I recently took a marathon trip to Atlantic City, leaving my home in Boston at 1:30 AM, driving through the night, arriving early on Saturday morning, and then playing in all the poker rooms I could find. This included a stop at the Trump Taj Mahal (known familiarly as "The Taj") - once the premier poker room in the area. For stud players like me it still is.
The place is not as glamorous as it once was. There are now eleven poker rooms in Atlantic City. Some, like the Borgata and the Hilton, are beautifully appointed - with new and luxurious tables and chairs, new chips and cards, and meticulously clean surroundings. By contrast the Taj looks a bit tired and run down.
But how important is the fine art on the wall while you're playing after all? With all due respect for the beautiful new rooms, what's always been important to me is the action. In that regard, I've gladly played in cramped back rooms, musty decrepit basements, and once in a place that was so dark and small and filled with cigarette fumes that it reminded me of a smoky coffin. Hell, I've even chased a couple of action players by playing in the back seat of their car. Compared to those places the Taj is still a palace.
The Taj has 90 poker tables - making it the largest room in Atlantic City and one of the largest poker rooms in the United States. When I arrived at a little before 10:00 AM Saturday morning, there were only twelve games going - seven of them stud. I sat down in the $10/20 stud game but it wasn't my only mid-limit stud option. There were two full tables of $20/40 with a list, there was another $10/20 game, there were a couple of $5/10 games, there was a $3/6 game with no ante (a game they had just started to spread in the casino - and one I have never seen anywhere else), and there may have been a few $1-5 games but I honestly didn't ask and don't recall. Frankly, considering the time of day, the stud action was impressive.
I was told by another player that later in the day I was assured of finding $15/30, $30/60, $40/80, and maybe $75/150, $150/300 and $400/800. The guys at my table never played that high, but they had seen those big games go off many times recently.
The room is player friendly. The casino offers free "Taj Cards" where players earn points that are used like cash for food and room. Low stakes games earn $1/hour. $10/20 earns $2/hour and $20/40 or higher earns $3/hour. Not a bad deal. My home casino, Foxwoods, with no competition within 200 miles, pays significantly less per hour. The games are raked below $20/40, with a 10% $4 maximum taken from the pot. $20/40 and higher pays time. $20/40 is $7 per half hour. Time charges go up from there. $30/60 is $8/half hour, etc. The $10/20 game I played in had the conventional structure -- $1 ante with a $3.00 bring-in by the low card. I bought in for $500 - which made me by far the big stack at this table. It became clear after about three hands that these were guys who were just grinding it out. They were very tight. Friendly to be sure, and tight.
I spent about half an hour playing tightly and listening to some stories about poker in Atlantic City. These guys all agreed that stud was drying up and being replaced by hold 'em. Even the action at the Taj had seriously diminished in recent years. But the stud action certainly wasn't dead yet. The only place with more of it is Foxwoods.
I won exactly $20 during my thirty minutes of rocky play. I also got one good quote from a regular:
It may not be the nicest room, but you're assured of getting a stud game 24/7. It's the only place, really. That's worth something, ain't it?
How's that for a ringing endorsement!
