Revel vs Borgata vs CET

The numbers are in for the AC July 2013 casino revenues.
The Borgata clearly came out on top of all of the other casinos in July.

Next highest winner in increasing revenue was Revel.
Revel believes their best month ever is showing a turnaround in their business.  It is a total joke.  First of all, many people lost money there believing they would get it all back but didn't read the fine print that the losses would be paid back in slot play over the course of 20 weeks, meaning they would have to go there once a week for 20 weeks to get the slot play dollar replacement.  Meanwhile, the Borgata had a much higher July revenue partially because people who read the fine print chose to play there.    Many took their generous Borgata offers over to Revel to receive matching offers, doubling their free play. The Revel match play actually helped The Borg, attracting more July visits to AC!  The Borgata is already offering us more generous slot bonuses in September than ever so should continue to see improved revenues as people go to Revel to get their free slot play for their losses.
An extra plus for me is The Borg finally replaced their music soundtrack!  What a relief to hear some decent music instead of annoying noises when playing.

All AC CET casinos had their revenues go down also losing business to The Borg.  There are several reasons why the AC regulars are switching to The Borg from the AC CET empire.  First CET started charging for Diamond lounges a couple of years ago.  Then they raised the Diamond tier by almost 50% this year.   The Borgata upgrades all Diamonds to Black Label and gives free slot play and entrance to their buffet or Amphora Club with the first upgrade.  Comp dollars accumulate much faster at The Borg so earning the $10 comp entrance fee to their buffet and lounge is much faster. Earning those entrance fees enables staying Black Label, making earning Black Label a better alternative to trying to stay Diamond for moderate regular AC gamblers.  I calculated the same slot play earns a Black Label $10 comp at least 2 times faster at The Borg! Cannot even compare the quality of The Borg buffet and lounge with that of the Diamond lounges.  CET's only advantage is having locations outside of AC, especially Vegas.
However, the new Total Rewards Platinum credit card was a great decision.  It enables free parking and no early check-in fees with a free Platinum upgrade plus an easy way to earn CET comp.  Too bad they also offer a Vegas buffet of buffets freebie and no comparable free buffet in AC.  Speaking of buffets, another stupid thing CET did was remove lunchtime hours from Harrah's buffet, making the free buffet for their regular players less accessible on Mondays and Thursdays.   Meanwhile, the nearby Gold Nugget has made their buffet a great alternative for players from nearby Harrahs with lots of buffet promotions and lower prices.  Removing the Wild West Virgina City buffet has made the Ballys-Caesars connected property less attractive for the AC regulars. Revel has remained without a buffet for lunch and dinner.
For Gold players,  CET now charges an early check in fee in addition to their extra $8 a night in fees for comped rooms.  Ironically, Revel has recently decided to raise their comped room fees by an additional $7.  An AC regular can get a comped room at The Borg for $5 a night so why pay $13 at CET or $12 at Revel??  The Borg renovated their Classic roooms last year, making all of their rooms nicer than most CET rooms.  Never did try the comp stay at Revel last summer because we couldn't access their room reservation system either online or by phone.  Also the AT&T mobile service is limited on their property, making it difficult for my husband and I to communicate.  Both their reservation system and the AT&T reception have not improved since their opening.
We prefer to play and eat wherever we are staying. So we eat better and stay in nicer rooms for less fees at The Borg than CET.  Best of all, we win alot more than we ever did at CET!

Here's some of the numbers:
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2013-08-09/nj-casino-revenues-down-3-dot-6-percent-in-july

ETA:
an article in the Newark Star-Ledger states the Borgata's Executive VP Joe Lupo said the casino profited from displeasure with Revel's slot promotion.

