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Rivers Casino Philadelphia opened its poker room as well, although the citywide restrictions forced the casino to close once again on Nov. Parx Casino in Bensalem plans to reopen the state’s largest poker room on Dec. The poker rooms at Hollywood Casino, Presque Isle Downs and Wind Creek Casino have all remain shuttered. Website: Rivers Casino Philadelphia. Parx Casino (Purple star) In terms of gaming revenue Parx is the busiest casino not only in Philadelphia, but the entire state of Pennsylvania, per figures from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. Situated 19 miles northeast of downtown, Parx is anywhere from a 25 minute to hour long drive. Get Lucky with Parx Online! Play the world’s best free casino slots and free casino games. Slots include China Shores, Eagle Bucks & many more.
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Parx and Harrah’s, as well as Pennsylvania’s other nine land-based casino properties, are on high alert knowing that they, too, could join Rivers Philadelphia in being forced to go dark. A schedule of Parx Casino poker tournaments, including time, buy-in, blind structure, and more. You also can find Parx Casino phone number, address, and website info.
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The live poker room at Harrah’s Philadelphia appears to be permanently closed.
According to various social media posts by current and former employees, they received word about the decision on Aug. 11.
Harrah’s Philly poker room closed for good?
Various poker room employees at Harrah’s Philadelphia posted on social media about losing their poker-dealing jobs. On the condition of anonymity, a now-former employee (“Jake”) discussed what’s happening at Harrah’s Philadelphia poker room with Play Pennsylvania.
He confirmed that the room is closed, with no plans to reopen it. Management’s calls to poker room employees came via Zoom on Aug. 11. Jake said that they did not offer anyone positions within the organization. However, Harrah’s did say if employees had experience in tables games, they could apply, just the same as anyone else coming in off the street, for openings.
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Those who asked if any classes would be offered for table games did not get a clear “yes” or “no” answer.
Play Pennsylvania reached out to Harrah’s regarding the poker room, but they declined to comment.
Silent on social media
Harrah’s Philadelphia poker room’s Twitter handle no longer exists. Its Facebook page has not been updated since March 13.
Asked whether the poker room closure was permanent, a customer service representative at Harrah’s Philadelphia said:
“It’s closed as of now. We don’t have a date of reopening.”
World Series of Poker-branded room
Harrah’s opened a live poker room in 2010 on the floor below the main gaming floor near where race track betting takes place.
On April 26, 2019, after extensive renovations, Harrah’s Philadelphia became home to the World Series of Poker poker room. Harrah’s corporate parent company Caesars Entertainment owns the popular World Series of Poker brand. Those brands are now housed under Eldorado Resorts, which officially absorbed Caesars mere months ago, maintaining the Caesars brand name.
Last fall, Harrah’s underwent a number of major renovations, including the new retail sportsbook the Book and a Topgolf Swing Suite.
General Manager Chris Albrechttold the Philadelphia Business Journal:
“The poker room was moved from racing level to casino floor to have all gaming action on one floor. It was part of the reimagination of the back of the casino with new sportsbook and Topgolf.”
Parx has the largest live poker room in PA, with 48 tables.
Harrah’s had 27 tables and a full slate of poker promotions and tournaments. On their website, they boasted:
“WSOP Poker Room spreads Texas Hold’em, Seven Card Stud, and Omaha. With nonstop action and a range of blinds, even the most discriminating Philadelphia gambler will find a perfectly suited game for their taste. Limit games range from $2-4-6 to $20-40, while No Limit games range from $1-2 to $10-25.”
The following pictures were taken at the vacated Harrah’s Philadelphia poker room in July 2020.
Poker rooms in PA still closed
In mid-March, all 12 Pennsylvania casinos closed to slow the spread of coronavirus. Harrah’s Philadelphia reopened on June 26.
When casinos’ home county moved to the “green phase,” they could reopen at reduced capacity (up to 50%). The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) laid out updated health and safety protocols, which included, to start, that poker rooms could not operate due to players handling cards and chips. They said they’d monitor and adjust according to guidance from the CDC and the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
PGCB Director of Communications Doug Harbachgave this update to Play Pennsylvania on Aug. 25:
“There has been no alteration to the casino reopening protocols released by the Gaming Control Board in May in which poker rooms were not authorized to operate. At the same time, this guideline can be reexamined based on health experts’ guidance. Should casinos wish to explore reopening a casino room, it would need to provide plans to do so safely which would be reviewed by the board on a case-by-case basis.”
