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

Introducing Live Three Card Poker - one of the hottest casino table games around. Puts your poker playing skills to the test against our live dealers. There are multiple winning combinations available in this game, and they begin with 3 of a kind. Live poker follows the same rules as poker played in a traditional land-based casino. You’ll find a virtual table with a real dealer dealing cards and controlling the game. Via cameras providing a live-feed, you’ll be able to see the dealer at work on your computer screen.

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

Poker Room, no language in any form other than verbalized English may be used while gaming in the Live! Management reserves the right to exclude anyone, whether a player or an observer, from the Poker Room for violating this requirement. That said, live games are usually a lot easier to beat than online ones. Thus, the nuances of live poker are certainly worth learning. Here are eight awesome live poker tips that will help you crush the games on your next trip to the casino (including two exclusive video tips from Doug Polk and Ryan Fee). Partypoker (Suite 6, Atlantic Suites, Gibraltar) is licensed (ref 050, 051) by the Government of Gibraltar and regulated by the Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner.

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

Poker Live Casino

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.

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.

A new poker room has arrived in Pennsylvania.

Live! Casino Philadelphia and its 29-table poker room completed its preview days and is now open to the public. The $700 million casino in South Philadelphia is the first full-size casino in PA built in over a decade.

The coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on casinos, shuttering them for about a third of the year in 2020. Poker rooms didn’t reopen immediately, the Harrah’s Philadelphia WSOP poker room closed permanently, and a number of them still remain dark.

The addition of Live! Casino Philadelphia’s poker room is certainly a welcome one for poker players in Pennsylvania.

The poker room at @LiveCasinoPHLpic.twitter.com/YKGeaQ0Kez

— Katie Kohler (@kkohler1129) January 19, 2021

Information about Live! Casino Philadelphia poker

Details about the Live! Casino Philadelphia poker room:

• Location: 900 Packer Avenue, Philadelphia, PA
• Number of tables: 29
• Hours: A rep for Live! said the poker room will be open 24/7
• Twitter page for Live! Casino Philadelphia poker room: @LivePoker_PHL

Here is the team, newest poker room in Philadelphia. Come be our guest. pic.twitter.com/593hngCN83

— LivePokerPHL (@LivePoker_PHL) January 31, 2021

Rules and promos

It’s still very early in the action at the poker room at Live! Casino Philadelphia. There is no information about promotions or a calendar of events yet.

However, here’s a look at the February promotions at Live! Casino Maryland. Perhaps they hint at what’s to come in Philadelphia.

Rules for Live! Casino Poker

(As listed on website for Live! Casino Maryland.)

“In order to ensure the integrity of all games in the Live! Poker Room, no language in any form other than verbalized English may be used while gaming in the Live! Poker Room. Management reserves the right to exclude anyone, whether a player or an observer, from the Poker Room for violating this requirement.”

• Players are responsible to check in and out at the Brush Stand if their player’s card or the table is malfunctioning. Tracking must be completed the same day as the play.
• Players must be 21 years of age or older.
• Limit games will have a maximum of 4 raises unless heads-up. No Limit has no maximum to the number of raises.
• A player may not use any electronic devices while they are in a hand.
• All seating and seat changes must go through a supervisor or the brush stand.
• Management will decide the limit of games and when to start or close a game.
• Cash is not permitted on the tables. All cash must be converted into chips prior to the start of a hand.
• One player per hand.
• Players are responsible to protect their own hand. Any irregularities must be brought to management’s attention before the next player has acted. Once the next player has acted, there will be no recourse to any monies in the pot. Special circumstances may occur if there is an uncalled raise.
• Playing over is allowed and is a privilege. Permission from an absent player is not required

More rules:

• All games are table stakes. If a player returns to the same game within one hour of cashing out, their buy-in must be equal to the amount removed when leaving the game.
• There are no short buy-ins allowed.
• Once substantial action has taken place, a player with too many cards has a dead hand. A player with too few cards may have the option to continue play.
• Four card flops will be turned face down and scrambled, with one of the cards becoming the burn card and the other three cards the flop.
• Chopping blinds are allowed in button games.
• No flop, No drop.
• Buying the button is allowed.
• Straddles may be allowed and are double the big blind or rounded up to the nearest $5 increment.
• A player may not bring chips into the betting area and check.
• Cards speak when face up at showdown.
• Discussion regarding the hand in progress is not allowed.
• The house has the right to prohibit any two players from playing at the same table.
• Rabbit hunting is not permitted.
• Players are expected to pay attention and not hold up play.
• Language, dress, hygiene and behavior should be befitting of ladies and gentlemen.
• Abusive language towards players or the staff will not be tolerated.
• Decision of Management is final.
• Use of Tablets are not permitted while actively gaming.

Live! Casino rewards for poker

Live! has an award-winning customer loyalty program. Live! Rewards will also match your current tier status of any casino in the Philadelphia region through May 31.

Poker Tournaments At Md Live Casino

Live! Rewards has the following tiers:

• Classic: 0-24,999 points
• Gold: 25,000-99,999 points or 100 poker hours
• Platinum: 100,000-499,999 points or 500 poker hours
• Black: 500,000 – 999,999 points or 5,000 poker hours
• Jade: 1,000,000-1,999,999 points
• Chairman’s Club: 2,000,000 points

See Full List On Cardplayer.com

One hour of poker played equals 100 points. For more information on tier levels and rewards visit Live! Casino Philadelphia’s website.