For much of Atlantic City’s history, the town served as one of America’s great summer vacation resorts. The city is situated on the South Jersey shore, and the boardwalk that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean is the world’s longest.
But by the 1960s, traffic to Atlantic City had greatly diminished. Many of the great hotels in the city closed, and it became clear that something new needed to be added to the mix if the city were to survive as a tourism destination.
Choosing a casino to play at in Atlantic City is tough, and this is for one simple reason: there are just so many different Atlantic City casinos to choose from! Regardless of your personal preferences, you’ll almost certainly find an Atlantic City casino that ticks all of the boxes, and we’ve listed five of the very best in 2020 below if. Harrah’s Atlantic City Harrah’s has over half a dozen of playable video poker variations available, the best of which are their full pay Jacks or Better games. They have plenty of these games available, and they’re reasonably easy to find, too. They’re available in the following denominations: 25 cents, 50 cents, $1, $2, $5, and $10. Top Atlantic City Casinos: See reviews and photos of casinos & gambling attractions in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Tripadvisor.
In 1976, legalized gambling was approved for Atlantic City by the state of New Jersey. This allowed the city to become the first place on the east coast of the United States to offer legal gambling, and started a second boom for the struggling town. Today, there are eleven different casinos in Atlantic City, making it the second largest gambling market in the United States after Las Vegas.
In recent years, gambling revenues have begun to decline in Atlantic City, in part because of the fact that much of the city is still impoverished, and perhaps also due to the influx of new resort hotel casinos in Las Vegas over the past two decades. However, while Atlantic City may have its share of issues to deal with, it easily remains the second biggest gambling destination in North America, and the state of New Jersey has taken great lengths to help revitalize the gambling industry so that it will remain a popular resort town for decades to come.
Atlantic City Neighborhoods
The casinos of Atlantic City can be broadly separated into two different areas. The largest block of casinos is located on the Atlantic City Boardwalk, which overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. Other casinos can be found in the recently developed Marina district. The table of contents below will help you jump straight to the section you’re looking for.
AC Boardwalk Casinos
Marina Casinos
Boardwalk Casinos
The boardwalk is Atlantic City’s most defining landmark. First built in 1870, much of the original seven-mile boardwalk was destroyed during a 1944 hurricane. Before the legalization of gambling in the city, the boardwalk was dotted by large hotels that were packed with tourists during the summer. The fact that these hotels could no longer be filled anywhere near to capacity was one of the factors that led to the city turning to gambling as a new attraction.
Today, most of the old hotels are gone from the boardwalk, but several large casinos have taken their place. The boardwalk still stretches an incredible 5.75 miles through both Atlantic City and neighboring Ventnor, making it the world’s longest. Eight casinos can be found on the boardwalk in all.
Atlantic City Hilton
Opening in 1980 by Steve Wynn, the Atlantic City Hilton was originally named the Golden Nugget Atlantic City. It was the first luxury hotel/casino built from scratch in the city. In the last thirty years, the property has changed hands several times, most recently belonging to Resorts International. The hotel here features 800 upscale rooms; despite the age of the building, the Hilton is still one of the nicest places to stay in Atlantic City.
The Hilton’s casino features over 2,000 slot machines, along with around 80 table games. If you’re looking for a Macau-style VIP setting, check out the Treasure Palace room on the second floor, which has 26 tables spreading games like pai gow and baccarat.
The second floor is also home to the Hilton’s poker room, which features 22 tables spreading mostly limit and no-limit hold’em games, though Stud and Omaha can also be found on occasion. They also hold tournaments on a fairly regular basis.
Sitting right on the AC boardwalk, the Hilton is one of the top hotel choices in the city
Resorts Atlantic City
Resorts Atlantic City first opened in 1978, and like many of the properties in Atlantic City, has changed ownership on several occasions since then. The older Ocean Tower has been supplemented by the newer Rendezvous Tower, which is home to the largest standard guest rooms in the city. In total, there are 942 rooms between the two towers.
Resorts was the first casino that opened in Atlantic City, which also made it the first legal casino on the entire east coast. There’s over 100,000 square feet of gaming space, featuring around 2,500 slot machines and 60 or so tables.
There’s also a small poker room here, though it’s not one of the best in the city. There are only six tables, which spread low-stakes games of Texas Hold’em (both no-limit and limit).
