Except the casino only makes a tiny bit less money if games are "looser" (maybe a few more pots at $1/2 get raked fully that otherwise wouldn't have) and makes no more money by having them "easier to beat." They are also the biggest poker room in the state right now and in the discussion of one of the biggest/busiest poker rooms on the whole northeast, so there isn't much if an indication that they need to give away free drinks to get busier.

I've played a bunch at Chester and Parx because they are equidistant from my house. Chester's games are noticeably looser, I believe for 2 reasons:
1. Rebuys at the table. People are much more likely to add another $100 on after losing a big pot when they don't have to walk, and it avoids the person getting up to go get chips and then making the decision to leave instead
2. Free drinks. I sit down at 2/5 or 1/2/4 at Chester and at least 3 people have drinks, at Parx it is rare to see someone drinking

For any casino to charge for a low end beer IMO is insane. That being said, you can not argue their success in their cardroom. For them to have 34 games running while the B has 15 at same time is pretty impressive. I realize they are holding a series right now, but that is still impressive. Parx's game selection is also tops in the area. Refreshing to see so many games at different levels running including higher LHE games. They really do need to man up though and give away free drinks. Chester, while being a dump, gives a free buffet for playing 4 hours or more at 5/10 LHE and free drinks.

Very good point about having to get up and walk to window, however they do have chip runners at the parx. I really had to table select because of the nitiness and low buy ins of 100 dollars at 1 2nl. I was told a few times I would have to wait till balancing of tables. A player saw big stacks and sat down at my table at 2 amish as was a great table and was moved by floor after telling floor that he had been playing shorthanded all night. I don't think open seating exists at parx and table selection is a problem. I came at 2:30 pm on sunday asked for 1 2nl list of 28 people took 45 minutes to get a table. People who are saying the room is great have blinders on imo there are some flaws aside from the no comps. I saw 3 people order drinks in 4 days and over 50 hours play. What poker player is going to pay six dollars for a Corona or 8 dollars for a cocktail? If parx is going to charge sky high rake and give 1 dollars in comp and not give any perks Parx is basically telling me they don't want my repeat buisness. Why would I play at parx other then its 30 minutes closer then foxwoods and 1 hour closer then ac considering perks I get playing at other poker rooms. Buisness is buisness and parx resting on it laurels not offering anything to players , if they are losing my buisness I am sure a lot of other people will feel the same way except the dire hard regs who live minutes away from the parx.

I like a lot of other people came for the 150k guarantee and even a simular tournament in the future wouldn't draw me in the future to spend 4 days. It really is a shame because it is a nice poker room but the EXTREME lack of perks along with sky high rake make it that much less appealing. What a disaster if they decide to go with a bad beat jackpot .

Marking up beer is a slap in the face in all honesty

They should at least give free tap beer. That would be a reasonable compromise as those that want to drink could at no cost. I in no way believe that having to get up and go to cage or wait for chip runner changes the dynamics of the game. More often then not when someone gets up after being felted and does not return it is because they have no money left in their pocket and do not / cannot tap the ATM. The trade off of keeping the game moving by not having dealer sell chips and have to get constant fills is well worth the every once in a while someone leaves because they don't want to wait.

Fact is it really is not that difficult to avoid having to wait for chips or go to the cage. When you make your initial buyin at the cage buy high denomination chips to keep in your pocket to top off or rebut...this is not brain surgery

Parx is far and away the choice between Chester and Parx. borgata still the best room in the east and possibly the country IMO.

I have seen razz included in mixed games at the borg on more than one occasion. Not saying it will become a staple at Parx but as long as it's legal players can ask to add it to the mix or the room can try out a HORSE game to see if it will run.

You completely ignored my post which was directly to you about the futility of you complaining about the drinks by once again complaining about the drinks. But in the event you just missed it, please refer to it.

I didn't ignore it, you feel that parx shouldn't give players free drinks because it dosen't benefit parx , duh I feel otherwise. I reiterated that giving players something would cause goodwill and maybe bring players back , I guess you can't comprehend that though. I guess you feel it is okay to not only not give free drinks to players but mark them up and make a profit on something every casino I have played at in the northeast comps. It just goes to show how greedy Parx really is by marking up beer.

Then you ignore that Parx, despite weak comps and no free booze, is the most popular poker destination in the Philly area (including a room with some free drinks) and among the most popular poker rooms in the entire northeast (including a lot of rooms that offer free drinks).

You offer no evidence how this will help Parx, who are already the leaders in the local region and among half of the country. You, yourself, apparently still play there, at least sometimes. So you can't even use yourself as evidence that free drinks will help the room. But there's a ton of evidence that Parx is huge without it.

You wanting free drinks doesn't mean that them offering free drinks will get them more business and certainly doesn't mean that any more business they get will be enough to offset the cost of the alcohol.

