Trip-report: Unpleasant experience at The Trop/Atlantic City

[McMelchior]

Gathered my miniature “bankroll” of $200 and went down last Friday on the Greyhound from New York to play $2/$4 limit HE with real cards. It turned out to be a pretty discouraging experience.

Entering the poker room at 10:45am I saw they were spreading 2 $2/$4 games. I got on the list, and managed to get called to a table within 5 minutes. I was immediately appalled by the action. A group of 4 – 5 players were yelling at the deck, the dealer and each other. Not just joyful cheers, but pretty nasty comments like “Idiot” and other forms of personal name-calling, including ‘for-fun’ threats of retaliation in response to out-draws. All this going on at a pretty high volume and accompanied by an equally intense body odor. No surprise - I soon learned that this crew was the leftover of an all-night game. The weird thing was that neither the dealer nor the floor man, both aware of the verbal abuse going on, did nothing to discourage it.

I guess at this point I should either had asked the floor person for a table change or simply broken up and gone to the Taj, where my usual experience is more flavored by tea-sipping elderly ladies than smelly bums. But I didn’t, and my next surprise came right away when I saw the (female, Asian) dealer responding to a premature call from an old fellow in seat no. 1 (who didn’t participate in the ‘party’, and who had little chance of seeing that seat no. 10 hadn’t acted yet) by <font color="blue"> slapping his wrist </font>. I couldn’t believe my own eyes.
- Excuse me dealer, did you just slap that player?
- Yes, was the prompt answer, he usually doesn’t mind it!
The elderly man just grunted at this statement, and the game went on. I was amazed.

Right away I noticed another unexpected occurrence. The members of the over-night crew were constantly throwing chips between each other, or begging each other for chips when a player took a down pot. Maybe it doesn’t sound like a big deal, but combined with the verbal put-downs and intimidations it just looked weird.

The game was extremely loose, even more than I’m used to from the Internet, and much more than I have experienced lately playing the same level at Foxwoods. A raise UTG drew 8 callers, an EP raise on the flop drew 5, including low inside str8 draws and flush draws with 63s in the pocket. I guess my ring-game strategy, developed in the late nineties (I mainly play NL &amp; PL internet tourneys and SNG’s today), of playing tight and aggressively, must be considered dead. Throughout the day I had each and every pocket pair ranging from TT to KK cracked, whether I raised them preflop, early or late or not at all. I would flop a set in LP and turn a full boat with my small pair on a board of 48K, 8, being bet into - and raising - each and every street, just to have a guys holding A8 rivering quads. I later saw same guy open/limp from EP w/62 (nope, not suited), calling every street and filling his inside str8 on the river.

During the course of the day half of the night crew retired, but the other half stayed around, and the game was replenished with equally loose (but to no mean aggressive) players. The only hands I made money on was when I raised preflop in EP w/98s and flopped a str8, and later stayed in with my pocked QQ to finally river a higher flush against the EP guy betting his Jxs. I guess I should reread Gary Carson’s book about loose games again – losing more than $100 in 4 hours of $2/$4 doesn’t sit well with me.

Anyway, I haven’t played at the Trop for a couple of years prior to this experience, and I’m aware the poker-room has been given a new management. I’m definitively not going to play there again for the first couple of years. It used to be a real nice place, but obviously the management (or lack of same) has turned the room (or at least the low-limit games) into an inn-crowd type club for un-savory locals, without any intentions of enforcing codes for proper behavior at a poker table – neither for customers (players) nor employees (dealers/floor staff)! [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

I curious to hear about opposite or likewise experiences

Best,

McMelchior (Johan)

[lefty rosen]

I avoid the 2/4 crowd like a plague, half the players are degenerate gamblers who will call a turn quad with 2 outs, and they individually hit(5 of these whackos) and they are truly bitter and beaten people in general, most need to pledge for GA but they don't have the strength to do it....

[DKNY]

"I guess at this point I should either had asked the floor person for a table change or simply broken up and gone to the Taj"

Stick with your instincts. You should've got up and left for the Taj.

I usually play at the Taj but went to the Trop once for their weekly NLHE tourney. Well that's the first and last time I'll be going there.

D

[slamdunkpro]

Try the Borgata 3/6. Still no-fold'em but a better class on no-fold'em.

[risen]

I feel your pain MrMelchior.
Unfortunately the Poker Room at the Trop has been my only experience with live poker in a casino setting. I've tried their HE from 1/2 to 4/8 mistakenly thinking that moving up in levels would provide a better quality set of opponents or increased skill level. But on all of my visits the tables were filled with rude patrons, urine smelling bums, and 'poker experts' ready to counsel the table on correct play. All while 6 to 8 players saw every flop making any sort of reasoned play impossible.

In my naivete I thought that building a bigger bankroll and moving up in limits would resolve these problems, but the more I read on this forum, the more it seems that the poker room at the Trop is the exception to most poker room standards, not representative of them.

I'm heading down to Atlantic City for a nice vacation from 8/9 to 8/12 and have reservations at the Tropicana. I intended on moving to the 7.50/15 hold em game to test the waters there, it's a little out of my price range, but I figured with the bums out I'd show more profit. But instead when I want to play poker I think I'll take a walk to the Taj or a cab ride over to the Borgata.

On a side note, the Tropicana on the whole seems to be getting dirty, old and seedy. Their customer service has been on the decline in my opinion over the last year and this will probably be my last stay with them, I didn't know that the Borgata would be open yet so it's too late to change my reservations, does anyone here have any comments on the Borgata's poker room, hotel, or casino.

P.S. Hey Melchior, I've got a rusty Masamune, think you could level it up for me?

[Fmonti]

My wife and I visit AC about 3 or 4 times a year and stay at both the Taj and Trop. (She is a slot player and gets 1 night free at each casino) and we get a 3rd night at a reduced rate. Its a 6 1/2 hour drive for us so 1 or 2 nights is not really worth the drive. I find the staff in the poker room at the Trop to be terrible and agree the card room there is becoming a zoo. You won't find the "pink game" any better. I play there because of the free night and the tournament...Next time in AC I'll definetly try the Borgata...

[banditbdl]

You're not going to make more profit by moving up to the 7.5-15 game. Better competition equals less profit, not more. No ifs, ands, or buts. If you get stressed out by the Bad Beats you take from the lower limit crazies you may enjoy playing against better competition more, but you won't make more profit.

[BillD]

Played at the Trop July 4th weekend. 2-4 and 4-8 played like Paradise play money. pink game played like .50-1.00.
Really didn't notice any low lifes, just the usual mix of tourists and regulars. 5-10 stud was real soft, weak-tight-passive. I will be at the Borgata this Fri-Sat.

[slamdunkpro]

See my trip report on the Borgata in B&amp;M cross posted in news &amp; views

[StratDiamond]

On the same customer service note, I recently tried to make weekend reservations at the Trop on the "Poker Room" rate, and was given all sorts of rudeness by the staff. I'm not a huge player, so I understand if they don't have rooms for me, but at least be nice about it.

I immediately called the Borgata, told them I was a Trop Poker Club member and wanted to switch to the Borgata. Cheap weekend rooms for me, with friendly service!