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Four live poker rooms are now open in Pennsylvania. The rooms where you can find live poker right now are:

• Rivers Casino Philadelphia
• Rivers Casino Pittsburgh
• Mount Airy Casino
• Mohegan Sun Pocono
• Parx Casino

These four live poker rooms are currently closed:

• The Meadows
• Hollywood Casino
• Presque Isle Downs
• Wind Creek Casino

The WSOP poker room at Harrah’s Philadelphia permanently closed in November.

In the New Year, players will also have another live poker option in Philadelphia. Live! Casino and Hotel in Philly will open in early 2021, and a 29-table poker room should open with it, pending COVID-19 restrictions. PlayPennsylvania exclusively reported that according to workers at the new casino site, a Jan. 20 opening is planned.

We will continue to update casino and poker room closings and reopening plans at our live updates page here.

All casinos in PA set to reopen week of Jan. 4

Casinos in Pennsylvania reopening on Jan. 4 at 8 a.m.:

• Rivers Casino Pittsburgh
• The Meadows and Hollywood Casinoaccording to PennLive
• Mount Airy Casino
• Harrah’s Philadelphia
• Wind Creek Bethlehem
• Live! Casino Pittsburgh
• Parx Casino (9 a.m.)
• Mohegan Sun Pocono (10 a.m.)
• Valley Forge Casino Resort ( 1 a.m.)
• Rivers Casino Philadelphia (4 p.m.)

Opening on Tuesday, Jan. 5:

• Presque Isle Downs & Casino at 4 p.m.

Opening on Friday, Jan 8:

• Lady Luck Nemacolin at 9 a.m.

When casinos in PA reopen, they will still follow the COVID-19 Casino Reopening Protocols, which detail the minimum safety and health-related requirements that are mandatory before reopening.

All casinos and poker rooms ordered to close for three weeks

Gov. Wolf announced that mitigation restrictions put in place back on Dec. 12, including the closures of casinos, will be lifted Monday, January 4 at 8:00 a.m.

Parx poker room reopening in mid-December

Pennsylvania’s largest poker room announced a date for its long-awaited return. Parx Poker Room will reopen on Dec. 15 at 9.m. with all of its usual games and be open 24 hours. The news came via Parx’s website.

What’s up at Wind Creek’s poker room?

With 26 tables, Wind Creek Casino has one of the larger poker rooms in PA. A representative from Wind Creek told PlayPennsylvania they had no update on when the poker room would open.

A Wind Creek employee provided an update on some of the happenings at Wind Creek including the poker room. Read the full story here.

PA poker rooms opening one by one

Other poker rooms in Pennsylvania could be reopening any day. According to a spokesperson for the PGCB, casinos submit plans and safety protocols for review. Once they receive final approval from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB), they can reopen.

It’s positive news for poker players who have been waiting a long time to get back to live games. Casinos in Pennsylvania started shutting down to slow the spread of coronavirus in mid-March. They did not begin to welcome back guests until June, and poker rooms were not open due to the social nature of the game.

PlayPennsylvania has contacted poker room reps for Hollywood Casino, Wind Creek Casino, and Presque Isle Downs Casino but they had no concrete plans to share.

We will continue to update you here as more rooms open or set a date for reopening.

Live Poker returned to Rivers Philadelphia but closed again

Rivers Casino Philadelphia reopened its poker room on Oct. 23. It did so with approval for up to 14 tables with a capacity of 100 guests. Under normal circumstances, the room has 28 tables and offers a variety of poker games but now the action returned with primarily No Limit Texas Hold’em cash games.

According to a recent press release, in addition to the existing casino-wide safety measures, the following precautions are in effect for the poker room (when it is open):

• Masks must be worn at all times
• Poker dealers will wear both a mask and a face shield
• Each poker table in play will have plexiglass dividers, separating players and the dealer
• A maximum of seven players allowed per table
• Frequent and thorough cleaning of all cards, chips and surfaces
• Only sanitized chips bought from the poker room cage will be used in play
• No food, beverage or smoking is permitted in the poker room or anywhere on the Rivers Casino gaming floor

Peter Longi, assistant general manager at Rivers Casino Philadelphia, commented:

“Poker players are excited to be back at the tables, enjoying the game they love. Our reopening was carefully planned with the safety of our team and guests being the primary concern. We’re eager to welcome back our poker team.”

To assist with social distancing, players are encouraged to call the poker room at 215-717-3883 to put their name on the waiting list when the room reopens. Guests can also check the Bravo Poker Live online or the website’s mobile app for the Rivers Casino poker room up-to-the-minute game status. In addition, players will have a chance to win their share of the $100,000 Bad Beat Jackpot. The minimum qualifying hand is quad 2s.

Rivers had to close its poker room once again along with the rest of the casino until at least Jan. 1, 2021.

