Name: Atlantic City, AC, Monopoly City, Las Vegas of the East Coast.
Age: 172.
Appearance: A city on an island on the South Jersey Shore, famed for its long Boardwalk and many casinos.
They got some good games there? They sure do, and you’ve almost certainly played one of them, perhaps in your childhood.
Hold up now, poker’s not for kids. I’m not talking about poker, I’m talking Monopoly. You know — Baltic Avenue, Boardwalk, hotels and ‘Get-Out-of-Jail Free’ cards. The classic US Monopoly board is based around Atlantic City.
What about my kind of games? Oh, they’ve got those too. In fact, right now there’s a big, big series going on at the Borgata, where a new tournament poker room has just opened up.
Is it really the ‘Las Vegas of the East Coast’? Kinda. Vegas has a population of over 650,000, is in the desert and filled with bright lights. Atlantic City has a population of closer to 40,000, is right by the ocean and has something of an air of faded glory. Yet despite these major differences each city occupies a special place in poker players' hearts.
Oh yeah, I remember — that famous player won there, years ago. You mean when Daniel Negreanu beat Phil Ivey, David Williams and Josh Arieh to the WPT title at the Borgata in 2004?
No, I mean when Mike McDermott bluffed Johnny Chan off a single hand in Rounders in 1998. Ah, yes. Mike really did milk that one successful bluff, didn’t he?
Have the games there been running as long as they have in Vegas? That depends how you look at it. A hundred years ago, in the Prohibition era, underground casinos were all the rage in AC, but the first legal casino didn’t open there until 1978. Las Vegas legalized casino gambling in the 1930s, right at the end of Prohibition but after Atlantic City’s reputation as a party town was already established.
Party town? It’s not just the Borgata these days, there’s Caesars, the Golden Nugget, Harrah’s…
Aren’t those all in Las Vegas? They’re in Atlantic City too. There’s lots to do, even if you’re just standing around gawping at all the sweet stuff on display.
Are you talking about Miss America? I meant the salt water taffy. Honestly, sometimes I think you do this on purpose, although in your defence the Miss America pageant was hosted in Atlantic City from 1921 to 2004, and then again from 2013 to 2018.
Have any famous players come up in New Jersey? Durrrr.
No need to be rude. I meant high stakes pro Tom Dwan, also known as ‘durrrr’, but there are certainly some other big names too.
Whatever, I’ve seen Jersey Shore, I’m sure I could outwit them. Ya think? The Garden State has produced some truly exceptional players. Let’s just see how you fare against New Jersey’s most famous poker export, one Mr. Phil Ivey.
Gulp. Now who needs a Get-Out-of-Jail Free card?
Do say: ‘Welcome to America’s Playground!’
Don’t say: ‘Borgata? I hardly know her!’
