April 2019

Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, in Atlantic City, New Jersey has the distinction of being both the largest hotel in New Jersey, with just over 2,000 rooms, and the highest-grossing casino in Atlantic City. Opened in 2003, and designed as a gambling destination to rival those found in Las Vegas, Borgata was originally a joint venture between MGM Mirage and Boyd Gaming but, since 2016, has been owned outright, and operated by, MGM Resorts International. Borgata was, in fact, the first new property of its kind to open in Atlantic City for over a decade and has largely succeeded in its aim of rekindling interest in gambling in ‘America’s Favourite Playground’.

The casino floor, which occupies 161,000 square feet in total, offers 180 table games, including the usual selection of baccarat, craps, roulette and so on, and over 3,000 state-of-the-art slots, in various denominations. No pun intended, but poker is a big deal at Borgata, too; the poker room, which is the largest in Atlantic City, was installed as part of a $200 million expansion programme in late 2005 and early 2006, and features regular tournaments, including the World Poker Tour (WPT) Borgata Poker Open and Borgata Winter Poker Open. Sports bettors are also more than amply catered for at Borgata, with a sportsbook, aptly named the ‘Race & Sports Book’ – the only one of its kind in Atlantic City – providing access to thoroughbred harness racing and other sports via individual, flat-screen monitors.