let the workers vote on the contract that was offered. From what I read, the contract was going to be 18 months and based on how well things went, there was a chance that it next contract would restore benefits as offered to workers at the other casinos.