Posted on Mon, Jul. 19, 2010
Before boarding a business flight to Miami about noon Sunday, John McKenna of Northeast Philadelphia indulged in a few spins of the roulette wheel at Parx Casino.
“It’s more interactive. There’s more of a human element,” said McKenna, 36, referring to the newest attraction at Philadelphia’s suburban casinos: dealer-staffed table games.
As of early Sunday, Parx in Bensalem, Harrah’s Chester Casino & Racetrack in Delaware County, and Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem had joined the table-games locomotive – anticipated by many, including McKenna, to further erode Atlantic City’s already flagging fortunes.
“This is just so much closer,” said McKenna, who handles payroll for a local car dealership, as he placed another bet at the roulette table just after 8 a.m. Before Sunday, he said, he played video blackjack at Parx. He hasn’t been to Atlantic City in two years.
Tony Volpe, 32, of Upper Darby was even more blunt. He likened the distance he now travels to get his poker fix to “running to the Wawa for a gallon of milk.”
“On the Blue Route, I’m here in five minutes,” he said while seated in the packed, largely male, poker room at Harrah’s Chester at 11:30 a.m. for Texas Hold ‘Em.
“There’s absolutely no reason to go to Atlantic City to gamble anymore,” Volpe, a concrete-truck driver, said. “When I drive down to A.C., I’m already $60 in the hole between the gas and tolls.”
Sunday’s rollout of blackjack, poker, craps, and other games at the Philadelphia area casinos completed a trio of staggered openings statewide.
Three Western Pennsylvania casinos were the first to offer table games on July 8.
Three Central Pennsylvania gambling halls – Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs in Wilkes-Barre, Mount Airy Resort Casino in the Poconos, and Hollywood Casino near Harrisburg – followed Tuesday.
A 10th casino – SugarHouse on the Philadelphia waterfront – is scheduled to open in late September with 40 table games and 1,602 slot machines.
By all indications, casino operators all over were experiencing a big boost in business with the new games.
The Sands in Bethlehem had all 89 tables that opened at 8 a.m. filled by 11:30 a.m., and its slots business was also up 19 percent from a normal Sunday, according to casino president Robert J. DeSalvio.
Harrah’s Chester, about 36 miles south on I-95 from Parx, was up 40 percent in business for an early Sunday, according to Robert Guidice, vice president of table games.
By 2:30 p.m., the Chester casino reported 59 of 74 tables and all 25 poker tables in the World Series of Poker Room on the second level filled. Less than four hours later, it went up to 62 live table games fully seated and a full poker room.
Parx had all 57 of its blackjack, roulette, craps, three-card poker, and mini-baccarat tables occupied by midafternoon. A 30-table poker room is set to open in the fall next door in the old casino building.
On Sunday evening, Parx played host to actor Chris Noth, aka Mr. Big, Carrie Bradshaw’s wealthy, on-and-off love interest in Sex and the City. Parx just installed slot machines themed after the show.
Women patrons screamed and flashed cameras when the tall, dark-haired actor, now seen in The Good Wife on CBS, strode to a craps table accompanied by two burly bodyguards.
“Let’s roll, man,” Noth said just before he threw out the first dice. He then played a few mock hands and was ushered back outside in 15 minutes.
For Parx, the arrival of table games is likely to help the casino maintain its front-runner status. Since opening in December 2006, the racetrack with slots has been the state’s top-grossing casino among nine gambling halls.
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