The Harrah's in Chester is located a few miles off of 95 and if you're heading north on 95, it's before the airport exit. There aren't any hotels in the area and the casino doesn't have any associated lodging to offer but if you're coming from DC/VA/MD, I'd imagine it more to be a day trip or part of a larger Philadelphia adventure.
Pennsylvania recently got table games, so I was curious as to the clientele and setup of the casino. When I walked in from the parking garage, immediately I saw a Bijoux Terner store. Immediately I thought of airports and Vegas since that's where I've seen these stores, where everything is $10. I climbed the escalator and saw the betting terminals/screens for the racetrack and simulcast. I went up another level and found slot machines and the table games.
After proving to security that I was "of age", I received a wristband and was ready to win. Evidently I look younger in Chester, PA... I looked around and saw three card poker, roulette, craps, a wheel of fortune, etc. I know the first question that my friends are going to ask me and the answer is "No, I have no idea if it has a poker room." Sorry guys... I didn't look, but you can check the link at the beginning of this post and look it up for yourself.
It was a Sunday night and the roulette table had a limit of $15. Craps had a $10 limit and offered 5X odds. Already I like Harrah's better than the Hollywood Casino in Charles Town, WV. I'd drive the extra 30 minutes without a second thought!
I asked the craps pit boss if the table minimums ever go down to $5. What can I say? I was spoiled from my time in St. Louis. Regardless, she did say that she's seen a $5 craps table once. Oh well. It doesn't really matter, since I'm more than comfortable at a $10 table.
Have you ever played the fire bet? I never have, but I completely regret not jumping on it when I was there. While I was losing my winnings (i.e. from Atlantic City earlier that weekend) at a table in Harrah's Antarctica, there was a guy that was on fire at another table. Eventually I left the Arctic and realized that the entire table had tons of chips in their racks and sure enough, they was "color coming in"... BOOOOOOOOOOO! I missed it. Lucky for me the table was still hot. As I was leaving, I decided to go back and the guy next to me had made 6 different points in his previous roll. The dice were traveling around the table and his turn was coming up so I bought back in. He and the guy to his right decided to play the fire bet again.
Wouldn't you know I went from down to up in less than an hour?!?! The guy hit for 5 different points. In his previous roll he hit 6 unique points! In this roll he hit 5 unique points! If any of you play craps or know anything about it, you realize that that is very special. It was AWESOME. I know you should never complain about winning, but what's $5 for a fire bet when the guy has already shown you that he can do it?! Oh well. I will NOT make that mistake again.
- 4 "Individual Points" pays 25 for 1
- 5 "Individual Points" pays 250 for 1
- 6 "Individual Points" pays 1000 for 1
- (Above Payoffs are "And Down".)
Another thing I must mention is that the Harrah's has a noodle bar. I will confess, I didn't eat there. However, if it's anything like the noodle bar at Caesars in Atlantic City I'm SOLD.
I wonder if that guy will be there again this weekend...
**** Update: I need to let you know that some of the dealers have just completed "dealers' school" so they are not the fastest when it comes to calculating the payouts. They are learning so they're also prone to make mistakes. Pay attention to them. Also, there's one lady that seems to be repeating some sort of script when she pays the table. She says, "Congratulations, will you please pay this fine gentleman/lady $XXX". It's annoying after you hear is more than 5 times, but it sounds like she was taught that in class.
**** Update: I need to let you know that some of the dealers have just completed "dealers' school" so they are not the fastest when it comes to calculating the payouts. They are learning so they're also prone to make mistakes. Pay attention to them. Also, there's one lady that seems to be repeating some sort of script when she pays the table. She says, "Congratulations, will you please pay this fine gentleman/lady $XXX". It's annoying after you hear is more than 5 times, but it sounds like she was taught that in class.
Sweet.
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