Parx Poker Room Review
About a week and a half ago, while on my month-long vacation in the U.S., I had the good fortune to visit the Parx Poker Room in eastern Pennsylvania. While looking forward to my day there, one of the exciting thoughts going through my head was “wow, I’ve written so much marketing copy for sites that offer online poker reviews and bonuses (as part of my full-time job here in Israel); what. Part of Parx Casino and Racing Located inside the main casino building, the Parx Casino and Racing Poker Room offers live poker action (Bad Beat Jackpot, Big Stax) 24/7 with games for everybody. There is some tough competition here with huge games going on - but with 48 tables every player will find a confident foothold.
By contrast, Parx does appear to be considering reopening its poker room, the largest in the state. Parx recently sent out an announcement of plans to reopen the room “before the end of December.” But COVID-19 numbers could deter those plans. Permanently closed – Harrah’s Philadelphia poker room. Parx Casino Review - Get Your $500 Bonus Today! Parx Casino has had an online platform since July 2019 and was the second casino to launch in PA. At the start, Parx didn't have much to offer and stayed in the background. Over time, the casino has added many games to its library as well as created a platform for those using iOS! Great Poker Room Review of Parx Casino Reviewed March 18, 2011 Parx is split up into two buildings with a bit of a walk in between.
I visited Parx on a recent trip to Philadelphia on a Monday morning around 10AM. The room was very active at his time, mostly with NL but a smattering of other offerings.
I am definitely a low-stakes beginner and I felt out of my depth with the play here. It's clear to me that the really good Philly players are at this casino. Betting is pretty aggressive for a locals 1-2 game. Two bad hands and my $100 was gone in under an hour.
They offer an hourly high hand which was won with QQQQ8 and a bad-beat jackpot (no details discussed at table).
2 cocktail servers took orders but delivery was not made before I busted out.
Did not ask about comps
Visitors without a car can get there by taking the Market-Frankford subway line to the end of the line at Frankford and transferring to the Route 50 bus. The one-way trip takes about 90 minutes and costs $4.50 (seniors like me ride for free).
The largest land-based casino in Pennsylvania, Parx Casino, became one of the first two operators to launch online casino games on July 15, the first day of the Pennsylvania online gambling market.
Owned and operated by Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment, Parx Casino is the largest casino gaming complex in the Keystone State, located in the Philadelphia suburb of Bensalem. It hosts 3300 slot machines, 180 live table games, and a poker room with 48 poker tables including 3 VIP poker table especially designed for high stakes action.
In October 2017, Governor Tom Wolf signed House Bill 2017 into law making it legal for Pennsylvania’s 13 land-based casino operators to offer a range of online gambling games including online slots, poker, table games, sports betting and daily fantasy sports.
Nine months later, Parx Casino became the first casino to apply for online gambling license, and it was also among the first three casinos to be approved by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB). The casino was authorized in August 2018 to offer online slots, casino table games and poker to people within the state.
The casino has a partnership with igaming software provider GAN to provide a range of casino gaming services to Pennsylvania players.
After nearly two years of waiting, the Pennsylvania online gambling market finally went live on Monday, July 15, with two PA casinos soft-launching online slots and casino games—one of them being the Parx Casino.
The Keystone State’s land-based casino revenue leader soft-launched online gambling on Monday shortly after Hollywood Casino conducted its trial run. Penn National owned Hollywood Casino, based in Grantville, rolled out its online gambling platform in association with its software provider IGT at 11 am to become the first legal online casino in the state.
Shortly afterward at 2 pm, Parx went online with a game offering that included slots, blackjack, roulette, Baccarat and video poker for a testing limited period.
Operators are required to conduct a soft-launch of their products before rolling out their operations in full. During the test period, state gaming regulators test and ensure that safety measures such as geolocation services, age verification, payment processing methods and responsible gambling measures are in place and functioning properly.
Parx Casino Welcome Bonus
Parx Poker Room Reviews
Most online gambling sites offer a “Welcome Bonus” to new players. Parx is welcoming new PA players by offering them a lucrative first deposit bonus offer, matching 100% of their first deposit up to $500. The offer is available by using the promo code PARX500.
Players must make a minimum deposit of $10. The bonus funds will become available for withdrawal after meeting the 20x wagering requirement. For example, if a player deposits $100, he or she must wager twenty times i.e., $2000 on slot games (20 x $100) to be able to withdraw that bonus.
There are different wagering requirements for each of the games.
Each of the online casino games has a different playthrough requirement to clear a bonus. Slots count 100% towards clearing the bonus, roulette games 50% and all other games including video poker 10%. Every player will get 30 days to clear the bonus.
Parx Casino Welcome Bonus Details
First Deposit Bonus Code | PARX500 |
---|---|
Minimum Deposit | $10 |
100% Match Up To | $500 |
Promotion Dates | July 15 – December 31 |
Wagering Requirements Period | 30 Days |
Eligible Games | All casino games including Slots, Roulette, Video Poker |
Unlike Hollywood Casino, Parx is currently not offering any free bonus money or no-deposit bonus.
Rewards Program
Parx offers a loyalty program called Xclub for their land-based casino and sportsbook players where they earn rewards based on their play the very next day. Every player who joins this club receives $10 in free slot play that can be used at the Parx Casino and Racetrack.
In addition to free slot player, players joining this program also have access to new member offer, sweepstakes entries, points, perks, discounts at local businesses, and much more.
Parx is allowing its online casino and online sportsbook to connect their play with their Xclub account in order to collect rewards which can be redeemed at the Parx Casino in Bensalem.
Currently, there are three Xclub Card Status levels: Players. Premium and Elite.
Software Provider
Parx is partnered with igaming software provider GAN to power the Parx online casino games. In fact, the casino has been using GAN for its social casino since 2015.
Parx Poker Room Review
Last year, Parx filed a petition with the PGCB to launch online gambling in the Keystone State, after picking GAN’s platform as its enterprise software platform provider.
“Parx Casino and GAN have collaborated well for three years, developing a close working relationship by operating Simulated Gaming online,” said Dermot Smurfit, CEO for GANin a press statement last year. “Launching regulated real money Internet gaming in Pennsylvania is a logical extension of our existing long-term relationship and we welcome the opportunity to deliver excellence in technology and product, as we have for our clients in New Jersey.”
Parx Poker Room Reopening
The gaming provider already operates Parx sports betting platform through integration with Kambi.
Mobile App
Currently, Parx online casino is available only for Android users. The download link is available on the website.
Parx online casino is not available to Apple users probably due to recent changes to Apple’s App Store policy that requires every real-money gaming app to build their app in Apple’s native iOS code instead of relying on embedded HTML5 code.
Most online casino apps use HTML5 wrappers as they are much quicker and easier to develop. Starting June 3, all new apps were required to be built natively rather than as HTML container apps. Existing apps have been given until September 3 to comply with the new rule.
It is expected that Parx will offer a native iOS online casino app in the near future.
Parx Online Casino Games
At the time of writing, only limited online casino games are available to Pennsylvania players. Some of the games offered include real money slots, both American and European roulette and video poker. In addition, Parx is also running blackjack games.
Live dealer games for blackjack, roulette, and Baccarat are listed as “coming soon.”
Banking Options
Parx is offering a wide variety of options for players to safely and easily deposit and withdraw from their online account.
Deposit options include:
- Play+ prepaid card
- PayNearMe
- Maestro debit card
- Visa/Mastercard/Discover
- ACH/ e-check
- Bank wire
- Cash at the Parx cage
- Check