last week's trip
Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 6:42 pm
January 5 thru 11/12: I was in AC New Jersey as you know by now, and here are some additional details I have not mentioned in previous posts, or additional details on some things I did already mention. I actually watched Monday Night's championship Bowl game Florida state vs Auburn from my AC club room, I ordered a pizza and watched the game, while periodically going downstairs to talk to the bartenders in the Dolphin Bar, who I have come to know well and who also have a lot to share on all things related to Atlantic city in general as well as the AC club. They have about 20 video poker terminals in the bar, so I asked them how has the luck been with patrons....they laughed and informed me that, going back to before the announcement the place was going out of business on December 13, they had only seen 1 Royal, and no hand pays (the machines all have $1 denom so it was customary to have a 4k royal once in a while, but none since well before thanks giving.) Nothing new to see here folks, moving along......the bartenders were all pissed about the whole fate of the casino; turns out most of the employees at all levels except the highest management positions feel totally screwed over, and from what I know I think they are right. These last 2-1/2 years, the place was literally managed into oblivion, and the sad part is there were a couple opportunities, most famously the Pokerstars fiasco, where this could have been avoided by selling the place to interested parties. They increased revenue, which included a 15 million dollar "advance payment" from pokerstars to purchase the place, but supposedly blew it on excessive bonuses for themselves instead of putting it back into the company's survival...bonuses which received quite a lot of attention just before the company declared it quits, and many people asking why executives who fail to achieve profits, even running companies into the ground, receive such outlandish compensation? This whole AC club Travesty is just the latest sign O' the times and another tale of futility in AC lore..... On Tuesday, the temperature in AC plunged to 7 degrees (-10 windchill) and I almost froze to death waiting for the jitney to take me to Borgata for my Tournament when I could not find a stinkin' Cab outside of Resorts! Sometime during the night of Tuesday, January 7 the pipes above the casino at thr Taj burst and flooded the section near the hardrock cafe and the boardwalk entrance on the main floor! what a mess Wednesday and into Thursday everyone was preoccupied with the breaking scandal of Chris Christie's traffic gestapo going "A bridge too far" to get the bully re-elected. I played some "good times pay" Bonus Poker at the Taj after my Thursday Poker action, and I just sat and wondered at the sheer ridiculousness of that game.....the machine at the Taj allows you to play either 3 or 5 line, but you can select only one of the lines and bet as many credits per line as you want, so that I often just played 1 line, with ten credits for a total bet of $2.50 (instead of 7.50 or 12.50), so as to keep my losing to a minimum......everytime, I mean EVERYTIME I received a 4x, 5x, 6x or 7x "good time" multiple I received absolute GARBAGE for hands, either on the deal or draw. And yet when I get 1x or maybe 2x I would be dealt a fullhouse or even quads! I mean, its so completely bogus! Friday's AC club BS I already talked about in the other thread, but I did have a good diner at Gallaghers. I woke up Saturday with the flu, and was planning on getting home early so I could watch the football games.....so i am waiting in the TAJ Bus terminal area for the 7:30 am bus, and the wind and rain are just HOWLING, I mean its semi-hurricane force winds this particular morning, and while we are sitting there waiting on the greyhound, the ROOFING over Taj Bus Bay #2 (made of concrete with metal barring) just crumbles and falls to the ground with a BOOM!!!! Everyone jumped and I spilled my Dunkin Donuts coffee it was so sudden and loud! I said forget it and went and got a room for one more night at resorts so I could nurse my flu and watch my Patriots in comfort.....at least they won that game......