Revel vs Borgata

To describe Revel in a nutshell:
Pretentious

The numbers are in and Revel may be facing bankruptcy even sooner than expected. Morgan Stanley obviously made a wise decision not to sink another billion into Revel's completion. I saw so many flaws in the building's construction when visiting it, making it the perfect set for a disaster movie and most reviews, even favorable ones, continue to have complaints about its management and customer service. The management overall seems totally inexperienced in running a casino or a hotel.
Aesthetically to me if felt like an airport or mall.
Dark, cavernous, and uninviting.
Add to that that the people who love Revel mostly seem to have a condescending attitude online, personally attacking people who do not love the place while being totally blind to Revel's many flaws. These are not the type of people I want to be sitting next to when playing slots, especially after they had too much to drink.

Whoever designed the building was clueless to what a resort, a resort which happens to have a casino, or a gambling resort should offer.
It may have looked good on paper but clearly, it's an architectural nightmare.
Whoever designed their convention facilities was clueless. Attendees usually are late because of the navigation to those rooms while lugging their materials along with them.
Whoever decided not to have a convenient place for smokers to take a smoking break was clueless.
Whoever decided not to have direct access to the boardwalk and beach was clueless.
Whoever decided not to include a racetrack simulcast and therefore, no future sports betting facilities was clueless.  Also whoever decided to hide the poker room was clueless.
Whoever made many business decisions such as no buffet was clueless.
(most fancier restaurants in AC hotels have been closed midweek).
Whoever decided not to have an in room coffee maker and refrigerator was clueless.
Whoever designed their online site was clueless.
Whoever designed their phone reservation system was clueless.
Whoever hired and trained the whole staff were clueless as well.
Whoever was in charge of the marketing and players rewards were clueless.
Bottomline, the CEO who happens to be a part owner of this venture was clueless.

They supposedly fixed the AT&T mobile signal which made the building very inconvenient for AT&T subscribers but it still didn't work for us on our last trip AFTER the reported fix.
There are still many reports of hallway noise from inconsiderate and/or drunk partiers when staying overnight, interfering with sleep, even now when the place is comparatively empty.
Their Player rewards system is totally unreliable even though they have hired a more qualified person, it is too little too late.

The design of the building is unsafe, confusing and demands alot of mobility, making it difficult for both older patrons and younger often drunk patrons. Cannot imagine what it would be like if an immediate evacuation situation were to occur, empty or crowded.  The building does not have safe access for evacuation in case of an emergency if it is hard to navigate when there is no urgency.
Even walking through the empty casino is confusing without adequate signage.
Just finding the larger public bathrooms can be tricky.
Lots of open spaces but very little space for people and traffic flow within the casino and between the floors.

In no way will their business improve enough to avoid bankruptcy. Most people interested in the resort have already checked it out during its first summer and first impressions are lasting impressions.
Even if somebody qualified to run a casino resort took it over, the building design has too many flaws.

Governor Christie is expecting Revel to revitalize AC and is trying to delay slot machines at NJ racetracks for at least 5 years while all neighboring states are striking gold with their racinos.  This in addition to his veto of gay marriage, has made his popularity in NJ decline. I am predicting his political future is about as limited as Palin's.

ETA: After Hurricane Sandy, I am now a Gov Christie fan!!!  LOL
He may have burnt his bridges with the Republican Party but is a true Commander-in-Chief.

Sandy will be an excellent scapegoat for why Revel has failed.
I would blame its failure on not being able to compete with The Borgata from the beginning, being pretentious (smoke and mirrors) while The Borgata delivers all that Revel lacks.
Revel's only advantage is being on the boardwalk with some great views and no smoking.
Now it is rumored there will be smoking on the gambling floor and some guest rooms which hopefully is well contained.  Don't know how this building passed any fire and safety inspections or received any liability insurance coverage.

ETA: NJ Bar convention got smart and switched back to The Borgata instead of trying Revel in May.  Revel never could have handled over 2,000 bodies and bellies.

ETA: Revel ruined the one good thing it had going for it and now has smoking on the casino floor.

ETA on 7/5/2013: The casino floor at Revel still does not get an AT&T signal so even if I liked the place, I wouldn't stay there.

Why The Borgata, not Revel?

I am not a smoker so do like Revel's smoke free policy.
From there it all goes downhill for me.

