The Hard Rock Casino in AC is my go to casino. The wife and I recently picked up gambling as our chosen form of entertainment and tried a few casinos in the area. I have also causally been to most as well. Almost all have some reason why people may find them to be the "best" casino, however when I weigh all of the factors the Hard Rock gets the top spot for me. When I started gaming my main goal was to get to the top tier to enjoy the exclusive lounges and members only events. I had thought that narrowed my search down to Caesars or The Borgata because they had the best rewards in my opinion and also offered credit cards giving tier points on regular every day purchases. So first I went to the Caesars properties starting with Harrah's. I ordered 2 drink in 5 hours and was brought neither. My screen just said pending the entire time until I moved to another machine across the room and ordered another drink's just to have that one also say pending for hours. The atmosphere was also very dark and dingy. I may not be a big drinker, but I do enjoy having a good time while playing negative expectation games at the least. In short, Caesars gave me the same experience.

So I looked at all the casinos promotions and found that Hard Rock offered new players $20 free play. This brought my wife and I in to what we thought would be a quick stop before checking out Ocean and then the Borgata, which then turned into 8 solid hours of having a great time and not leaving until we absolutely had to. I was hoping to be served at least 1 free drink during our free play which we took turns using on video poker to extend our fun. Then maybe 1 minute after ordering 2 cocktails, they had arrived. We were then able to immediately order something else. I have been in casinos (Especially in PA) that only allow a certain amount of free drinks per a set period of time but not here. In addition to cocktails they had non alcoholic versions of drinks, hot chocolate or coffee, and beer which was actually served in a bottle rather than a cup like other casinos. All drinks are also customizable which is great for people who don’t drink much alcohol and are there to have a fun time. The drinks are nice but there are two things you will notice first and foremost. The beautiful brightly lit clean casino, and the music. Both made the atmosphere leagues above some in the area which remind me of the smoke filled dirty casinos of the 90’s. I understand that we as players are paying for this with lower pay back percentages, however a few points of payback is well worth all of the benefits in my opinion. I should also specifically mention the music, I am 32 years old and it is quite refreshing hearing music I would actually enjoy outside of the casino setting. I have heard everything ranging from Taking Back Sunday to The Cure.

There is a nice variety of slot machines and table games. I do wish there were better video poker machines, however they are on par with most I’ve seen in NJ. I have been to the casino 3 times now and I was assigned a casino host. On their website they advertise that as one of the perks of their top tier in the rewards system so I was incredibly happy about this. I have also received 2 comped stays which can be used for up to 3 nights in a row each, and 10 free buffets as I can convert my comp dollars into a buffet at a 10:1 exchange and a gift certificate for $50 at any of their restaurants. As far as the restaurants are concerned I have only tried the buffet so far and the food was just fine. The prime rib and the desserts were excellent, everything else was just good. If you are used to Las Vegas buffets you need to stifle expectations but if you are used to typical chain buffets then you will be more pleased.

TLDR You may not get a free cruise for being in the top tier of players and Hard Rock doesn’t have the highest EV, but it’s atmosphere and fun outweighs this in my opinion.