Here’s a look at a poker table at Rivers Philadelphia:

Players pine for poker

When the PGCB released its casino reopening protocols in late May, part of them stated that poker rooms were not authorized to operate due to players’ handling of cards and chips. They also said poker room operations would be re-examined based on changes in the CDC’s and PA Department of Health’s guidance.

On June 9, Rivers Casino Pittsburgh was the first to welcome back visitors. When asked when poker rooms would return, PGCB Director of Communication Doug Harbach said poker rooms present a different type of challenge since people are sitting close together in a room. He said at the time:

“The casinos want to walk before they run and make sure they are getting the venue open and then move on to opening up other areas once they know the protocols are working well.”

PokerStars, the state’s lone online poker site, has posted healthy numbers in PA, but players are still pining for in-person play.

Harbach gave this update to PlayPennsylvania in late August about poker rooms in Pennsylvania:

“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.”

Poker is back in New Jersey, too

New Jersey also had a long poker pause. The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa reopened its poker room, the largest in the state, on Oct. 21. The room is operating with 30 socially distanced tables. It’s about a third of the room’s 85 tables when operating at full capacity.

The Bellagio in Las Vegas opened its poker room in June. Nevada state guidelines mandated five-handed play in rooms without dividers or plexiglass partitions. However, the Bellagio’s request for six-handed poker games with partitions was approved by the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

Other poker rooms in Nevada have also reopened with virus protocols in place.

When will poker rooms in Pennsylvania reopen?

Play Pennsylvania will continue to provide updates here as more casinos announce plans and reopen live poker.

Hollywood Casino live poker update

Currently closed.

Information about Hollywood Casino Poker Room:

• 17 tables
• Monday nights, $200 high hand, every 30 minutes; Wednesdays and Thursdays, $200 high hand, every 30 minutes; Fridays, $500 high hand, every 30 minutes; Sundays, hourly high hand prizes.
• Bad Beat Jackpot
• Weekly Rack Back Bonus

The Meadows live poker update

The Meadows poker room opened on Oct. 23 with daily hours of 11 a.m. – 1 a.m.

Welcome back Poker Players! pic.twitter.com/9X66QuZqXp

— Meadows Casino (@MeadowsCasino) October 23, 2020

Information about The Meadows Poker Room:

• 14 tables
• Live games such as Texas hold’em and Omaha every day
• Progressive bad beat

Mount Airy Casino live poker update

Mount Airy’s poker room reopened on Oct. 16 and is open 24 hours.

Information about Mount Airy Casino Poker Room:

• 12 tables
• Games such as Texas hold’em, Omaha and stud

Mohegan Sun Pocono live poker update

Mohegan Sun Pocono’s poker room reopened on Oct. 16.

Information about Mohegan Sun Pocono Poker Room:

• Eight tables
• Daily tournaments feature no-limit Texas hold’em and Bounty tournaments
• Offering a Bad Beat Jackpot for BOTH cash and tournament play
• Each day, $25 added to the Royal Flush Jackpot for each of the four suites

Parx live poker update

Parx sent out an email in mid-November saying they were finalizing plans but hoped to re-open poker “before the end of December.”

Information about the Parx Casino Poker Room:

• 80 tables — the most in PA
• The room offers a variety of no-limit hold’em games (from $1-$2 up to $10-$25), limit hold’em ($3-6 up to $30-$60), pot-limit Omaha, Omaha eight or better and a variety of mixed and draw games
• Weekly tournaments. Major tournament: Parx Big Stax

Parx Casino Poker Room

Presque Isle Downs live poker update

The poker room is currently closed.

Information about Presque Isle Downs Poker Room:

• Seven tables
• Games like hold’em and Omaha. Also offering multitable and single-table tournaments (sit and go’s)

Rivers Casino Philadelphia live poker update

Rivers Philadelphia reopened poker on Oct. 23. But it is closed once again as of Nov. 20 along with the casino to comply with city orders. It could reopen as soon as Jan. 1.

Cards are in the air! Welcome back players! $200 high hands are on every hour 24/7 all of October! Call 215-717-3883 to reserve your seat. pic.twitter.com/MwcxTABsNM

— Rivers Philadelphia Poker Room (@riverspokerphl) October 23, 2020

Information about Rivers Casino Philadelphia Poker Room:

• 28 tables
• Rivers offers a wide variety of poker games, including, but not limited, to Texas hold’em, Omaha-high, Omaha-hi/lo split eight or better, seven-card stud high, seven-card stud low, seven-card stud hi/lo split and seven-card stud hi/lo split eight or better.
• Poker promotions and tournaments listed on site when available.