Basically dislike their whole attitude from their CEO to their Facebook rep.
Overpriced rooms, food and alcohol do not interest me
Nothing to see or do there if not a hotel guest except gamble
No incentive to gamble there for the moderate gambler
and I usually play the most where I am staying
No buffet ( I am a taster so prefer variety when eating)
no horseracing simulcast for DH
dark confusing casino with mostly high minimum penny slots
no clue where the real full size restrooms were
high escalator casino access and do not care for elevators either
(still trying to figure out how they passed fire and safety inspections because the building is a disaster scenario in the making if there is a real emergency)

BTW it took quite a few years for The Borgata to lure us away from CET Diamond status and I was hoping for another casino alternative for variety. The only advantage CET has over The Borgata is their properties elsewhere. Revel lacks that advantage as well.
The Borgata is far from perfect though CET and Revel make The Borgata seem perfect by comparison. From the revenues, looks like alot of other people feel similarly.

So our not-so-wonderful governor ignored the state owned racetracks, donated $$ to Revel, and vetoed gay marriage. Would be a hoot if he ran as VP and NJ goes to Obama.

ETA: Revel is adding more incentives to play for higher tiered players. Too little, too late for us to become fans but DH will get his $50 free play for signing up with his Borgata Black Label.

Revel Resort AC, mostly expect Rants

A new casino resort is coming to AC this Spring called *Revel*, thanks to our BIGoted Governor's financial support which makes me feel less like supporting Revel's business.
At first, it sounded great because they were going to be smoke free.
However, their latest announcements, leave me wondering about their positive influence on AC.

Many older regular AC patrons like us lost a home with CET after their lack of enforcing a smoking ban, increased catering to a younger and rowdier crowd at night, decreased comped offers, and suddenly charging for Diamond Lounges admission while food quality continued to diminish. Some, like us, found a new home at The Borgata where upgrading to Black Label became the best of the CET Diamond benefits. Others have been waiting for the opening of the Revel, mostly because of its boardwalk location. A boardwalk location without access to and from the boardwalk? They think people will be satisfied with the view from the windows but on a nice day, how about fresh air and sunshine? Also it will be uncomfortable walking to and from wherever the entrance will be from the boardwalk because the neighborhood isn't exactly tourist friendly. Guess it will help the jitney profits. Otherwise, Revel will have the same disadvantage as The Borgata being just an AC brand instead of a national one like CET.

OK no smoking sounds good but no buffet sounds bad to AC regulars. Being Black Label, we love being able to eat at The Borgata buffet for just $10 of comp each for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Comp dollars accumulate much quicker at The Borgata than at CET casinos. For dinner, we can eat at The Amphora Lounge instead for a different ambiance. Diamond players cannot eat at a Diamond Lounge until 2PM most days and the food quality does not even come close to Borgata's.

The only entertainment announced initially by the Revel has been a Burlesque club. AC already had plenty of hookers in their casinos at night and a Burlesque Club may be offering even more business for them. More recently, they are presenting a day time pool drinking and bikini club atmosphere. Bad enough, The Pool at Harrahs goes this route at night. Revel may be finding drunk young adults partying all day now. Hopefully, they will give them rooms away from other people trying to sleep at night. Oh and they are going to have barely clad girls hanging from the ceiling over gambling tables?? Way to keep middle aged women playing slots while their husbands watch these gals.

I am not seeing much for the older AC regulars in their lineup except the complete smoking ban which will hopefully be upheld. The Borgata cannot even enforce the partial ban and the smokers seem to know it and abuse it more and more. In a way, I am glad that what Revel seems to be promising will not tempt us away from The Borgata but I was hoping that they would cause enough of a threat to keep The Borgata as generous as it has been. After seeing CET throw away its AC Diamond players, I worry that one day The Borgata will do likewise without any competition. Revel's timing would have been perfect to provide a home base for the disgruntled Diamond players but they are refusing to have a tiered player's card. Maybe the people who changed the AC CET Diamond Lounge policies found employment with Revel.

