Road Trip Day Seven: Philadelphia Casinos

Harness racetrack at Harrah's Philadelphia in PennsylvaniaHarness racetrack at Harrah's Philadelphia Casino. May 2021

We stayed Tuesday night at a Holiday Inn that borders the Parx Casino’s property. We started our Wednesday morning there. The day ended in Atlantic City.

Parx Casino, Bensalem PA

Parx Casino in Pennsylvania
Outside view of Parx Casino in Pennsylvania May 2021

Our first stop on day 7 was Parx Casino. It was early in the day. The racetrack was closed. The casino was quiet but more tables were opening during our visit.

Parx Casino has a huge video poker section with a large selection of variants. The best that I found was at $1 Hot Roll. It has 8/5 Super Double Double Bonus, but I chose to play some lower variance with Bonus Poker Deluxe. I treaded water before going down $40.

We were here around 10am on a Wednesday morning. That seemed to be when many tables started to open. The house poker games varied from $5 to $15 and included the usual titles for the region. Craps was $10 with 3-4-5 times odds. Double zero roulette and 3:2 blackjack were $15. It seemed like those are the minimums for 3:2 Down Under Blackjack and Spanish 21, but they were not open.

Pai gow poker was $25. Baccarat was $50.

Results: -$40, trip: -$37

Rivers Casino, Philadelphia, PA

Rivers Casino in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Sign for Rivers Casino in Philadelphia Pennsylvania May 2021

Rivers Casino has several table games pits. The surrounding games are live stadium, slots and video poker. Most video poker machines were near the rear of the casino past the craps tables. The best video poker here was 9/6 Double Double Bonus on Hot Roll, same as the casino in Pittsburgh. I played some of that and got up big early, but left exactly even.

The table minimums were $10 for poker pit games. It was $15 for Spanish 21, craps and double zero roulette. Baccarat was $40 at the tables and $15 at the live stadium. I had never seen a $40 table game minimum bet before.

Results: Even, trip: -$37

Live!, Philadelphia, PA

Live! Casino in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Outside view of Live Casino in Philadelphia Pennsylvania May 2021

Live! Casino in Philadelphia was in the downtown area in a sports district. It is a very nice property. I did not find any video poker that I wanted to play. I chose Ultimate X and played it for about 10 minutes. Most of the video poker is in the back corner by the craps pit. I won $15. 

I played some $15 craps. Odds are 10 times. I sat through two cold shooters and took my $90 loss. 

Cashing out at the cage was a mess. I waited behind six people that needed to process seemingly complex transactions. There was only one cashier. 

The table game pit was mostly open. It had sic bo, but it was not open. Most poker table games were $15. The 3:2 blackjack, including Spanish 21, were $25. That was also the minimum bet for pai gow poker and baccarat.

Results: -$75, trip: -$112

Harrah’s Philadelphia, Chester, PA

Harness racetrack at Harrah's Philadelphia
Harness racetrack at Harrahs Philadelphia Casino in Pennsylvania May 2021

Harrah’s Philadelphia was our last stop before our three nights in Atlantic City. I could not find any video poker that I wanted to play. The poker table games were $10. The same with craps, which offered 10 times odds. Double zero roulette was $15. The 3:2 blackjack games were $20.

We knew that we would play a lot of table games in Atlantic City. We decided to take action here on the track. It was race day. We bet $5 on two horses. Neither came in.

Results: -$10, trip: -$122

I am very happy going into Atlantic City only down about $100 for the trip. The bailout on a straight flush at Hollywood Casino at Penn National was the deciding factor on the first half of the trip. I won big in Atlantic City. That is covered in my next post.

Caesars Atlantic City Trip Report