Atlantic City is known for 3 things:
A New Jersey gambler was playing the Wheel of Fortune Double Sapphire Gold Spin slot machine at the Borgata casino in Atlantic City. She won $2,481,940.75 according to the casino's Twitter.
- The beach
- The boardwalk
- The casinos
This page concerns itself with #3, but only in terms of what are the best video poker deals at the various casinos. Atlantic City video poker is actually a pretty good deal, especially compared to the slot machine games there. In fact, since most of the casinos have relatively unfavorable blackjack rules, the smart money in casino games there tends to be the video poker machines.
Most of the casinos offer at least a few full pay Jacks or Better games. We like those games, because the strategy is familiar to most players. It’s also easy to spot because of the 9/6 pay table. You can find more information about that game in particular on our site, including strategies and how to spot the best pay tables.
None of the casinos offer any games with a 100% or greater return to player, but that’s not surprising. Atlantic City casinos seem to be able to lose money without any help from expert VP players. You can probably combine the players club membership card at some of these casinos with the best strategy and most generous games and come close to a break-even game.
Please keep in mind that even though we hope that the listings below are still accurate when you read this, casinos change their game selections, locations, and layouts all the time. If you’ll contact us when we need to make updates, we’ll make changes to this page accordingly.
Borgata Slots Online
Bally’s Atlantic City
Bally’s offers full pay Jacks or Better in a variety of denominations, but you won’t find a lot of these machines on the floor. There are probably less than 2 dozen of these games in the entire casino, and most of them are in the smoking sections on the GameKing games. They’re available in the following denominations: 25 cents, 50 cents, $1, $2, and $5. The higher denomination games are the more common ones.
This is, by the way, the best video poker game in the casino. The next best game is Double Double Bonus Aces and Faces with a payback percentage of 99.46%. But most players already know the correct strategies for Jacks or Better. They’re less likely to be able to play Double Double Bonus Aces and Faces with the correct strategy, which might add as much as 1% to 2% to the house edge.
At Bally’s, you can also find the following games with a payback percentage of over 99%:
- Joker Wild
- Bonus Aces and Faces
- Double Bonus Aces and Faces
- Bonus Poker (There are a lot of these games in the casino, and the payback percentage is 99.17%. If you’re having trouble getting on one of the full pay Jacks or Better game, this is the one to go for.)
The best payback percentage at the Borgata belongs to the Super Double Bonus games in the original area of the casino. If you play with the correct strategy, you’re looking at a 99.69% payback percentage. These games are available for a quarter, 50 cents, or a dollar.
The Borgata also offers 9/6 Jacks or Better, which is an equally legitimate choice. You’re sacrificing 0.15% in payback percentage, but you’re probably better at playing Jacks or Better than Super Double Bonus. The Borgata actually has quite a few of these games throughout the property, with denominations starting at a quarter. But the high roller area has these games for $10, $25, and $50.
The only other video poker game at the Borgata with a payback percentage north of 99% is Bonus Poker, and they only have a few of these games. They’re mostly available in higher denominations, too, starting at $1 and going up to $50.
You can find several video poker games here with a payback percentage of between 98% and 99% though, including:
- Double Double Bonus
- Jacks or Better
- Bonus Poker
- Double Bonus Poker
Caesar has about a dozen Double Joker Wild games available for 25 cents. This game has a payback percentage of 99.91%, which makes it not only the best video poker game in Caesars, but also one of the best video poker games in the entire city.
Caesars also offers about a dozen full pay Jacks or Better games. These are available in the following denominations: 25 cents, $1, $2, and $5.
The Double Double Bonus games are also worth noting, as they have a payback percentage of 98.98%. There are only a handful of these in the middle of the casino.
Like many of its competitors, Golden Nugget offers full pay Jacks or Better as its best-paying video poker option. But you’ll only find a handful of these games available near the rear of the casino. They’re available in a variety of denominations, though: 25 cents, 50 cents, $1, $2, and $5.
They also have a couple of Bonus Poker games available for $1 and $5. These have a payback percentage of 99.17%.
The Double Bonus games are the only other video poker games worth mentioning at this property. They have a payback percentage of 99.11%. They’re available in the same denominations as the Jacks or Better games.
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.
They also have the 99.46% version of Double Double Bonus Aces and Faces. These are available in the same denominations as the Jacks or Better games.
Jokers Wild is available with a 99.29% payback percentage. Bonus Aces and Faces has a similar payback percentage, 99.26%. And Double Bonus Aces and Faces is available with 99.24%.
Bonus Poker, Double Bonus Poker, and Double Double Bonus are also all available in their best paying variations. All of these games are available in the same denominations that we listed above in the Jacks or Better paragraph.
Resorts Atlantic City only has one video poker game worth mentioning here:
The Bonus Poker games are available for 25 cents, 50 cents, or a dollar. They have a 99.17% payback percentage.