Showboat Atlantic City
The northernmost casino in the Boardwalk, the Showboat is a Mardi Gras themed hotel/ casino that first opened back in 1987. Despite the age of the casino, most of the hotel is rather new; the Orleans tower opened in 2003, and the Bourbon tower was renovated in 2007. In total, there are now 1,331 rooms, with the Orleans tower housing the nicest rooms and suites.
Best Gambling In Atlantic City
The casino houses around 3,500 slots machines spread out over 100,000 square feet of gaming space, along with more than 80 table games. The House of Blues poker room has 25 tables that host a mix of limit and no-limit Texas Hold’em games, primarily at rather low limits.
Tropicana Casino
Not only is the Tropicana one of Atlantic City’s most popular casinos, it is also one of the largest hotels in all of New Jersey, featuring over 2,100 rooms. These rooms are spread over four different towards, the newest of which is the Havana Tower, which opened in 2004. It was most recently renovated in 2007, allowing the Topicana – which was originally opened in 1981 – to remain modern to this day.
The casino floor is very large, spreading out over three floors that, in total, cover nearly 150,000 square feet. There are over 3,000 slot machines, along with around 170 gaming tables. The Tropicana Casino also hosts a variety of specialty and high-limit areas, such as the Jade Palace (an Asian gaming room), The Crystal Room, which hosts high-limit slots, and two themed slots areas: Havana Rooftop Slots and Palm Cove Slots.
The Tropicana also is home to the third-largest poker room in Atlantic City. The room features 43 tables, most of which spread Texas Hold’em; however, Stud and Omaha games can also be found here. In addition, the room hosts daily poker tournaments, as well as sit-and-go single table tournaments.
Trump Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal is one of three casinos owned by Trump Entertainment Resorts in Atlantic City, and has been the largest casino on the Atlantic City Boardwalk since opening in 1990. It is also the Boardwalk hotel with the most rooms, coming just ahead of the Tropicana with 2,248 in total. The Taj Mahal theme and grand size of the resort have made the Taj Mahal Casino is a favorite for tourists, even though the Borgata Casino has overtaken it in total gambling revenues.
The casino spans an impressive 167,000 square feet of space, including over 4,000 slot machine and over 200 table games. There’s also a special baccarat pit that caters to high- limit players of the classic casino game.
The Taj is also the home to Atlantic City’s second-largest poker room. There are 75 tables for cash games, along with an additional 14 tournament tables. Like everywhere else, Texas Hold’em is the game of choice here, but the size of the room means that there’s plenty of variety; Stud and Omaha games are also regularly found here. There are daily poker tournaments too, along with the occasional major event, like the US Poker Championships.
The boardwalk’s largest hotel and casino, the Taj also plays host to the 2nd biggest card room in the city
Bally’s Atlantic City
Bally’s Casino is actually both on and off the boardwalk, with some of the property spanning a block away from the oceanfront. Originally opened at the end of 1979, Bally’s features 1,753 rooms and contains both the original Bally’s facility, along with the adjacent Claridge Hotel and Casino, which it merged with in 2003.
Bally’s actually contains several different casino floors, which in total have over 220,000 square feet of gaming space. Counting the main casino, the Wild Wild West Casino, and the absorbed Claridge Casino, there are a total of over 5,000 slot machines and 200 table games available for play. Asian gaming options are available in the Bacarrat Palace, and there’s also a racing simulcast area/racebook along with a keno lounge, both of which are on the sixth floor.
Bally’s is also home to a modest but serviceable poker room. It features 20 tables, and normally spreads Texas Hold’em and Seven Card Stud at low limits.
Caesars Atlantic City
This is actually Atlantic City’s second oldest casino, having opened in 1979, and features the same Roman theme that is found in Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. While not quite as opulent as its Las Vegas cousin, Caesars Atlantic City is still a luxurious destination, featuring 1,158 rooms between its two towers: the original Temple Tower and the newer Centurion Tower, which was built in 1997.
Caesars is one of the largest casinos in Atlantic City, and offers guests a wide variety of gaming options. For starters, the 145,000 square foot gaming area features over 3,000 slot machines and 135 table games. There’s also Palace East, the Asian gaming area that features 28 additional tables, including Asian favorites like baccarat and Pai Gow. There’s also a racebook here, which is among the nicest in the city; while there are only 44 seats, each one comes with its own television for watching the races as they happen.
Caesars in Atlantic City also has its own poker room, though it may not be as large or offer as much variety as you’d expect. The 24 tables are more than adequate, but most of the time, you’ll only find $1/$2 no-limit Texas Hold’em games being played. There are also daily tournaments, along with occasional large poker events.
