Best Philly casino?

Hi gang, going to be staying in Downtown Philly the weekend of June 5th and 6th. May have time for one quick casino visit with my dad. Probably a little BJ for me and some .25 video poker for him. He likes to play at the bar and have a beer, if possible. I'm aware of PA's standard BJ rules so that's not an issue. Just looking for a recommendation on overall friendliness and vibe. We won't be staying for a meal or anything unless there is a restaurant that anyone feels is a can't miss type of place. I've been to Harrah's in Chester and lets say I was unimpressed. So that leaves PARX's and Sugarhouse as reasonable quick options. Given the choice which would you folks recommend. I'm staying right downtown in center city. Thanks in advance.

chester has the highest murder rate in the state. good luck on your trip!

I think sugarhouse is probably your best bet. It's nice, and it's close, and it's pretty fun. Parx is a good shop, but it's out of the way and there's nothing that makes it a better option. Same with Valley Forge. Nice casino. Fun place to play. But it's not worth the extra 20 mile drive past Sugarhouse to get there. If you do go to Sugarhouse, pay attention to the music. It's all PA/NJ artists.

Take the train to AC from 30th street station and bring a six pack for the ride and doing some father/son bonding.

Take the ride to valley forge 20 mins and get the 100 new player sign up bonus and a very safe atmosphere

Quote: rdw4potus

I think sugarhouse is probably your best bet. It's nice, and it's close, and it's pretty fun. Parx is a good shop, but it's out of the way and there's nothing that makes it a better option. Same with Valley Forge. Nice casino. Fun place to play. But it's not worth the extra 20 mile drive past Sugarhouse to get there. If you do go to Sugarhouse, pay attention to the music. It's all PA/NJ artists.

Thanks that's the kind of heads up I was looking for. Glad to see someone reads before posting.

I love when I say in my original post. That I'm aware Chester is a dump and I'm not going there. Then people tell me not to go there. No sh*t sherlock.

I also say go to Valley Forge. By far the safest. People don't like the $10 entry but just buy a gift card and spend on food. Plus it helps keep the lowlifes out. Comps are better than most. Slots are terrible but the table players are good to play with. Good dealers and good drink service.

Just a follow up to my original question. I did end up making a brief visit to Sugarhouse with my dad. He's such a low limit gambler it makes me laugh sometimes. He put $5 in a .25 video poker machine. Plays 5 credits. Hits a flush on the first hand. A straight on the second hand. I was standing behind him and said mostly as a joke "you should quit now, you're not going to do better than that". So he cashed out his $12.50, or whatever it was, and called it a night. Literally gambled for 7 seconds. It took us 10 min to drive there...10 min to find a place to park, 10 min to find a decent poker machine... and he plays for 7 seconds and is ready to go. Doubled his money. Gotta love the old man.

It was a sat. night and Philly was hoppin..tons of people on the street the casino was packed. It looked like AC ten years ago, on fourth of July weekend, or Vegas on NYE. I wanted to play just a little BJ so I could say I did and get a chip for my collection. There were no tables below $25 that I saw. Mostly full. All seemed to have CSM's (booo). I didn't even go in high limit so don't know about in there. Anyway, I bought in with only a few hundred. Won six out of eight hands including a double and a split and walked out of there a couple of hundy richer. So between us we played for maybe 10 minutes. I really wasn't there long enough to give a review. Except that it was really crowded, and it's been a long time since I saw that many people smoking indoors. I don't smoke, but it doesn't usually bother me when people do. This time though it was making my eyes water and nose run. I noticed they were selling cigarettes out of a vending machine just inside the doors for some ridiculously low price like $2 I think. So maybe that explains it.

I'd go back, I guess, It's nicer than Chester for sure, if I'm in Philly again (which I will be, my wife has people there). But I'd avoid Sat. night, it was oppressively crowded. I didn't feel unsafe or anything, it just was a really wound up atmosphere. Not relaxing or fun, at least not to me.