For those who have not been following along, over the last year, there have been some huge changes to the poker scene in the Northeast, with some of the biggest changes yet to actually take hold.

In September 2009, I wrote about a recent Pennsylvania law that permitted the addition of table games to a state that had already legalized slots.

In November 2009, I wrote about a law that recently passed in Ohio that permitted casinos, including poker, in several major cities.

Well, just a few months later and it looks like we get to add Delaware and possibly even Maryland to new Northeast poker hotspots.  Lawmakers in Delaware recently voted to extend their already legal slots and sportsbetting (incidentally, the only legal sportsbetting on the East Coast) to include table games and a law has been proposed in Maryland to expand their video lottery operations. The Delaware law recently passedand if the Maryland law passes , AC will be facing even more competition from its nearby neighbors.

I’ve been trying to determine if my concerns for AC are unfounded or not, but after creating a Google Map with the old poker options (for me, that meant AC, Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun and Turning Stone), I added the new potential rooms based on various reports I had seen and have created a map that looks like a nightmare for AC.

Here is an old map showing just the poker options generally available to people in the New York City area.

View NorthEast Poker 2008 in a larger map

I recommend zooming out to get the full effect.

As you can see, there was not much competition. Why? Because almost universally, gambling was frowned upon. When AC introduced gambling, it was merely because of the depressed seaside town and the success of Vegas that allowed the gambling expansion. When Native Americans figured out they could open casinos, Connecticut and even upstate New York saw additional casinos to compete with Atlantic City. But even then, the options were few and far between. After all, the puritanical, anti-gambling sentiment that permeated the Northeast was still in full effect.

Now, a demystification of gambling, together with the financial needs of the State have seen gambling sprout like a weed in a neglected garden. Of course, even weeds can eventually be turned into a commodity.

The result:

View NorthEast Poker 2010 in a larger map

The old haunts are depicted with the yellow dollar signs, since those are where I currently make money (holla!). I added the nearest new likely casinos with the fire icon, since they seem to be spreading like wildfire and are a danger to AC. I used simple red warning signs for some of the further rooms, which I do not think are likely to directly affect AC, except for maybe reducing some charter flights.

What do you see? AC is under siege! I even included a recently added West Virginia room (I’m sure there are more) to demonstrate how this isn’t just an attack from one direction; AC is taking it from all ends.

What can AC do? Well, mostly pray. Unless AC can find another reason to attract customers, AC will continue to suffer. In my estimation, that means that AC needs to do three things:

1. Lower Room Rates – Room rates in AC are often prohibitively high, especially during the summer months. But if AC is going to attract players who can find poker nearby, AC will have to be a destination and all destinations need affordable accommodations. This way, when your buddy says, “Let’s go play some poker this weekend!” you’ll say, “Okay, I have some cheap rooms at the Tropicana in AC and I love that place, so let’s go!” instead of “We’ll hit the casino downtown, since it’s convenient. AC is overpriced anyway.”

This may already be happening. I received an advert with two free rooms in the Tropicana Casino Hotel for any time until April. It seems to include weekends, which is a rarity. The Trop is a great property, but it was recently under a lot of financial troubles and was sold to another company. That is probably the impetus for the free rooms, but at least the owners recognize that the first step to profit is to bring back the players.

2. Continue featuring Big Entertainment – AC already does a fairly good job with their slew of live entertainment. It isn’t Vegas, with large, established shows, but there are usually big comedy acts or musical acts in town every weekend and lesser acts during the week. AC needs to continue, and possible build, on this, because that, too, will create a Destination Town, as opposed to a gambling town.  For instance, when wifey Kim conned me into going to Dancing with the Star Live, she did so by suggesting we see the AC show. We did. It sucked. But at least we were already in AC, where we had an expensive steak dinner and gambled.

3. Diversify and Advertise – AC had been doing a good job of diversifying beyond gambling. The Tropicana, for instance, has an IMAX 3D theater. An outdoor outlet mall sprung up a few blocks from the boardwalk. Caesars renovated the old Ocean One mall to create an updated mall-like experience. A scary-looking carnival sprung up on the Boardwalk. These are key to AC’s future. AC cannot simply rely on being a gambling destination, so alternative activities, especially for the winter months when the beach is useless, is key. But even more than that, AC needs to rehabilitate its image. It’s seen as a shady, dirty, gambling hole that is a joke in comparison to Las Vegas. But if more people knew of the other things to do in AC (more is needed), then perhaps that image can be fixed and the crowd will look forward to AC, rather than settle for it because its the nearest gambling destination.

In the meanwhile, I’m already mapping nearby destinations. Allentown, Pennsylvania, here I come!

Until next time, make mine poker!