Trump Plaza Atlantic City
The Trump Plaza, located right next to Boardwalk Hall, is a mid-sized hotel and casino owned by Donald Trump. The Plaza opened in 1984, but recently underwent modernizing renovations in 2006. There are a total of 906 rooms here, including 142 suites.
The Trump Plaza casino features just over 91,000 square feet of gaming space, which is home to two separate casinos: a main floor and a smaller East Tower Casino. In total, there are 2,800 slot machines and about 80 table games between the two casinos. Unfortunately, the Trump Plaza does not contain a poker room.
The Marina, Atlantic City
The Marina was developed in an attempt to counter the decline in tourism Atlantic City saw in the 1990s. In 1999, Steve Wynn worked with the city to connect the Atlantic City Expressway to a barren strip of land that is now known as the Marina district. While Wynn never built his proposed casino, three others were, including the Borgata, which is now the casino with the highest revenue in all of Atlantic City.
The Borgata Casino
The Borgata opened in July 2003, and is currently the newest casino/hotel complex in Atlantic City. It is also the casino that annually produces the most revenue of any in the city. The hotel features over 2,800 rooms, 800 of which are contained in the newly- opened Water Club, an upscale hotel that includes four pools and extensive retail space. The rooms in both hotels are among the nicest in Atlantic City.
The casino checks in at over 161,000 square feet, and contains 4,100 slot machines and over 200 table games, spanning the range of typical American table games along with Asian favorites like baccarat and Pai gow. There’s also a full service racebook here, though – as with the rest of Atlantic City – no sports betting is allowed.
The Borgata Casino is also the home to the largest (and in most players’ opinions, the best) poker room in Atlantic City. With 85 tables, you’ll be able to play no-limit and limit hold’em at any stakes level you desire, and both Omaha and Stud games are also regularly spread. The room also hosts daily poker tournaments, along with a World Poker Tour event and other major tournaments throughout the year.
Seen by many as being the top hotel and casino in AC, the Borgata is home to the cities top poker room
Harrah’s Atlantic City
Harrah’s opened back in 1980, but has one of the newest expansions in Atlantic City; their latest hotel tower – the Waterfront Tower – just opened in 2008. There are now four towers in total, which combine to offer nearly 2,600 rooms for visitors.
The casino floor is in line with most of the larger casinos in the city, with 160,000 square feet of gaming space. There are over 3,800 machine games, more than 50 gaming tables, and a separate keno lounge.
Harrah’s Atlantic City also features a fairly sizable poker room. While it’s not at the same level as the Borgata or the Taj, it does feature 24 cash game tables, along with additional tables for large tournament events. Most games are Texas Hold’em, though Seven Card Stud is also spread on occasion.
Trump Marina
The Trump Marina is the smallest of the Trump properties in Atlantic City. Recently, the hotel and casino were sold to Costal Development LLC, who planned to convert the complex to a Margaritaville theme. However, the deal fell through in 2009, meaning that for the near future at least, the Marina will remain a Donald Trump property.
One of the smallest of Atlantic City’s casinos, the Marina hotel has just 728 rooms in two towers; about 150 of these rooms are luxury suites, while the rest are fairly typical rooms for the city. However, despite the small size, there are a number of restaurants contained within, as well as a nightclub, extensive fitness and recreational areas, and 50,000 square feet of meeting space.
The casino isn’t tiny, either, covering nearly 75,000 square feet. There are close to 2,000 slots machines and over 90 table games, including a baccarat pit for high rollers. However, unlike most casinos in Atlantic City today, the Trump Marina does not have a poker room.
For decades, the majority of the advertising you may have seen for Atlantic City casinos has centered around how loose the slot machines are.
Best Casinos Atlantic City Nj
Slots are the most popular games in any casino and Atlantic City casinos have been trying to draw you in by promising the loosest slots in town. What they’re really saying is their slots pay out at a better rate than the competition. Some can even prove it using data from the New Jersey Department of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE).
The NJDGE puts out the Atlantic City Casino Industry Casino Win Data report annually. It lists, by denomination, how much money the slots at every Atlantic City casino is taking in every year and how much of it they’re keeping. From there, it’s easy enough to extrapolate the Return To Player rates for slots at all nine Atlantic City casinos.
If you’re playing slots online you might not think this has much to do with you. That’s wrong. For the most part, the online slots you find at New Jersey online casinos are the very same ones you see on the gaming floor at Atlantic City casinos.
