Poker rooms slowly started to reopen at casinos in Pennsylvania nearly seven months after the casinos and subsequently poker games were shut down in March as a result of coronavirus.

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Oct 05, 2020 Rivers Casino Philadelphia reopened its poker room on Oct. 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. There are regular Rivers PA Casino poker promotions, including hourly high-hand giveaways. This casino promotion includes player benefits such as: $300 every 30 minutes on Mondays and Wednesdays A $300 giveaway every 20 minutes from 12 p.m. On ‘Super Saturday.’. Rivers Casino offers the very best in casinos, hotels, restaurants, concerts, and entertainment. Visit us in Des Plaines, IL, Philadelphia, PA, Pittsburgh, PA.

Due to the social nature of the game, poker rooms were not permitted to welcome back players when casinos started reopening in June.

Five poker rooms reopened as of mid-November with Parx, the state’s largest, set to return in December. The city of Philadelphia added restrictions included another shutdown of Rivers Casino Philadelphia until at least Jan 1, taking away another option for live poker.

One poker room continues to remain conspicuously quiet – Wind Creek Casino.

Wins and losses for Wind Creek

Wind Creek is one of the larger poker rooms in Pennsylvania rooms with 26 tables. Located in Bethlehem, PA, it’s in a prime spot to attract visitors from New York City and northern New Jersey.

A representative from Wind Creek told PlayPennsylvania they had no update on when the poker room would open. On Nov. 18, Wind Creek opened the Betfred sportsbook. The sportsbook is the first for Wind Creek in the United States and the third US retail location for Betfred Sports.

Wind Creek claimed a number of honors from Casino Player Magazine in October including being named best:

• Overall Gaming Resort
• Table Games
• Poker Room

However, it hasn’t been all good news at Wind Creek Casino. Wind Creek announced layoffs on Sept. 24 that affected about 20% of its workforce. Total revenue in October was $33.1 million, a 16.41% decrease from October 2019.

Wind Creek provided the following statement to LehighValleyLive regarding recent layoffs:

“With recent business volumes significantly lower than we had hoped, we were forced to make this incredibly difficult decision. The hospitality and gaming industries have been crippled by the COVID-19 pandemic. We believe that our reduction in workforce will in the long term positively affect our future success.”

In addition, Wind Creek also announced the permanent closure of Emeril’s Fish House.

A Wind Creek employee provided an update on some of the happenings at Wind Creek including the poker room. The person agreed to share their insight based on the condition of anonymity.

“When Wind Creek shut down in mid-March, they could’ve easily had a mass layoff but they didn’t. They continued to pay all employees until May 31, 2020. Even those that work on tips got an average hourly wage and they continued to pay for benefits. Most casinos around the country just straight up laid off hundreds of dealers back in the spring.”

On June 1, the poker room employees were furloughed. They stopped getting paid but the full-time workers could keep their health benefits as long as bi-weekly premiums were paid. On Sept. 30, all poker room employees were laid off/terminated and the poker room was made into a high-limit slots parlor.

“We were told it was being turned into a high-limit slots parlor for the time being. Obviously a casino makes way more money on slot machines than a poker room, so I believe they’re focusing on that right now.”

The employee said it is their belief along with other employees that the poker room is not closed permanently and will eventually reopen.

“The plan is to reopen the poker room in the future. But who knows what the future entails considering what is looking like another round of closures. Wind Creek does see the value in the poker room but I think right now they’re trying to recover from the major financial hit they took during the 3.5 months we were closed up. The client base of the poker room really enjoyed playing at Wind Creek. I know some of them think it’s closed permanently but that isn’t likely the case.”

Poker pales in revenue comparison

In fiscal year 2019/2020, poker accounted for $37 million in total revenue across the state’s ten poker rooms. That number pales in comparison to the $607 million in total revenue by all other table games.

Casinos, trying to recover from an unprecedented financial hit as a result of COVID closures and operating at reduced capacity, are likely allocating resources to games that generate more revenue.

In late August, PlayPennsylvaniaexclusively reported that Harrah’s Philadelphia would not reopen their WSOP poker room.

Meanwhile, PokerStars PA remains the only online poker option in the state – for now.

Pennsylvania poker revenue by casino

As you can see from the table below, live poker is not the biggest revenue earner for PA casinos (though it can help drive other verticals).

2019/2020 Fiscal Year Poker Revenue in PA (figures from the PGCB):

Rivers Casino Pittsburgh is open. It was the first casino in Pennsylvania to welcome back guests on June 9 after all were closed to slow the spread of coronavirus.

With the NFL season approaching, Rivers Casino Pittsburgh is getting game-day ready. The casino is located about a quarter-mile from Heinz Field, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Here are the latest news and updates about what’s coming in September at Rivers Casino Pittsburgh and what guests can expect on their next visit.

Updated hours at Rivers Casino Pittsburgh

Rivers Casino Pittsburgh is expanding its hours. Starting on Sunday, Sept. 6, Rivers Casino Pittsburgh will be open nearly 24/7. It means it will only close on Tuesday from 4-9 a.m. and Wednesday from 4-9 a.m.

Sportsbook at Rivers Casino Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is gearing up for a comeback campaign after suffering a season-ending elbow injury. The Sportsbook at Rivers Casino is taking a cue from Big Ben and is ready for a big return.

The Sportsbook at Rivers Casino will be showing every available NHL, NBA and MLB game for the rest of the year, in addition to all NFL games when the season starts on Thursday, Sept. 1o. Betting windows are open during certain times, and kiosks are open 24/7.

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BetRivers Sportsbook at Rivers Casino Pittsburgh just launched the BetRivers Sportsbook Rewards program. With their Rush Rewards Players Club cards, players who accumulate $1,000 in wagers will earn $5 comp points to be used throughout the casino. After placing bets and accumulating points, Players Club members can customize how the comps are redeemed, with choices such as free play or complimentary dining.

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Food and drink at Rivers Casino Pittsburgh

At this time, soft drinks, water and coffee are being served on the casino floor and in the sportsbook. Smoking is not permitted on the gaming floor. The smoking pavilion is currently located in the valet area.

PA Governor Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levinesigned new orders for increased coronavirus mitigation efforts on July 16. For casinos, it means a temporary pause on drink service and sitting at the bar, and lower capacity limits at restaurants.

Updated restrictions for bars and restaurants include:

• Prohibition from conducting operations unless the facility offers sit-down, dine-in meals or is serving takeout sales of alcoholic beverages. All service must be at a table or booth. No bar service.
• Alcohol can only be served for on-premises consumption when in the same transaction as a meal.
• Occupancy may not exceed 25% for indoor dining, or 25 persons for a discrete indoor event or gathering in a restaurant. The maximum occupancy limit includes staff. (The previous occupancy limit for indoor dining was 50%.)

Restaurants at Rivers Casino Pittsburgh

Currently, at all of the places listed below, alcohol is available with meals only. At all Rivers Casino restaurants, alcohol service will end at 11 p.m. There will be no alcohol service on the casino floor.

Wheelhouse Bar & Grill:

Monday-Thursday: 4-11 p.m.
Friday-Sunday: Noon-11 p.m.

• A “2 for $25” menu is available every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
• Select items from the menu include loaded Wheelhouse fries, beer-battered onion rings, chicken marsala, 8 oz. New York strip and seasonal cake for dessert.

FLIPT:

Sunday-Thursday: 11-2 a.m
Friday-Saturday: 11-3 a.m.

• Show your Players Club Card for 20% off the menu.
• Choices for burgers included Breakfast Burger with cherrywood smoked bacon, an over-easy egg and aged cheddar; the plant-based Impossible Burger and a unique FLIPT Burger Wrap.

Mian:

Thursday-Monday: 5-11 p.m.
Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays

• Show your Players Club Card for 20% off the menu.
• Quick-service authentic Asian cuisine with choices like General Tso’s chicken, sweet and sour chicken, and ramen.

Ciao:

Reopening with a modified menu with hours from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Hot dog cart:

From noon to 8 p.m. Monday to Wednesday, and noon to 11 p.m. from Thursday to Sunday, a hot dog cart will be available for guests outside of Drum Bar. Hot dogs are $2 with Players Club Cards and $3 without. The cart also offers nachos, chips and soft drinks.

The poker room at Rivers Pittsburgh

The Rivers Poker Room is currently closed. When PA casinos reopened, poker rooms were not permitted to operate due to players handling cards and chips. The plan at that time was to continually monitor the situation and adjust things according to guidance from the CDC and the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

PGCB Director of Communications Doug Harbach gave this update to PlayPennsylvania last week 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.”

A spokesperson for Rivers Pittsburgh said that plans for reopening poker rooms are yet to be determined.

Know before you go: Rivers Casino Pittsburgh

With increased health and safety protocols come questions about all casinos in Pennsylvania, including Rivers Casino Pittsburgh.

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The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board released “COVID-19 Casino Reopening Protocols” that detailed the minimum safety and health-related requirements mandatory before reopening. Of course, casinos can choose to implement additional measures.

When visiting any PA casino, here are some of the new safety guidelines:

• Casinos can reopen at 50% capacity.
• Employees and guests must wear masks.
• There are markings on the floor to promote social distancing.
• Enhanced cleaning is required throughout the facility.

In early July, the Pennsylvania Department of Health expanded on the business safety order requiring masks to be worn in all public places in addition to inside of businesses.

PGCB Executive Director Kevin O’Toole reached out to all of the state’s casinos about implementing the temporary ban on smoking in casinos. O’Toole determined that in the PGCB protocols, casinos must comply with guidelines from the PA Department of Health, which issued an updated order mandating masks in public.

When it reopened, Rivers started a new initiative, “Rivers Clean,” which represents a rigorous property-wide cleaning and disinfectant program to help stop the spread of coronavirus.

It also upgraded its HVAC system to include airPHX, a technology that continuously disinfects indoor air and eliminates coronavirus on surfaces. In addition, the casino also features AtmosAir, an indoor air quality purification system that is proven to neutralize coronavirus by more than 99.9%.

September promotions at Rivers Casino Pittsburgh

There are a number of promotions running at Rivers Casino Pittsburgh all month long. Here’s a look at what to expect.

Over $100,000 Perfect Pick Weekly Challenge:

SFrom Tuesday, Sept. 8, through Sunday, Jan. 3, guests can earn an entry each week to pick the winners of that week’s NFL games. If a guest selects all of the correct winners, they’ll win the Progressive Top Cash Prize, which will grow by $7,000 each week if it isn’t hit.

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Over $15,000 Sit-Play-Win Drawings:

On Thursday, Sept. 17 and 24, Rush Rewards members actively playing a slot machine with their Player’s Club card are eligible to win free slot play at each drawing at 1, 3, 5 and 7 p.m. At each drawing, 10 winners will have the chance to win $200 in free slot play.

$30,000 High Limit Jackpot Drawing:

From now through Saturday, Sept. 26, guests who win a taxable jackpot in the High Limits slot area will receive an entry into the $30,000 High Limit Jackpot Drawings at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 26. At each drawing, 10 winners will be selected to win a share of $15,000 in free slot play.

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$10,000 Jackpot Drawing:

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Guests who win a taxable jackpot on a slot machine from 7:51 p.m. on Aug. 26 through 7:50 p.m. on Sept. 30 will receive an entry for the $10,000 Jackpot Drawings on Wednesday, Sept. 30, at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. At each drawing, 10 guests will be selected to win a share of $5,000 in free slot play.