Morgan Stanley let their first billion go, not to risk another billion to complete the project. Wish I could buy insurance for when The Revel bonds become worthless like some had bought mortgage insurance before the real estate and bank crash, even without having a specific mortgage to insure. There is probably core of investors waiting for The Revel to go bankrupt so they could buy it really cheap.
Somebody will get rich off this fiasco but not the NJ taxpayers.

Casino Win/Loss Statements

Well the 2011 Win/Loss statements are available from The Borgata and the AC Total Rewards CET casinos (Harrahs, Showboat, Ballys, Caesars) and the differences from previous years is extraordinary. Our losses have been cut by 66%! Yup, we are losing only 1/3 of what we used to lose and still earning another year of Black Label status at The Borgata! Much of the difference comes from the generous bonus slot dollars at The Borgata plus much looser slots.

For almost the same amount of losses at both CET and The Borgata, DH achieved Black Label at The Borgata and Platinum at CET. Since switching most of our play from CET to The Borgata, we have saved thousands of dollars. CET's decision to charge for their Diamond Lounges just about paid for our new car. When considering what we are saving on food and nightly room taxes/fees, the switch covers our gas and tolls as well. Thank you CET for your worse business decision which turned into our best Total Rewards benefit.
OK I do play DH's card at The Borgata but I used to play his CET card too. I play the slot machines while DH prefers RaceTrack simultcast betting.
For my play on my cards which showed almost identical losses at CET and The Borgata, I get no offers at CET but am still offered weekly bonus downloads and comped rooms at The Borgata. Cannot compare how much better we have been eating at The Borgata. Plus we have always been offered comped summer rooms at The Borgata even when not Black Label while CET always greatly limited summer comped rooms, even when we were both Diamond??
So it doesn't matter whether one is
CET Platinum and Borgata Red Label like me
or CET Diamond and Borgata Black Label like DH,
when comparing food quality, expenses, losses, and comps
The Borgata does it much better.
Any regular recreational AC gambler really needs to stop drinking the CET kool aid and wake up and smell the coffee at The Borgata. It tastes much better and costs way less.

OK I do have to hear the crappy music being played in the casino at The Borgata but there is always hope that one day somebody with some authority will actually listen and hear what their patrons' ears have to tolerate.

ETA: Still cannot believe how our gambling dollars last 5 times longer at The Borgata! Anyone who plays penny slots regularly at Harrahs instead of The Borgata really needs a reality check.

Revel Resort, The future of Atlantic City?

In May 2012, The Revel will finally be open for business. Meanwhile CET has decimated their AC business after being the only real game in town other than The Borgata.

The only advantage CET had over The Borgata was its nonAC properties and 4 different properties in AC all being a part of the same Total Rewards system. Revel will have the same disadvantage as The Borgata in being a single AC only property. Cannot imagine gamblers from all over flocking consistently to the Revel as they do to CET properties, especially in Vegas. Oh Revel will be very busy its first summer as was the Trump's Taj when it first opened BUT will it make the generous offers necessary to attract gamblers the rest of the year?

There is no guarantee that the Revel marketing will be able to compete with The Borgata as far as comps for the consistent AC gambler. Who expected CET in AC to make so many poor business decisions within the year of The Revel's opening? Guess Revel cannot make as many bad decisions as CET but can they make as many good decisions as The Borgata? Only time will tell. Being a NJ taxpayer and owning 20% of the Revel's revenues, I sure hope the Revel is a huge success. However, unfortunately, I believe The Borgata will be the last AC casino still standing when the duel is over and the dust settles. Too bad our governor didn't invest in our racetracks instead and convert them to racinos which seem to be doing incredible business in PA, DE, etc. Heck even the NJ off track betting parlours called Favorites have been a huge success without slot machines!