Other than that, you won’t find much of interest in terms of VP games here.
The best option at the Tropicana Atlantic City is also the only appropriate game for low rollers—Joker Wild. The payback percentage is 99.59%, and the game is only available for a 25 cent denomination.
They also have a couple (literally just 2) full pay Jacks or Better games for $1, $2, $5, or $10. They’re in the high limit area.
Those are the only options if you’re looking for 99%+, but if you can live with 98% to 99%, they also have options in that range, too:
Double Double Bonus for $5 with a 98.98% payback percentage is also available. There’s also a Deuces Wild game with a 98.91% return to player available for $5.
The Trump Taj Mahal actually has a reasonably good selection of games with decent RTP (return to player) figures. Their best game is Jacks or Better with a 99.54% payback percentage—it’s available for $1 or $2.
99.17% Bonus Poker is also available throughout the casino. It’s available in the following denominations: $1, $2, and $5.
Those are the only 2 games with a 99%+ potential, but they have a couple of games in the 98%-99% range, too:
Double Double Bonus with 98.98% is scattered throughout the casino. They also have a Deuces Wild game with 98.91%. These games are available for a quarter, making them the best for low rollers in this property.
Atlantic City isn’t a video poker paradise, but most of the casinos offer at least one or two games worth looking at. We like to stick to variations with a 99%+ return to player, but that’s not entirely possible for all bankrolls at all properties.
The Borgata and Harrahs are our 2 favorite casinos for VP in the city. We’re not impressed with the selection at the Golden Nugget, though.
We like blackjack, too, but in Atlantic City, the rules are so unfavorable that full pay Jacks or Better or Bonus Poker are clearly the better options.
You just have to watch the pay tables, as these games are mixed in with the other games on the casino floor.
Slot machines are among the easiest and most popular games found in both online and brick and mortar casinos, though there is more to it than simply pulling a lever and spinning the reels hoping to hit the jackpot. In order to master the slots and win big, you need to master a bit of the language of slot machines.
A
ACTION – Also called ‘Play’, this refers to the total amount a player wages at a machine.
ACTIVE PAYLINE – Payouts will occur if the payline a player has bet on has a winning match.
ANNUITY WINNER – Jackpot winners who choose to get paid out in yearly instalments.
AUTOPLAY – A feature on many slots that can be triggered by the player to spin automatically.
B
BANK – A row of machines placed side by side that often match a theme.
BARS – The most common symbol found on reels are marked with the word ‘BAR’.
BET – The amount of money a player wages on per spin.
BIG BERTHA – A machine used by casinos as a marketing device to attract attention.
BIG WIN – The highest payout available on a specific slot game or jackpot.
BLANK – A blank space found between the symbols on a reel.
BONUS FEATURE – Reference to an additional feature that awards a win on top of the active payline.
BONUS MULTIPLIER – A game type that includes a bonus prize.
BONUS SLOTS – Specific machines that will award free spins or other bonuses.
BRANDED SLOTS – Themed slots often based on popular TV shows or movies.
BUY-A-PAY-SLOT – A type of slot in which each bet unlocks new potential winning matches.
C
CAROUSEL – Another term for the Bank.
CANDLE – The small light often found at the top of a slot machine.
CASHBACK – A feature on some slots that award players with money back on their bets.
CERTIFIED SLOTS – A type of slot game that has a 98% to 100% payout rate.
CICO – An abbreviation for ‘Coin in Coin out’ that tracks the coins in and out of a machine.
CLASSIC SLOT – A term for the earliest slots that featured only three reels.
COINS – The currency used by players to make bets at slot machines.
COIN SIZE – An indicator of how much a coin is worth.
COIN-FREE PLAY – This style of slot machine will pay out tickets instead of coins.
COINS PER LINE – The number of coins allowed, or required, to play a specific pay line.
COINS PER SPIN – The number of coins a player chooses to bet on a single spin.
D
DENOMINATION – The value of each credit played at a specific slot machine.
DOUBLES – A rare occasion where symbols come up two or three at a time for double payouts.
DRAGONFISH – A famous online slot gambling manufacturer.
DROPS – A feature where the symbols on slots fall into place on the reel.
E
EDGE – The advantage that the house (or casino) has over the player.
EXPANDING WILDS – A symbol that expands to cover the entire reel to increase chances of winning.
F
FEATURE – A feature in slots could be a reference to bonuses, free spins and more.
FILL – A slang term for a bag that contains coins that fills a coin hopper.
FIVE LINER – A slot type where the player has the chance to win on five payout lines.
FREEPLAY – Slots that can be enjoyed for free, without risking any money.
Borgata Free Slot
FRUIT MACHINE – A nickname for slot machines coined in the UK.
G
GAMES PER HOUR – Reference to the number of spins made by a player per hour.
