Affiliate News at IMToday.com

Casino Hopping in Atlantic City

A couple weeks ago I received a postcard from Resorts Casino in Atlantic City and to come pickup my free iPod Nano and iPod Radio Docking Station. My girlfriend Reena and her best friend came along, as well as some of her friends who have never been to Atlantic City before. On the way there as we were approaching the casinos, we could see these massive lightning bolts and the sky was getting dark really fast. Out of no where, there was an immediately downpour of rain, hail and wind. I was debating whether or not I was going to drive the Hummer down, since its rough on gas… but I am sure glad I did. If you’ve ever been to Atlantic City, you know the roads leading to the casinos have the bay and marshes on both sites. Right when the storm started, we were on the low level roads and they were just flooded instantly. Once the storm finally passed, it was fun to drive through the deep puddles though :)

Once we arrived at the Resorts Casino I had to park in some small parking lot since the Hummer won’t fit into their parking garage. I told everyone to stay in the car, then I ran inside and found this long line of people picking up their free gifts. Luckily, there was a break in the line and I was able to hop in and shave some time off. It looked like my iPod package was the best deal, others were receiving kitchen utensils and alarm clocks! Once I received my gift I quickly left Resorts, as it’s not the best casino around. We left the parking lot, which was a ridiculous $15, then headed over to Ceasars.

At Caesars I was teaching all of Reena’s friends how to play Craps. I played for about 30 minutes and ended up leaving the table. Reena hit the slots and won a quick $50. We were then deciding where to go to eat, but before leaving, I hit the roulette table and went through a quick $500 :(

We were going to eat at the Rainforest Cafe, but there was a two hour wait. Instead we found a nice sports restaurant called "Game On" in the new Atlantic City mall on the boardwalk. After dinner we headed over the Trump Plaza. Instead of Craps, this time we tried our luck at some roulette again. I always play 32 and stack a ton of chips on it. We went to the first table and went through $1000, no big 32 hit. Then we went to another table… same result. I decided to try my luck one more time and put out some more money. This table was crazy, I hit 5 numbers in a row, but they weren’t the super huge payout I was aiming for, with the hit of 32. In the end, 32 never hit and I left Trump down $3200 (ironically).

On the way out I was telling Reena about the idea of making a BIG BET on RED while passing through Caesars, since that’s where we parked. I was very hesitant, and no body wanted to watch. I went up to a roulette table that just cleared out. I got $3500 in $500 chips and $300 in $100 chips. I put $3500 on RED, $100 on 32 (if it should hit) and $200 on 0 and 00 if they should hit. Of course by now there was an audience to see what the result was of my bet. The croupier spins the ball, the floor manager says "Good Luck"…and RED 3 hits! I win my$3500 bet and I’m even for the day! Not only am I even, but I also got my free iPod Nano and Docking Station, along with Reena winning $50 for herself. All in all, it was a good trip… but it was a once in a life time BIG BET that was bigger than anything else I had bed before. Let’s see if Trump or Caesars now send me any gifts for my game play!

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7/7/07 Lucky Day of the Century

Last night Reena and I decided to go down to the Borgata at Atlantic City for a bit. We left around 11pm, so we got there a little after midnight… and it was now 7/7/07! (i’m not superstitious, just being funny) Today’s date is featured all over the news today and lots of people are getting married and doing crazy stuff.

So once we arrived at the Borgata I went to play craps for a bit and Reena tried her luck on some slots. About 20 mins later Reena came back to craps and said the slots were crappy…  I was having the same luck at Craps. I started out with $3300 at the table… then left it with $1000 about an hour and a half later. Frustrated we stopped for a bit and decided what we should do. It was a Friday night, so it was already massively busy. We wanted to play roulette, since that’s where I usually win big or go for broke. All the tables were full so I went to check the high rollers section. There was one guy at the table and it was a $100 minimum. I still had $1000 in chips, so I traded them in for $25 chips… played two spins and didn’t win… :(

Reena then said "what do you want to do?"…. I threw an extra $2700 on the table to get more chips and see what we could do. First spin… crap, some number I wasn’t on. Second spin… he’s about to drop the ball to spin…"quick load up red 32!" (it’s my number I always play and stack up)… the ball is landing… BAM! 32 RED HITS! I had $100 straight up on 32 and $200 all around it… payoff was $7000! At this point I was up $1500, so I played the additional $500 for one more spin. (hoping for 32 again) Nothing hit so then I cashed in all the chips for large ones. The croupier passed them to me and I said thanks… the he says "No…Thank You!"
(sarcastically and with an attitude)

I’m not surprised… another dealer/croupier with an attitude. This seems to happen too often now. This guy spun the ball 4 TIMES and did some math for my payout and expects me to tip him. So what happens the other 99% of the time when he spins and doesn’t hit my number… I don’t get a tip. I tip dealers, but when I find it necessary or provided with nice service… not just because the ball randomly lands on my number within 5-10 mins at the table. Not to mention I was nearly even at that point. This also happened a lot at the Bellagio in Las Vegas during Affiliate Summit West. I had talked to my casino host there about it and was able to get the whole stay in the casino comped. In AC the dealers at the Borgata are making around $27-$30 an hour (after tip rate)… they just don’t have to be jerks about it.

Anyway, after leaving the craps table we cashed in then hit "Wheel of Fortune" before getting something to eat. I had $25 in comp slot dollars, so we used that… ended up hitting some bonus spins and winning $250. Cashed out, then went to go eat our free / comp’d dinner at the Metropolitan. Looks like 7/7/07 was lucky after all… (and my business cards just arrived too!) :)

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Resorts Casino Sucks

As mentioned earlier, I love casinos and gambling and visit Atlantic City often. I have been playing at the Borgata since they opened a few years ago and avoid most of the other casinos along the boardwalk. At the Borgata you don’t have to deal with the walk-in crowd that come off the boardwalk and it’s a much nice atmosphere. On June 6th, Reena and I went down to Borgata for the night and went decided to stop by the casinos on the boardwalk the next day. We just happened to stop and the Resorts Casino and played there for a bit. It was my first time there so I decided to get a players card for the time I was to play there. A few hours passed and I had accrued over $550 in comp dollars from my game play. I was playing my usual betting, but a $1500 bet on RED (Roulette), probably helped a bit. New to this casino, I went over to the players card area to talk to someone about what I could do with my comps. I met with a very informed member there that insisted I get my own casino host, since my game play was so high. In addition to having over $550 in comps, I had went from a Red Player card (that everyone gets), to an ULTRA Players Card (passing right past their 2nd tier ELITE card). So within a few hours of game play I already had their highest players card. The players card attendant told me I would be able to use my comps in one of their Destination Rewards gift stores, or also in any of the Atlantic City outlet stores, which are pretty high class. I was also assigned a casino host, which I talked to over the phone since he had already left the casino. In the end, we listed to the woman at the Players Club area and saved the comps for our next visit, and I would talk to my casino host to setup our next trip to the casino. I always wondered why anyone would go to these old crappy casinos on the boardwalk over the Borgata… after receiving over $500 in comps in my first visit I soon found out why. The woman in the Players Rewards area also stressed how much of a rewarding casino they are high rollers and how much they offer.

Over the next two weeks Reena had been extremely sick with strep throat and various high fevers and being nauseous. We were both excited and looking forward to our next trip to Resorts, since we had a nice amount of comps waiting for us. I also promised Reena I would get her a nice Coach purse from the outlet stores with our comps. I called up my casino host on June 20th and asked for two nights stay for Friday and Saturday. The Sopranos cast was to be at Resorts for promotional pictures and a meet and greet with special guest. My casino host also offered this option to me earlier in the week, but when I called to make reservations, he said it was now full… and they were almost full on rooms. He called me back a few hours later and confirmed the rooms, but nothing on the Sopranos.

Friday came and we finally were at the Resorts Casino. Before arriving, I called my host and told him we were almost there. He said to meet him in the VIP Lounge check in room. He also asked where we would like to eat, and we setup reservations later that night for their Asian Spice restaurant. First we went up to the room, (hoping for at least a suite!). The room was decent sized, but NOT a suite, though it probably was better than their cheap rooms, however definitely not up to par compared to the nicer rooms of the Borgata (where I usually get free suites!). We were only in the room for about half an hour before we headed off to dinner at Asian Spice.

On the way down to Asian Spice I decided to check my comps from my previous visit. I went to the players card machine and it said "Your comp minimum is not available at this time".  We tried several times, hoping this was an error but kept getting the same result. My host was to meet us at Asian Spice to make sure we get there fine, so I would ask him about it then. We met up and I asked about the comps and he explained to me that I shouldn’t use the machine to track my comps and that he is handling them and I should ask him if there is anything I need. I went on to tell him about how I had $550+ in comps and how I was told I can use them at the Destination Rewards shop and at the outlet stores…. he said this wasn’t the case. His phone started to ring and he had to make errands elsewhere… I’m still not sure on the game plan. Besides the dilemma with the comps, the food and service at Asian Spice was great, I had no complaints at all. It was actually very nice because it was very quiet and not busy at all. At the end I received the bill for $75, which also came with a comp receipt that was to cover up to $160 worth of food. (was this taken out of my $550+ in comps???)

After dinner Reena wasn’t feeling too well so we went up stairs for a bit. After watching some TV I headed down stairs to play some table games, while Reena stayed up stairs. I came back about two hours later and Reena told me about how horrible she was feeling and that she couldn’t sleep. She also mentioned how hard the bed was and that the pillows were flat and uncomfortable. I soon realized this as well, because it was the first time I had actually laid down on the bed as well. It was like laying on stacks of cardboard and the pillows were old and flattened. The Borgata has large glamorous beds with several big fluffy pillows. I can not stress how uncomfortable this bed was… even the covers were like thick sheets of layered paper.

It was around 2 am now and at this point I was very angry and Reena was upset. We were both looking towards this weekend for a while now. Now we are both just thinking about leaving. But first… I thought, "Hey, I’m a black card holder and this casino should actually go out of their way for me". I headed back downstairs to meet with someone in the VIP Lounge to see if they can help. I waited their for about a minute and no one was there. I then went to VIP Check In… same result. I ended up at the front desk and asked if any VIPs or hosts were available for me to talk with. I was then told they all went home… what kind of service is that!? I then asked who I could talk to… they gave me the phone and forwarded me to marketing services. I told the woman on the phone how horrible our the bed in our room was and I wanted to be updated to a suite or another room with better beds. I also told her I was an ULTRA card holder. At first she told me they were booked, then put me on hold for a few minutes while she checked again. Same result when she came back, and told me I should talk to my host tomorrow or see if they have any room openings then. I then told her I probably wouldn’t be here.

Very pissed off now I went back up stairs and told Reena to get everything ready as we were leaving. We headed downstairs and checked out… even had to pay a lousy $7.58 for tax on the room we were barely in. If the Resorts Casino and Hotel was a decent place at all, I would be there right now, instead of telling you about them. I’ll be sure to pass my frustration off to the casino, my host and the player rewards attendant that told me where and how I could use my comps. In the end… Resorts Atlantic City Sucks!

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