I agree with most of this. The place is a dump but worse than North Philly? Lets be reasonable.

Chester is def scary. Word to the wise for those coming up from the south on 95. Traffic bunches up at the state line. A little further up from a closed down/under construction rest stop it will seem tempting to get off at an exit in Linwood, Pa, Rt. 52 (maybe 452?). Twnsp is Upper Chichester, I think. Warning: DO NOT DO THIS. It will be tempting if you have a GPS/Garmin or whatever and you think you can just follow local streets to the casino. You will go through some of the scariest neighborhoods imaginable. A girl I work with had her car stolen when she was in church in this wonderful urban environment. Your close at that point, just stick to 95 and get off at the Ridley Park exit.

Are you people really scared to drive through bad neighborhoods? Jesus, for gamblers you guys sure are risk averse.

I am willing to bet there will be a wait list until Monday morning.... guess we will see, Im gonna wait to go during the weekday.... Here is to hoping there will be a 10/20 NL

How do I avoid the bad streets coming from the Commodore Barry?

Just take 95 North, don't take that first exit on the right. I think it's the 4th Street exit or something like that. Don't normally go that way to Wilmington, Del Mem bridge has a commuter plan.

Talking Mule: darn right I'm risk averse; have a wife, kid, questionable health insurance, no life insurance, am not licensed to carry firearms interstate and have no interest in being some ambitious prosecutor's Great White Defendant b/c I chose to defend myself against an "underprivileged victim."

Chester is a high risk with no pay off. The pot odds and the implied odds both suck. Fold.

Curfew? Seriously? Does this mean that I can get arrested/stopped simply for driving to the casino? Or does this refer to people walking around parts of the town?

What the heck?

Lee

Yes, haven't you ever noticed the highway completely empty at 9pm ?

pretty certain the casino is not in a part of the town where there is a curfew. the curfew is only in effect in portions of the city.

yeah its just certain parts of the town with high gang activity. harrah's doesnt fall in the lines of the curfew.

Ya i figure since i didnt get a invite to the opening on Friday, I guess I will just have to wait till Sunday. And Chester is nothing compared to North Philly, North Philly is the hood. And Philadelphia always leads the state in murders.

does any1 know what the comps are gonna be like for poker? ive never played poker b4 in a harrahs casino.

It has a higher murder rate than Detroit, DC. Baltimore,Memphis and Philly. Far higher not even close. It has 6x the murder rate of NYC. But this is good news ?

Since it is not as bad as Camden?

The Pa. state police patrol the city plus the County sherrifs patrol the city in addition to the local police. I guess that is good news since the Pa, National Guard has not started to patrol, yet.

Much of the city is under curfew, the major has asked for an other 30 days of curfew. That is good news too ? Yes, since not all the city is under curfew.

I get out of the water after a shark warning has been announced. I stay out of Chester.

I met up with a friend of mine who loves casinos and gambling.

He grew up in Levittown, went to Holy Ghost Prep and St. Joe's University. Still lives in Levittown. He's a regional manager for a large retail operation. His position over the years has brought him to many areas, affluent areas as well as rough neighborhoods.

I hadn't discussed this thread with him. I asked him how the drive was. "Fine." I asked him if he feared for his life. "No, why?" It came up in conversation later that he did in fact know about Chester's state of emergency.

He also said he liked it better than Parx. I haven't been to the new one so can't comment.

I do think that compared to the Borgata or Caesar's Las Vegas that Harrah's Chester is a pit. If you're used to people and things being pristine you won't like being there. If you don't mind cities with the wide diversity of classes and cultures you'll be fine.

As far as safety, well there is no arguing with the facts of Chester's problems. How much do those facts affect a trip to Harrah's Chester? Thousands of people visit the place daily. Black people, white people, asian people, old people, young people. Hundreds go to work there each day.

I'm not defending the place. Among the 4 PA casinos nearest to me I'd say it's my least favorite. But if you live nearby you'd be making a mistake if you avoid checking it out.

I don't know if they'll have any high stakes poker games. But the place is always really busy and that's just going to increase with table games.

RAKE: I spoke with a few guys in suits who authoritatively stated that rake will be 10% up to $5, and most likely there will be a BBJ.

anyone planning to be there at 6 a.m. Sunday?

I've been to both Parx and Chester.

Parx is FAR superior. It is much bigger and the service there
is much better as well.

Chester is in a crappy neighborhood and is ridiculously small.
I saw the set up they have for their tables, it is cluttered together in the
middle of everything and I can only imagine what the waits are
going to be like with such few tables.

I'll probably be going, just because it is so close by, but as soon as parx
opens up their room I doubt I will ever go back.

The comps for both suck. For obvious reasons. Though I doubt
they will ever offer more than casinos in AC.


For the record, I will probably be there sunday night to check things out.

I'm sure I'd agree with you about Parx, my friend's opinion is highly subjective and only considers the interior.

The comps at Harrah's Chester are horrible, I agree! Unfortunately the PA casinos have plenty of customers without having to offer good comps. Although I found at PA Sands it was easy to earn way more points than one could use in their restaurants!

I'll be there around noon on Sunday, got to get there early I don not feel like waiting 3 hours.

In March I went to Chester to play Video BJ to attain Diamond Card status, I haven't been back since.

They however send me slot dollars to use every month (I never go redeem them).

When the poker room opens, I will redeem the slot dollars (Some days are as high as $70),.

After I redeem and cash out of the machine (whether it be $5 or $70), should that go towards my poker win rate since the only reason I am redeeming is because I am there to play poker?

I would say no, as you did not earn those comps/cash back from your poker play. You would be inflating your win rate with money you made from something other than poker. That is like saying my poker win rate increased because I found a $100 bill on the sidewalk outside the casino. Keep your profit/loss from table games/slots separate from poker profit/loss.

Tables look really nice. No Cup holders. With no people in there it looks as though there is no room to walk between tables. Just look at the lack of room between the tables in the last photo. Going to be a lot of "Excuse me can you scooch in so I can get to my seat"

What time they open Sunday?

Thanks for the pics MustangJack. Spacing looks familiar to the layout at Harrahs in AC an Caesars in AC. Cookie cutter room. A shot of the signup desk and games selection board would be great.

Is any one going to the test tomorrow? Timing? Any handouts about room rules available?

Good luck to those who go Friday, and trip reports are definitely appreciated.

HGWT

Just went there to cash in some slot reward $s on my lunch hour.

There was a meeting with dealers going on at the far end of the poker room.

I am going back Saturday sometime because I have another $55 slot $ to redeem so I will try and get another picture or two then.

Can't frigging wait!