WSOP online poker plans in PA
While live poker is off the menu for the time being (and perhaps permanently at some casinos, like Harrah’s), PA poker players still have legal, regulated as an option. PokerStars PA was the first online poker operator to launch in PA, doing so in November 2019. The lone operator has done well in Pennsylvania, peaking in April with revenue of nearly $5.3 million when all casinos were still shuttered.
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And while live poker rooms remain closed, online poker revenue at PokerStars has come down to a reasonable yet healthy $3.0 million for July. But it looks as if PA will soon have more online poker options in partypoker(through BetMGM/ROAR Digital) and, ironically, WSOP.com.
Caesars (through Harrah’s Philly) launched online sports betting and online casino products in PA in March and April, respectively.
While no timeline has been announced for the launch of a WSOP online poker room in PA, we know regulatory approval is underway. That makes for rather unfortunate timing for Caesars’ live poker partner to fold, it would seem. But in 2020, anything is possible.
Note: This is a developing story. PlayPennsylvania will provide the latest updates on the Harrah’s poker room closing as they become available.
The new Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia continues to move toward an opening in early 2021. When that happens, there will be live poker.
According to a casino representative, the new property will feature a 29-table poker room. No official opening date has been announced as yet.
Live! Philly eyeing mid-January for poker room launch
Earlier today, poker reporter Anthony Cicali tweeted confirmation that Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia will have a poker room. Cicali shared a short video showing movers bringing a poker table into the casino and unwrapping it.
According to Cicali’s sources, “They are looking to launch mid-January.”
Confirmed!!! Philly Live will have a poker room .. here’s first look and inside sources tell me they are looking to launch mid January @LiveCasinoPHLpic.twitter.com/KOQk3itSUt
— Anthony F Cicali III (@EataHoagie) December 9, 2020
When asked, “Will you guys have poker, and if, so will it be immediately?” via Instagram, a Live! rep responded:
“We will have a poker room, however with covid restrictions, we won’t know until we open.”
The casino was developed and is owned by The Cordish Companies, which also operates Xfinity Live! Philadelphia. Like other Philadelphia casinos, Xfinity Live! has temporarily closed due to citywide restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
All Philadelphia casinos must remain closed until Jan. 1, 2021, at the earliest, meaning the opening of Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia will not happen until the new year.
Located in the South Philadelphia Stadium Entertainment District, Live! Philly will feature 2,200 slot machines and over 125 table games.
While plans move ahead toward the casino’s grand opening, the PlayLive! Online Casino and FanDuel-powered online sportsbook are already up and running.
PA poker rooms return slowly, continue to face challenges
It has been a challenging year for Pennsylvania poker rooms, all of which were forced to close in mid-March due to the pandemic. Casinos began to reopen over the summer, but the poker rooms remained shut down as dictated by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB)‘s COVID-19 Casino Reopening Protocols.
It wasn’t until early October that some of the poker rooms began submitting reopening plans to the PGCB.
Five rooms reopened in late October and early November. They included the rooms at Mohegan Sun Pocono, Mount Airy Casino, The Meadows Racetrack & Casino, Rivers Casino Pittsburgh and Rivers Casino Philadelphia.
Rivers Casino Philadelphia opened its poker room as well, although the citywide restrictions forced the casino to close once again on Nov. 20.
Parx Casino in Bensalem plans to reopen the state’s largest poker room on Dec. 15.
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The poker rooms at Hollywood Casino, Presque Isle Downs and Wind Creek Casino have all remain shuttered. A representative from Wind Creek informed PlayPennsylvania in late November that the casino had no update to provide regarding when the poker room might reopen.
Meanwhile, one of the closed poker rooms, the WSOP-branded one at Harrah’s Philadelphia, will not be reopening. In August, it became known that Harrah’s intended to close its poker room permanently.
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For the latest on PA poker room reopenings and plans, visit our live updates page.