These days, almost 99% of slot machines are computerized. At Atlantic City casinos, the computer programs that run the slots are housed in the slot cabinets you find in banks all across the gaming floor. At NJ online casinos the very same computer programs run on servers you can access on the internet.
Since most of the games are the same, it would follow that the Return To Player rates for most of the slots at Atlantic City casinos are the same as the ones you’ll find at online casinos or in some cases, better.
Casinos with Better Paying Slots than Atlantic City Casinos
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On Your First Three Deposits
What Does Return to Player Mean?
The odds of winning at any casino game are often expressed in something called the Return To Player rate (RTP). It’s the opposite of the house edge the casinos enjoy on the games.
Essentially, return-to-player is the expected return a player can see, also referred to as payout percentage. The return is based around the life-expectance of the game, which in the case of online slots, is essentially infinity.
That means a game with a 90% RTP will pay back $90 for every $100 played on it.
The thing is, the payout percentage is based on long term performance of the slot machine. In other words, you’re not guaranteed to get $90 out of a game you just put $100 into.
It will take many, many sessions before you can estimate the RTP.
However, the slot machine payout percentage is a strong indicator of what you can expect from a casino game over the long haul. For slots in particular, RTP is far and away the best way to tell if a game is loose or tight.
Atlantic City Slot Machine Payouts
A look at the numbers in the 2018 Atlantic City Casino Industry Casino Win Data report tells us that Atlantic City casino slots had an overall average RTP of 92.11% in 2018. That’s a pretty good number for players because it means $92.11 of every $100 put into Atlantic City casino slots was paid back in prizes to those same players.
So, who really had the loosest slots in America’s playground in 2018? Here’s a look at the best Atlantic City slot machine payouts.
Golden Nugget 93.15%
Borgata 92.01%
Harrah’s 91.97%
Resorts 91.89%
Tropicana 91.81%
Bally’s 91.73%
Caesars 91.67%
Ocean Resort 91.45%
Hard Rock 91.28%
Golden Nugget Atlantic City had the loosest slots in 2018. In fact, Golden Nugget’s $0.50 slots were the loosest in all of Atlantic City paying out a 98.5% RTP on the $2,750,730 they took in.
Penny slots might be the most attractive in Atlantic City casinos because they appear to cost the least to play. However, the average RTP of 88.7% for $0.01 and $0.02 slots in Atlantic City casinos in 2018 suggests they may not be the best bet. In fact, the $0.01 and $0.02 slots at Bally’s and Harrah’s offered the worst RTP in AC at 87.6%.
Ultimately, the data suggest if you can find a $.50 slot machine at an Atlantic City casino you should probably play it. The average RTP for $.50 slot machines at all Atlantic City casinos is 94.1%.
The next best bet is the high roller $25 slot machines, which posted an average RTP at all Atlantic City casinos of 93.4%.
AC Slots vs. Online Slots
Unfortunately, the NJDGE does not release this kind of specific Casino Win Data for NJ online casinos. That means we can’t tell you how online slot machines actually performed over that same period of time.
Fortunately, some real money casinos list the expected payout percentages for most slots in the description of the game. That means we can look at a selection of games you can find both at AC casinos and online and figure out an average expected RTP for those slots online.
Top 10 AC Slots Available Online
Here’s a look at the Top 10 AC Slots that are also available online and the RTP listed for the games at Golden Nugget Online Casino:
Quick Hit Platinum:A retro Vegas classic five-reel and 30-payline slot with an RTP of 94.06%. Features include a progressive jackpot, free games, wild symbols, and the instant-win Quick Hit pays feature.
Wolf Run: Forest-themed five-reel and 40-payline slot with an RTP of 94.98%. Features include an Auto Play function, bonus rounds, stacked wilds, free spins, and high quality wolf graphics.
China Shores: A Chinese panda-themed five-reel and 30-payline slot with an RTP of 96.10%. Features include Asian-inspired symbols, a progressive jackpot, free games, and the ability to exchange free games for a random prize.
Fu Dao Le: An Asian-inspired five-reel and 243-ways-to win slot with an RTP of 96%. Features include clumped wilds, mystery symbols, a free games bonus feature, a Red Envelope Jackpot, and a jackpot bonus feature with three jackpots.
DaVinci Diamonds: An old-world Italian artistry themed five-reel and 20-payline slot with an RTP of 94.94%. Features include tumbling reels, free spins, scatters, and a bonus round.