H
HAMMER A MACHINE – The act of playing the same machine or game for a long time.
HIT – A term for a winning spin.
HIT AND RUN – A style of playing slots that involves rotating between machines frequently.
HOT SLOT – A term for a machine that seems to be paying out more than others.
I
INSTANT WINNER – Jackpot winners who get all their winnings paid out immediately.
J
JACKPOT – The top prize offered by a particular slot.
L
LINE BET – The total amount a player wagers on the pay lines.
LOOSE SLOT – A term for a machine with a high payout rate.
LOW-LEVEL SLOT – A machine with a chair or seat is referred to as a low-level slot.
LOW-VOLATILITY SLOT – A slot that pays out often but only on small to medium-sized bets.
M
MAJOR JACKPOT – The larger payout of a slot that offers multiple progressive jackpots.
MAXIMUM BET – The highest bet allowed at a particular slot per spin.
MULTI-LINE SLOT – A term for a slot that contains multiple paylines.
MULTI-SPIN SLOT – Specific slots that have up to 9 reel sets instead of only one.
N
NEAR MISS – When a player misses a win by only one symbol.
NICKEL SLOTS – Slots that are played only with a denomination of a nickel (5 cents).
NUDGE – A button found on some slots that allow the player to push a reel up or down.
NUMBER SYMBOLS – Symbols that pay the least and are commonly represented by 10, J, Q, K, and A.
O
ONE-ARMED BANDIT – One of the most popular slang terms for a slot machine.
ONE LINER – A game that only has one reel.
ONESIES – A slang term for playing with only one credit or coin per spin.
P
PAYLINE – The payout of each game depends on the pattern of symbols that must be matched.
PAYTABLE – A table displayed on slots that show all the possible payouts and bonuses.
PENNY SLOT – Slots that are played with the lowest denomination of just a penny (1 cent).
PICK TO WIN – A bonus game offered by some slots that is similar to a pick and match game.
POKIES – An Australian slang term for slot machines.
PROGRESSIVE JACKPOT – A jackpot that increases over time.
PROGRESSIVE SLOT – Refers to interlinked slots that offer a progressive jackpot.
Q
QUARTER SLOTS – Slots that are played with only a denomination of a quarter (25 cents).
R
RAINING – When a slot machine pays out and it sounds like rain.
REELS – Rotating barrels that contain the game symbols that must be matched.
ROLL-UP – A suspenseful sound made by a machine when a player wins.
S
SCATTER SYMBOL – A symbol that doesn’t need to be in any order or combination in a spin.
SELECT LINES – The number of selected paylines in one game.
SHORT WIN – A win that doesn’t pay out due to a low denomination bet.
SKILL-BASED GAME – A common bonus round that resembles a video game.
SLOT CLUB – A rewards club for players in a casino or online.
SLOT TALK – When players exchange information about a game with a host.
STREAKY SLOTS – A slot that is referred to as both ‘hot’ and ‘cold’.
Best Slot Machines At The Borgata
STRAIGHT MULTIPLIER – A type of slot that can have all winning matches triggered by a single coin.
T
TAKE – An assumption that slots have a cycle during which they will pay out after enough bets.
Borgata Best Paying Slots
TICKET – A printed ticket that players receive that can be exchanged for their winnings.
TILT – A term for a malfunction or an error in a live or online slot machine.
TOTAL BET – The total amount of bets a player makes at a specific machine.
TWO LINER – A type of slot that has two reels allowing for a potential double payout.
TASTE – A small payout from a slot and the assumption that it will keep the player spinning.
V
VOLATILITY – A reference to how difficult or easy it is to hit a jackpot in a specific game.
VIDEO SLOTS – A type of slot with an electronic display that doesn’t contain mechanical reels.
VIRTUAL REEL TECHNOLOGY – A system that allows for more losing and fewer winning matches.
W
WELL – The tray into which coins fall after a payout.
WILD SYMBOL – A game symbol that can be used as a substitute for others in a winning pattern.
WINNING COMBINATION – A pattern of symbols that, when matched, pays out a win.
Z
ZIGZAG – A winning combination that forms a zigzag pattern on the reels.
#
234 PAYLINES – A special game with a high number of paylines that cover every line.
3-REEL SLOTS – A slot game that features 3 reels.
5-REEL SLOTS – A slot game that features 5 reels.
Time to Spin
Now that you have all the language you need to succeed on the slots, you are ready to hit the slots and, hopefully, hit that big jackpot. Borgata Online Casino has some of the best games available online and is the best place to take your new vocabulary for a spin. Sign up with us today.
Borgata Online is licensed and regulated by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement as an Internet gaming operator in accordance with the Casino Control Act N.J.S.A. 5:12-1 and its implementing regulations. Its games are tested by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement to provide games that are fair and operate correctly. Only customers 21 and over are permitted to play the games. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER.