Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa (Atlantic City, NJ) -- FAQ in OP, updated 2021.08.16

Good news on bomb pots, I wonder if they are going to charge more rake on them. I have never played in a game where bomb pots were mandatory but usually you need at least 5 people to agree or it won’t be dealt. You can always sit out even in Florida but most people will think you are a nit and you’ll get less action. You can usually shame the omc players or they will see a bunch of action and get greedy enough to play.

Ok, yea then prepare for many bomb pots to be refused lol

I hope they do not restrict the type of bomb pot to the game being dealt. i.e. in my Brooklyn game, we generally prefer PLO bomb pots and they result in most action even if the underlying game is Hold'em.

I can't think of a worse fit for this room than bomb pots. If you can sit them out, all of the OMC's simply will not play, and the games will be terrible, or won't run at all. Makes no sense at all, but if they want to further destroy the room, I guess it doesn't really matter at this point

It's funny how much of this could've been solved by just by having a full time cashier, but whatever. RIP Borgata Poker

Guess what though in a game like 2 5, if all the action players who like bomb pots, aggressive action, straddles and so forth gravitate to the same 1 or 2 tables and OMCs and the likes play together and enjoy their limp pots and high hand chasing, that might be the best for the game.

I mean that's why Harrah's has both a 1 2 and 1 3 with the idea that 1 3 players actually want to play poker rather than solitaire for the most part.

The problem with that though is everyones gonna wanna jump in the one good game and it will cause the nits to gravitate, and thus ruin said good game. The last time i was really in a good game there in 2-5 it was people a few Gs deep and actually betting with it

I wonder if the WSOP having a tournament with bomb pots was what prompted the Borgata to give it a go. Although in NJ, they probably need permission from the state regulators to do it and that probably takes forever. I doubt they'd allow a PLO bomb pot in a Hold'em game. That would need additional approval from state regulators. How many years is it now that they've allowed only one straddle? As far as participation is concerned, the more people see it the more they'll be comfortable with it. It might start slowly and pick up steam as the summer progresses. By September it will either be the norm or no longer allowed.

The main problem is that Delaware and then Pennsylvania got poker and syphoned a majority of players away from Atlantic City. PARX is closer to NYC than AC and re-directs many players in that direction from NYC. Add in all the private/underground games in NYC and elsewhere, and the player pool in AC is much smaller than before (there are only three rooms left in AC, only one with games over 1/3 and games other than hold'em). That's not Borgata's fault. Fewer cashiers, closed eateries and limited comps is them responding to circumstances. Let's face it, poker players don't spend a lot on food and hotel rooms, not those trying to make money. So there's no incentive for the Borgata to spend a lot on it's poker room or give generous comps.

As for some not participating in bomb pots, that is already the status quo, so it won't kill the room or keep games from running. The OMCs are what keeps the room open on the weekdays and the dealers and staff employed. And that in turn helps keep the room open on the weekends. Few want jobs that are only available on weekends.

It absolutely is Borgata's fault their room is run like ****.
They even had a 3 month head start over parx after the covid reopening and they completely punted it.
Parx on the other hand is extremely well run.

Yes some people would obviously still play at Parx. But when you run a room like **** and the other place runs a great room you lose customers.
The lack of comp rooms is an issue at Borgata but it's far from the only one.
I know people who play at parx, who also play in the pit and could get rooms at Borg comped and still won't go bc of what a joke this room has turned into.
I even know a few people who live 10-15 mins from AC and still go to Parx.

Delaware and Parx got rooms over a decade ago. That's not why the room is empty these days.
That long ago siphoning has nothing to do with the dropoff in number of players compared to 2019.

Few cashiers etc isn't them responding to the circumstances- it's them causing the circumstances.
The place wasn't empty first and then they said let's do away with cashiers and a functioning cage.
They pushed players away with nonsense like this.

As for the bomb pots- are they single board or double board?

I enjoy double board but with most of the dealers they have that would be an awful idea.

I'm not suggesting the Borgata is without fault. But their decisions are largely based on their dwindling customer base. The cashier problem, for example, is based on that in part. You mentioned post COVID. I don't know if you were there then, but they were shorthanded staff for many months because many dealers didn't return and it took a while to train and replace them. They were also short-staffed on cage personnel for a while. That's why there wasn't enough people to keep the cage open or for making fills. It frequently took several hours just to get a fill (I and others would buy chips from the pits and bring them in with me rather than buy out of the tray). That's also why there was no tournaments for a while--a sticking point for many of their regular players. PARX resumed tournaments sooner.