Hot Roll Super Times Pay: A classic Vegas dice game-themed five-reel and 20-payline slot with an RTP of 93.4%. Features include wilds, Hot Roll symbols and bonuses, and wild multipliers.
Siberian Storm: An Siberian winter and white tiger-themed five-reel and 720-ways-to win slot with an RTP of 95%. Features include free spins and wild symbols. There’s also a Dual Play version of the game with 1440 / 2880 lines and an RTP of 94.22%. It’s features include the MultiWay Xtra feature with 1440 ways to win, a stacked wilds feature, and free spins bonus.
88 Fortunes: A classic Chinese-themed five-reel and 243-ways-to win slot with an RTP of 96%. Features include a free games feature, Fu Bat pick win bonus round, and Fu Bat Jackpot symbols giving you a chance to win one of four progressive jackpots.
Dancing Drums: Another Asian-inspired five-reel and 243-ways-to win slot with an RTP of 96%. Features include wilds, free spins, scatters, the FU BABIES Jackpot Bonus and Free Spins Bonus.
Zeus: A greek mythology-themed five-reel and 30-payline slot with an RTP of 95.97%. Features include free spins and a free games feature offering up to 100 free games.
RTP online versus live
The 10 slot machines listed above have an average payout percentage of 95.15%, which is even better than the AC best 93.15% RTP average of all slots on the Golden Nugget Atlantic City casino floor posted in 2018.
This suggests you’d be better off playing the games online than at a land-based casino. That may very well be the case, but before we declare that the slots at online casinos are looser than the same games at land-based casinos in AC, we should remind you of some important distinctions between the numbers.
First of all, the land-based casino RTP numbers are based on real data over the course of a year provided to the NJDGE by Atlantic City casinos. The online casino RTP numbers are basically theoretical and could take longer than a year to be realized.
Plus, the land-based casino RTP numbers are formed using actual data from every slot on the floor of an Atlantic City casino in 2018. The online casino numbers are theoretical RTP figures for just 10 games found at both land-based and online casinos in New Jersey.
Can I earn comps at AC casinos for playing online?
If you play slots online instead of at an Atlantic City casino you might think you’ll miss out on all kinds of comps, bonuses, and player loyalty rewards you’d otherwise earn. That’s wrong. Several online casinos offer the same comps, bonuses, and player loyalty rewards you earn on the gaming floor at Atlantic City casinos.
In fact, many online casinos will provide loyalty programs that allow you to earn points at their land-based locations or earn credits for the land-based program, thereby allowing you to both earn and redeem at the online casino or retail location.
Here’s a list of the online casinos where players can earn comps at Atlantic City casinos when they play online:
Caesars Casino & Sports – Caesars Rewards Card
Best Casinos Atlantic City
Caesars Rewards offers the Tier and Reward Credits for betting online at the Caesars Online Casino. Caesars Rewards properties in Atlantic City include Bally’s Atlantic City, Caesars Atlantic City, and Harrah’s Atlantic City.
BetMGM – iRewards Loyalty
BetMGM offers two rewards programs, one for online players, called iRewards Loyalty Program and the other for brick-and-mortar players. You can exchange your iRewards Points into Express Comps and use it at any MGM Resorts destination in the US, including Borgata in Atlantic City.
Golden Nugget Online Casino – Golden Rewards Program
Golden Nugget offers its own proprietary Golden Rewards program online. However, Golden Rewards members enjoy benefits and perks at Golden Nugget Atlantic City.
Harrah’s Online Casino – Caesars Rewards Card
You can earn comp points at Harrah’s online casino and convert them to your standard Caesars Rewards account.
SugarHouse Online Casino – iRush Rewards Program
SugarHouse provides a unique rewards program called iRush Rewards program. The rewards program is available at both both NJ and PA casinos. You can use these comp points at the Philadelphia SugarHouse Casino.
The online slots advantage
The truth is that online casinos are a lot more convenient for most people than their land-based partners.
If you want to play slots at an Atlantic City casino you must go out of pocket for transportation costs and unless you live next door to one, it’s going to take some time to travel there.
In contrast, you can login and start spinning online in a matter of minutes with no additional travel costs.
Since the slots are mostly the same at AC casinos and NJ online casinos, the fact online is more convenient and less costly makes NJ online casinos the obvious choice between the two. Plus, even though it’s theoretical, the fact you might enjoy a better RTP online than live makes the decision between the two a no brainer.
With RTPs over 90%, we recommend doing both. But if you have to choose one or the other there’s simply too many advantages to playing slots online over AC casinos to ignore.