Rivers Casino Pittsburgh live poker update

Rivers Casino Pittsburgh opened on Nov. 11. And beginning Nov. 16, Rivers Pittsburgh will operate 24/7, according to their twitter.

We are excited to announce that the Poker Room will be opening on Wednesday, November 11th at 4PM. We can’t wait to welcome you back!

Learn more about what you can expect and current hours: https://t.co/heQ3qJyQbV

Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-Gambler pic.twitter.com/FjgJY2cC7v

— Rivers Casino Pittsburgh (@WinBigRivers) November 10, 2020

Information about Rivers Casino Pittsburgh Poker Room:

• 30 tables
• Poker promotions and tournaments listed on site when available

Wind Creek Bethlehem live poker update

Wind Creek poker room remains closed.

Information about Wind Creek Bethlehem Poker Room:

• 26 tables
• Variety of games such as limit and no-limit Texas hold ’em, stud and Omaha. Limits starting at $3 and $6
• Automated shufflers on every poker game
• Bad Beat Jackpot available daily
• Massage service

Lady Luck Nemacolin and Valley Forge do not have poker rooms. PlayPennsylvania exclusively reported that Harrah’s Philadelphia closed its WSOP-branded room in August.

More online poker operators coming to PA

PokerStars arrived in Pennsylvania in November 2019 and has been the state’s only operator for 11 months. Partypoker was rumored to be coming in the early fall, but like most party plans in 2020, it hasn’t happened.

Last week, the PGCB approved Caesars‘ online poker partner 888 Holdings for an interactive gaming manufacturer license. 888 Poker was the No. 1 poker website in the country last year. It has a self-branded poker platform, and its software powers World Series of Poker (WSOP) online and mobile sites.

It seems only a matter of time before both partypoker and WSOP.com make their way to PA.

Health and safety at PA casinos

Here are a few things you should know in case you have not been to a casino since they reopened. Per the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, all casinos in the state must follow the COVID-19 Casino Reopening Protocols, which detail the minimum safety and health-related requirements that are mandatory before reopening.

Live Poker Parx Casino Sportsbook

Casinos may also choose to have additional measures, such as temperature checks at the entrance.

Key points to remember are:

• Casinos can reopen at 50% capacity. (Rivers Casino Philadelphia is open at 25%.)
• Employees and guests must wear masks.
• There must be markings on the floor to promote social distancing.
• Enhanced cleaning is required throughout the facility.

In addition, there is a current pause on smoking at casinos, no drink service on the gaming floor and no sitting at the bar.

Be sure to check back often as we continue to post updates on PA poker room reopenings here.

Lead image of Meadows poker room via AP Photo/Keith Srakocic.

When Pennsylvania first legalized table games and live poker in early-2010, few imagined that within three years the Keystone State would usurp New Jersey as the nation’s second most profitable gaming market.

Contents

• 1 Pennsylvania’s best live poker rooms
• 2 Other live poker rooms at PA casinos

But it did.

Unbeknownst to most, Pennsylvania played host to a thriving bar and social poker scene long before the first card was dealt at a state-regulated casino. But for locals looking for something more, namely in the way of high stakes cash and tournament action, there were only two options: play online or make the arduous trek to Atlantic City.

With the advent of live poker in PA, not only did it become more convenient for the state’s poker community to find a game, it provided those situated in New York City and northern New Jersey with better alternatives — alternatives they would soon take advantage of.

And thus began a major shakeup in the East Coast’s gambling scene.

Today, Pennsylvania plays host to a burgeoning poker scene. But given the wide disparity in size and offerings among its rooms, finding the right one at a PA casino can be a bit of a crapshoot.

To simplify matters, here’s a quick look at some of the best live poker PA has to offer.

Pennsylvania’s best live poker rooms

Parx Casino

Judging by pure size, Parx Casinoand its 80-table poker room is undoubtedly PA’s crown jewel. In fact, as the gross revenue leader among PA poker rooms, it’s also far and away the most profitable.

Parx hosts a bevy of daily poker tournaments, an illustrious higher buy-in tournament series (Big Stax), and the most varied selection of cash game offerings in PA. Its high stakes area is teeming with life, with games ranging from 10-10 NLHE all the way up to 150-300 mixed games.

Casuals and players with lesser monetary ambitions can try their luck at one of a myriad of lower stakes No Limit, PLO and O8 games.

Plus, things are about to get even better for players at Parx.

The Parx Poker Room is planning to move to a new location inside the main building as part of the casino’s upcoming expansion.

Live Poker Parx Casino Poker

The new room will host 48 tables and boats some high-end finishes. This includes 22 high definition TVs and an exclusive 3-table VIP high-limit poker enclave.

Sands Bethlehem

Sands Bethlehem’s poker room also makes the grade.

At 30 tables, Sands’ dedicated poker area is notably smaller than Parx’s, and its location smack dab in the middle of the casino floor may prove oft-putting to those who prefer quieter settings.

