With the opening of SugarHouse Casino, Philadelphia is now the largest U.S. city to have a casino. We sent one writer to explore this new waterfront hotspot and report back from the front lines.
Upon my return to Penn this fall, I was informed by my giddy, gambling-addict friend that this great city of Philadelphia had been blessed with a brand-new casino of its own. No longer do we have to travel to the grimy depths of Atlantic City to throw our parents’ money away; we can do it right here in our own town. SugarHouse has been open since September 23, so I headed down to SugarHouse as soon as I could, dressed in my finest threads, confident that my ‘system’ would work …
I ventured there on the casino's opening weekend, so naturally, the place was packed with Philadelphians hungry for the vice they so dearly deserved. After passing the rigorous ID check, I headed straight for the tables, but was disappointed to see that in a sea of slot machines, the table area seemed a little meek. This was probably to be expected as casinos tend to make more money on slot machines rather than tables, but dissatisfying nonetheless. They do make up for this shortcoming by having both high and low stakes tables for every game. Not to be deterred, I elbowed my way through the crowd and after twenty minutes of waiting, I had some of that sweet, sweet action. The dealers seemed to still be finding their footing with the whole affair and needed some encouragement from their managers, but things went quite smoothly overall. There was live music in the bar area at the back to set the mood, and I have to say that their cover of Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies” was quite rousing. Although, I was left confused as to why someone would go to a casino to sit at the bar and listen to an aspiring wedding singer.
The crowd was a delightful snapshot of what you would expect, with characters aplenty and some good banter at the tables, guaranteeing entertainment even if the numbers didn’t go your way. After an evening of dazzling the ladies with my roulette skills, I headed home with a healthy profit in my pocket and satisfaction with my night’s work.
Disappointingly, the Sugar Express wasn’t up and running when I visited the casino, so I didn’t get to hitch a ride on the casino’s official free transportation. The Sugar Express currently shuttles SugarHouse customers to and from stops in Center City.
The staff recommends signing up for a free Rush Rewards card if you plan on frequenting their establishment on the reg, so the more you play the more benefits you get, including lounge access and free slot play.
I left wondering how to define my experience at SugarHouse, and I realized that it is all about expectations. If you go expecting Vegas, you will be disappointed, but if you go expecting a basement cockfight, you will be pleasantly surprised. All in all, I would say that SugarHouse is the cheesesteak of casinos; its not fantastically sophisticated but it’s going to keep me coming back for more.
SugarHouse Casino
1001 N. Delaware Ave.
(877) 477–3715
sugarhousecasino.com
Open 24 hours daily