Even when other places got poker, players still came to AC because they could get rooms for a reasonable price. No longer (in part, again post COVID, because they were shorthanded staff and kept the Water Tower mostly closed, and entire floors in the Borgata Tower closed too). Players continually complained about that and that's a compelling reason not to come to AC as often, if at all. The "Borgata" can be blamed for that if you will, but not their poker room (the cage and fill problems weren't the fault of the poker room, either). Additionally, after COVID Bally's and Golden Nugget didn't reopen and Harrah's and Trop starting closing their rooms at night on the weekdays (Ocean closed their room before COVID). That's an across the board problem in AC due to a smaller customer base. Of course these "bad decisions" annoy players and result in an even smaller customer base. Rinse and repeat. But what you and I, and many of the players in the room, would do to make the room better might make it better, the Borgata has to look at the big picture. They're not overly concerned about us cheapskate poker players.

As for running the room like ****, as you put it, how are they doing that? Most of the problems I see are caused by corporate. I'd do things different, but the poker room staff seems to do a reasonable job within their constraints.

According to Bravo, it's double board bomb pots available in all games. Both hands qualify for high hand and bad beat jackpots. That should make those there chasing jackpots happy.

I don't think any of us are blaming the actual management team in the poker room. As they say, you can only play the hand you were dealt.

The room is, however, being run like the rest of the casino itself. Which is to say, MGM is doing everything it can to cut costs and squeeze as much money out of it as they can so their "profits" are as good as possible on paper.

They're not short staffed because of the pandemic, they're short staffed because they don't want to pay people the amount of money they want in exchange to work.

They'll make more money for now, but players will continue leaving them for other casinos in AC, and other casinos outside of AC and before you know it... they'll be Pokerstars or PartyPoker

"Oh hey, remember when they were the biggest thing in poker?". "Oh hey, remember when Borgata was the dominant casino in AC?"

They're not short staffed NOW because of the COVID, true. But they instituted polices then in an attempt to survive that caused them to realize they can get by with fewer staff and save money. And until conditions change that force them to hire more (and pay more), they're not going to do it. The same with their comps. But while you and I aren't blaming staff in the poker room, there's a lot of vitriol shown to them in this forum (frequently warranted) so sometimes it's hard to know who the posters are complaining about--staff or corporate. And all the bad decisions, from our point of view, that MGM makes had nothing to do with why Ocean closed its poker room, nothing to do why Bally's and Golden Nugget decided not to reopen after COVID, and nothing to do with why Harrah's and Trop decided to close their rooms at night during the week. The primary cause for those events is a smaller player pool in AC. The primary cause for the poker rooms closing in Las Vegas is a smaller player pool. And the primary cause of smaller player pools in those two places is poker rooms opening up all over the rest of the country, and the increased prices for hotel rooms. There's simply no need to travel to those places at high expense when there are cheaper options close by.

I remember when the Taj was the dominant casino in AC, at least for poker. When Borgata opened everyone at Taj, players and staff, ran over there like rats jumping off a sinking ship. I doubt an event like that could happen today. Today everyone leaves town for better situations in other towns. I don't think that trend can be reversed. Once the public has gotten used to gambling closer to home they're not going to change (similar to the casinos getting used to operating with fewer staff). Online casinos and poker rooms aren't helping either, as people are blowing their discretionary spending money without leaving the house.

I would like to see them allow seat paging once again. It’s really annoying as a plo player especially.

Is that when they used to text you to your phone when your seat was available and give you like 10 minutes to show up? That's probably a casualty of fewer staff and most players playing Hold'em where seats open up somewhat quickly so players just hang around the room. Years ago when I played 20/40 limit, we used to be able to call the room to get on the list and/or have the floor call our rooms to inform us when our seats were available. Sometimes it could take hours for a seat to open (and players would just leave their chips on the table and pay time to go eat (or take a nap), rather than go on the dinner list and risk a long wait, even when first up). Same issue there. Fewer staff and most players playing low stakes NL Hold'em where seats are continually opening up. I wonder if they still do either in the high limit room.

Could anyone who is there report on how that works out in terms of rake+promo drop?

I'll say it point blank the room is run like absolute dog ****. It's an embarrassment how far it has fallen. Some of it absolutely MGM and their hands are tied.
There are also a ton of floor people and ton of dealers who have no business working in a poker room.

So do I think the poker room management says "i think it's a great idea to not have a cage a lot of the time?"- no, that's MGM.

But when their is a ton of laziness and incompetence prevalent in the room that wouldn't fly at Parx or any good room, that's poker management.

Again you're going to lose some business when other places open up. People who used to drive from Maryland aren't going to drive to Borgata when Maryland Live opened. But that stuff happened a decade ago. you lost those people already. That's not why the room is a joke compared to 5 years ago.
That's just an excuse. It's burying your head in the sand and ignoring real issues. You can't run the room like crap and blame something from a decade ago when you lose business. that's just silly.

And when other rooms in town close that should be more business for them not less.