ETA: Sadly just heard another bad decision by CET. Sunday is the last day for Harrahs Reflections restaurant. Breakfast will become available at their buffet which is overpriced or Bill's Burgers. Think we have spent more comp at Reflections than any other CET restaurant so we will miss it, even though most of our comp is gone. At the same time, I have heard complaints of way less comped buffet offers from folks who gamble alot more than we do. Looks like we will pretty much be eating all of our meals at The Borgata. About the only decent lunch option for cash at Harrahs will be McCormicks $10 lunch menu.

Sammy D's which took Reflections place doesn't seem to be doing nearly as much business as Reflections did. Food is ok with huge portions but those portions cost 200% more than smaller portions could have charged. An average breakfast for two, including juice and coffee could cost close to $50!

CET is better than The Borgata in somethings!

Finally found some things CET does better than The Borgata!

When a CET slot machine malfunctions, you can request timely help if the cardreader is working properly. Haven't a clue how The Borgata responds to a malfunction cuz my husband had to find a security guard to get a slot attendant the two times it happened to me.

If you are alone, you are SOL.

Also all play is counted at CET but comp dollars have a $5 daily minimum at The Borgata to accumulate. If you play less than the $5, the dollars still get added to your annual tier status but not to your comp dollar balance. It takes the equivalent of 100 CET tier credits to earn the $5 minimum at The Borgata.

Now let me count the ways that The Borgata surpasses CET:

The Borgata comped us rooms in the summer while CET left us out in the cold, .....um heat.

The comped rooms at the Borgata are $8 a night cheaper than CET's taxes and fees.

Comp dollars accumulate twice as fast at TheBorgata.

Borgata Black Label upgrades are given freely to CET Diamond cardholders.

Black Label members and a guest cost $10 in comp each for either The Buffet or the Amphora lounge. The Buffet is opened for breakfast and lunch as well as dinner daily while Diamond lounges do not open till 2pm on weekdays and noon on weekends. The Amphora lounge is opened till 10PM when the Diamond lounge closes at 7:30PM on weekdays.

The food at The Borgata is far superior to the Diamond lounges.

The Borgata gives several generous bonus slot downloads a month in addition to an earned slot download when more than $10 comp is earned in a gambling day playing slot machines (like CET you have to play twice as much on poker slot machines for the comp). The earned slot dollars are half the amount of the comp dollar so you get $5 slot download if you earn $10 comp.

Black Label is earned by getting 1000 comp dollars within a year after an upgrade or the equivalent of 20,000 CET tier credits. Now that Harrahs charges for Diamond admittance if you have less than 25,000 tier credits in a calendar year, this previous higher Black Label cutoff is a bargain if you are a couple and combine your play on one card like many couples will have to do to achieve the new higher Diamond status. Best part is you earn the comp dollars twice as fast at The Borgata, have more extended hours for eating, better food and more comped rooms with cheaper fees. It's an easy decision if you are a couple who goes to Atlantic City frequently like us.

The Black Label upgrade is good for a full year from the day you upgrade so you do not have till just the end of December of the current calendar year to earn your next year. You can pick your one year anniversary month yourself by upgrading whenever you choose. The first upgrade gets you a $100 slot download, $20 in comp and a free room. If you upgrade again further down the road, you do not get these extras again, just Black Label status for the whole year, starting from the day you upgrade.

One other thing, CET marketing makes alot of mistakes, accidentally blocking offers both in snail mail and online and in addition, your offers may never get to you if the postal system doesn't deliver it properly. We have seen free buffet offers online and never received the coupons.

All of my offers including cashback were blocked for a whole year right in the middle of several consecutive Diamond years!

ETA: Sad but true, The Borgata failed to correctly enter a bonus download for DH one week in January. Their Customer Care claims it is based on play ..... NOT! DH's card has 15 times the play as mine and I am being offered the bonus download the 2 days they fouled up for him! Thankfully, his bonus downloads seem to be properly entered all of the other weeks before and after so just a one time glitch. Think his invitation to a slot tournament contributed to the mistake.

ETA: Found another thing CET does better. The tunes they play are usually oldies that I love. The Borgata plays annoying repetitive instrumentals that sound like elementary school bands practicing, over and over and over again, day after day after day. I pity their employees.