But make no mistake, Sands attracts a wealth of players from PA, northern New Jersey, and New York City.

Given its smaller size and exceedingly high popularity, players will often find themselves regulated to the wait list, especially during peak hours. However, management does everything within its power to accommodate player needs.

Like Parx, Sands holds a semi-regular deep stack series (DeepStack Extravaganza) and daily tournaments. Overall, Sands’ tournament schedule proves to be a bit more varied than the one found at Parx.

Now, if only Sands weren’t owned by casino mogul and staunch internet gambling opponent Sheldon Adelson.

Harrah’s Philadelphia

Nipping at Sands’ heels is Harrah’s Philadelphia. The 28-table poker room’s claim to fame is it’s affiliation with the WSOP, of which the most notable benefit is its permission to host WSOP Main Event satellites.

Branding aside, Harrah’s poker room in many ways resembles the Sands, albeit smaller and slightly less profitable.

Harrah’s poker foray holds a slight edge over PA’s top poker rooms in the areas of game selection, room management, and most notably, promotions. A Bad Beat Jackpot and high hand rewards are just a few of the delectable promos to be had at Harrah’s.

It’s also the only PA casino that accepts the vaulted Total Rewards card.

SugarHouse Casino

The Poker Night in America Poker Room at SugarHouse Casino calls itself Philadelphia’s first poker room.

The room hosts 28 tables and runs tournaments six days a week and twice on Saturdays and Sundays — not to mention the huge slate of cash games.

There are 24/7 food options, in-seat text-to-order food service, and complimentary alcoholic beverages. Promotions include an instant high-hand progressive jackpot.

The poker room’s affiliation with the “Poker Night in America” TV show also sees it host televised events.

Other live poker rooms at PA casinos

Rivers Casino

Rivers has the advantage of boasting the only large poker room in western PA. And while the 30-table room has yet to fully realize its potential, the inclusion of the Pittsburgh Poker Open should solidify its place among Pennsylvania’s poker heavyweights.

For now, Rivers is the best of the rest.

Hollywood Casino at Penn National

For a 16-table poker room, an annual non-banking gross revenue margin of more than $4 million is very impressive.

Hollywood serves up a variety of cash games and plays host to a multitude of qualifiers into bigger events. But it’s hard to imagine such a tiny room ever hosting an attractive tournament series of its own.

Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs

Another highly profitable, yet smallish, poker room, Mohegan Sun’s live poker room features 18 tables and spreads a variety of the most popular poker games with a range of limits.

Mohegan Sun Pocono runs daily tournaments with Texas Hold’em and bounty structures. Promotions include a Bad Beat Jackpot for both cash games and tournaments.

Plus, there is a progressive Royal Flush Jackpot promotion, adding $25 to the pot for each of the four suits daily.

Give Mohegan credit for its Bad Beat Jackpot and relaxed atmosphere; just don’t expect to find big action.

Meadows Casino

At Pittsburgh’s other poker room at the Meadows Casino, players are treated to a full menu service and an awe-inspiring view of live horse races.

The room features 14 tables with an open view of the live racing action on the track. Texas Hold’em and Omaha are both spread 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The room runs a regular tournament schedule, hosting tournaments twice a day, six days a week, and one on Sundays.

The venue also hosts special events throughout the year, now including a stop on the televised Heartland Poker Tour.

Promotions include a High Hand Jackpot Progressive paying out when a Royal Flush is hit and a set Bad Beat Promotion paying off when Four-of-a-Kind is beaten.

Mount Airy Casino

A once thriving poker room, Mount Airy has lost the majority of its poker faithful to the nearby Sands.

The new upstairs location was a welcome change, but the lack of business has caused the casino to cut back its amount of poker tables significantly, all the way down to nine.

The Poker Parlor at the Mount Airy Casino Resort is open 24 hours per day, seven days per week. The room spreads Texas Hold’em, Stud, and Omaha, no-limit and limit. Promotions include random seat and high hand promotions.

Presque Isle Downs & Casino

Parx Casino Poker Tournament Schedule

A beautifully positioned, reasonably well-managed poker room located on the coast of magnificent Lake Erie, Presque Isle’s offering is quaint yet hardly a poker player’s paradise.

Unfortunately, lately the room’s popularity has waned, with revenue margins among the lowest in PA.

The room now runs with just seven tables. Games spread include Texas Hold’em and Omaha. The room opens at noon on weekdays and 10 a.m. local time on weekends, staying open as long as there is action.

There are regular multi-table and single-table tournaments. The Presque Isle Downs & Casino poker room also offers full-service dining.

Parx Poker Live

In addition to regular comps, poker players can earn a $10 dinner voucher after only three hours of play.