At Parx yesterday I talked to 2 people who used to play at borgata at lot who haven't played their since Parx reopened in 2021 bc the Borgata room was run so poorly in that 3 month head start window borgata had over parx. Nobody who waits an hour to cash out on a friday night is ever going back.

Parx dealers and floor is night and day compared to borgata.
Pretending they're even close is laughable.
I've seen maybe 1 or 2 bad dealers at parx. I've seen new dealers at parx that maybe struggle early that are good a month or two later. Half of Borgatas dealers are absolute horror shows. Then maybe 30 percent are pretty bad. They have about 10 dealers who could actually work at parx.

The floor at parx is way better as well.

The borgata proves a clown in a suit is still a clown .

I don't know one person who would say Borgatas staff is anywhere near as good as Parx. In fact I can't think of any room I've ever played at with a staff as bad as Borgatas that wasn't some **** hole dog track.

Bringing up Delaware Park Maryland Live and parx taking away their business is a decade old issue. Yes they lost business bc of these places but that's not why they tanked 5+ years later.
That's an excuse and nothing more.

The 3 month head start was a huge chance to show customers what a well run room looks like and they failed miserably. It was a clown show. You're right a lot of people weren't ready to play and that's not Borgatas fault. But a lot of people were ready to play and did play who saw what a joke it was. Many of them hadnt played at borgata before and they blew a chance to win them over. Not that every single one of them would become a regular if they did a good job but some would start playing there.

I can't imagine any successful Business saying a 3 month head start wouldnt be a huge advantage.

Yea of course someone who lives right near Parx is gonna play at parx 99 percent of the time and there's not much borgata can do about that. But they've lost a ton of customers that has nothing do with where they live. Like i said you're burying your head in the sand about this. Ignoring customers lost due to things they can control and that should be better and blaming it on stuff you can't when it's nonsense.

As for the cage situation maybe being a little better - I can't speak to that. Maybe it's true maybe it's not. It was a joke when I was there in May. But when someone goes there a year ago for the first time ,waits forever to cash out at the main cage they aren't going back.

Yeah, no fooling someone living near Parx will play there. It's also easier for all of western NJ to go to Parx, as well as northern NJ, NYC and all of PA too. Borgata has no shot, no matter what they do, to get most of that player pool back. Yet, as I write this after 11pm on a Wednesday night they have more tables running than Parx (in part, no doubt, because of the holiday tomorrow). Parx includes 5-5 PLO and 10-10 NLH, which never runs at Borgata during the week. Being near Philly matters.

I haven't played at Parx since they moved. But Borgata staff isn't anywhere near as bad as it was a couple of years ago. If you swapped Parx staff with Borgata staff the player pool at Borgata wouldn't grow much more than it is now. There just aren't that many players avoiding Borgata because they think the staff sucks or they make bad decisions or whatever your beef is. If you think otherwise you're delusional. Borgata would need to give cheap rooms to poker players to attract back many of the players it lost and they don't seem inclined to do so at the moment. No regular winning poker player at 1/3, 2/5 or 2/2 wants to pay $350 for a hotel room on a Friday or Saturday night.

That 3-month head start post COVID argument you keep bringing up is nonsense no matter how many times you do so. They were short handed staff and their hands were tied (many former workers were being paid unemployment insurance and lacked incentive to go back to work). The alternative was to not open at all. Nobody playing now cares what happened then, except maybe you and some tiny minority of whiners. It's three years already. Get over it.

yeah I think by far the biggest contributing factor is players not receiving room offers anymore

the room has been on a steady decline for years, but at least now it has a director who's actually trying to improve things and bring players back - I played in a PLO tournament during spring series and I must say the quality of dealers was the best I've ever seen as far as the Borgata tournaments are concerned

It seems to me like the room is somewhat on a right track but who knows how long it would take to undo years of damage caused by her predecessor

I like Borgata for the sheer variety of games you can get at mid limits (20-40 hold em and stud in particular) plus I enjoyed it as a getaway staying in hotel, nice restaurants, pool, nightlife, etc. But like others I live far away and have casinos within 30-60 minutes away. Do they have everything I want gamewise? No but my time is also valuable and the action is good. If Borg even gave 99 dollar rooms on weekends for playing decent stakes poker I would go and do a long weekend every other month or whenever I can. But I won’t ever be paying for 300 a night to stay there when I have what I have near me and can just go home. And weekday trips make no sense because it’s the same no limit fest I have here and the action at those games is better here. Sad but true but I do miss playing there.

The cost of the rooms is what is keeping me away.....

Came here to post something similar. I can put up with a LOT of abuse for my free rooms back. I used to have a full calendar available to me year-round just from poker. I'm staying away from MGM, but everyone has a price to compromise their principles. 😊

what happened to the 20/40 lhe game? its only 1 table or doesnt run now