Arrah's Resort Atlantic City will reopen its World Series of Poker-branded poker room on December 26, according to a Caesars Entertainment Inc. Spokesperson cited by The Press of Atlantic City. Harrah's is the second Atlantic City casino to bring back live poker following the industrywide shutdown earlier this year. Caesars Caesar's 'Poker Arena' is the newest addition to the poker room scene in Atlantic City. While it's a nice room, the dealers tend to be the least professional on the boardwalk. On the other hand, the fish were plenty, and the management is very nice.
- Therefore, the World Series of Poker-branded room at Bally’s Atlantic City has become Caesars Entertainment’s flagship Atlantic City poker room. It houses 42 tables and brings the WSOP experience from Las Vegas all the way east to Atlantic City with Hold’em and Omaha cash games, daily tournaments, and regular promotions.
- Caesars Atlantic City: Excellent Customer Service in the Asian Poker Room - See 18,368 traveler reviews, 1,752 candid photos, and great deals for Caesars Atlantic City at Tripadvisor.
- Boomtown Casino Hotel New Orleans. Featuring a big hotel space, this towering New-Orleans hotel is 7 minutes' drive from the Boardwalk. The full-service Red Door Spa is Caesars Atlantic City Poker Room Review also open at the hotel.
Editor’s Note: The Borgata poker room reopened on Wed., Oct. 21. The 30 tables are limited to a maximum of seven players each. For more information, click here.
Live poker rooms at Atlantic City casinos are still closed. And nearly three months have passed since land-based properties reopened.
At this point, there is no timeline for when Atlantic City’s five poker rooms will reopen. Basically, the COVID-19 closure announcements made back in March still apply to poker rooms.
This makes it 159 days and counting since poker rooms in Atlantic City were open to the public.
When the Borgatareopened to the public on July 26, ropes were set up to prevent players from entering the 85-table poker room.
And when customers try to call Harrah’s Resort, they get a recording dating back to March 16. This would be the date the poker room with 40 tables closed at 6 p.m.
Golden Nugget AC’swebsite continues to use this message: “Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Poker Room is closed until further notice.”
For now, no AC casino has any update on a timeline for restarting poker play.
Are poker games available in Atlantic City?
Different variations of poker are still being offered at Atlantic City casinos, even if the poker rooms themselves are closed. The games include:
- Pai Gow Poker
- Let It Ride
- Three Card Poker
Of course, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) has safety protocols in place. It prevents the possibility of all the seats being filled.
Besides the 25% capacity limit on the gaming floors, Pai Gow tables are limited to three players at a time. The same rule applies to blackjack.
Other poker games can have up to four players. And plexiglass partitions must be set up at all table games, including poker.
Caesars Poker Room Atlantic City Beach
The poker situation is similar in other jurisdictions. Pennsylvania’s poker rooms remain closed even as casinos reopen. In August, Play Pennsylvania learned that the World Series of Poker Room at Harrah’s Philadelphia is permanently closed.
In Las Vegas, some poker rooms are open but must follow Nevada’s COVID-19 protocols.
Besides impacting the players, the scenario in AC is eliminating jobs, even if it’s only temporary.
But these coronavirus restrictions regarding gameplay and number of players are likely the underlying reason Atlantic City poker rooms remain shut.
Atlantic City poker rooms closed, but online poker is always open
New Jersey poker players do have another option, and this one doesn’t have COVID-19 restrictions.
There are seven legal NJ poker apps. They are:
- Pala Poker
And since Atlantic City casinos closed in March, the NJ online poker industry has recorded some pretty impressive numbers.
August NJ poker revenue came in at $3,035,033, which is down nearly 63% from July’s $4,818,561. Still, both numbers are a significant increase from February’s $1.8 million when land-based casinos (and live poker rooms) were fully operational.
These days, those popular WSOP tournaments are an online thing.
It doesn’t match the excitement of playing in a live poker room, but the alternative — no poker at all — would be far worse.
And with the word “temporary” being used when referencing closed AC poker rooms, there is still hope that operating hours will change.
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