And if your business is already at the top, why should they change anything?

When Parx struggles or the other local casino that does offer free drinks manages to catch Parx, maybe they will have a reason. Right now, you whining is not a very good reason. If you think it is, I don't suggest you start a business.

Off course Parx is popular its next to a major city. I see tons of players at the Borgatta from Philly if parx is that great why do you think they make the extra trekk? If you offer your customers nothing and don't do anything that the competition is doing to attract patrons pretty soon your buisness will decline to your competitors its basic buisness and more so in a down economy . I don't see anything that great about Parx that would have me come back and that in itself is a problem as my current stay was 4 days with about 50 hours play at ring games.

I will take my buisness to a casino that appreciates it and shows me they appreciate it through player development comps. You are right no reason to whine I have other options. I like the room but no reason for me to come back with everything other poker rooms have to offer which include lower rake, better comps per hour and free hotel rooms. The parx offeres its poker players nothing other then 1 dollar an hour comps. Ring games are the same everywhere. I stated before if the Parx dosen't want my buisness I will take it elsewhere. Thank you for convincing me to do so with your lame arguments that if a buisness is successfull it can afford to rest on its laurels.

Its a shame that parx is as backwards thinking as you are. You feel if a buisness is thriving it dosen't need to offer the basics that other buisnesses offer. Parx is not going to get my repeat buisness in the future but as you say they don't need it. (lol) There is no reason for me to respond to any more of your posts but feel free to post the same rhetoric about how parx dosen't need to offer its customers anything its pure genius. My evidence that parx needs to do something to retain customers is that I won't be back and neither will a lot of people who live in the same radius as I do. The room I am sure is not as packed as it is for big tournament series. If parx only wants to cater to area residents thats fine and well.

This is just an awful argument. While Parx may do well (I have no idea how well they do), I would think its' because it's smack in the middle of an area that is far enough from AC to make people go there.

If the Borgata and Parx were the same distance, it wouldn't even be a choice. 30 minutes to a decent room vs 90 minutes to a nicer room isn't much of a choice. If travel time wasn't an issue I'd go to the Borgata in a heartbeat.

Make no mistake, Parx isn't the Borgata.

I think free drinks makes the games juicier which makes players, especially regulars, want to play there more

I've chosen Chester over PARX because of the room comps, food comps, and ****tier players and I'm right in the middle of the two venues. No incentive to grind at PARX even though I went there before Chester

I mean, we'll see how popular Parx is once the casino in the old Inquirer building opens up (or Sugarhouse figures out their investor bull**** and gets a poker room)

I may be making my first trip to Parx this Saturday to try out their Turbo tournament. If I get knocked out early I may end up playing some cash games. As I certainly didn't go through all the copious posts on this thread, maybe someone can help answer a few basic questions I have, especially regarding some of the latter posts I skimmed...

1.) Does Parx not offer free drinks? Are non-alcoholic drinks free?

2.) How much is the Rake?

3.) Do the tournaments get sold out quickly? The one I want to play in is at 2pm on Saturday. If I arrive around that time, should I feel confident I can register?

4.) How late does the final table of tourneys usually go? For example if I start at 2pm on Saturday does it go into the early morning like 2am 3am like Borgata?

Thanks all!

Praying for the day sugarhouse opens a poker room, I've heard they're going to triple in size eventually but haven't heard anything recently. This was the first thing I found on the matter that mentions a poker room but appears outdated or no longer relevant

http://www.sugarhousecasino.com/pdf/...Highlights.pdf

then found this

http://www.philadelphiaspeaks.com/fo...ost567053.html

1. No free alcohol. Non-alcoholic drinks are free.

2. 10% up to $5 for rake games.

3. No idea.

4. No real idea, but pretty late, if needed. The FT for the 300 ended at like 8am (after 5 hours of heads up). When I left on Monday night at midnight, some tournament was still going strong.

But travel time is an issue. So are many other factors. Both casinos won't operate in the same way as a result.

Parx is much closer to a major population center. It's also near many affluent neighborhoods. It appeals to (richer than average) locals. It also pays more in taxes.

Offering free drinks is a pure business decision. They do offer free drinks (I think) for table games, but don't for poker. They will lose some business as a result, but if they offered free drinks they would lose some drink revenue.

They've done the math and made their decisions. We players vote with our feet and our wallets. If business ever does decline, we'll possibly see some changes.

I don't begrudge anyone their opinion, or even their vocal opinion. But as long as the room stays reasonably busy and the players keep coming back and are on the average happy with their experience, I wouldn't expect much in the way of change.

How many players typically enter the 150 tonight?

Would they allow you to bring a flask to the table from home?

lol. byob good thinking outside the box They should def hire you for player development team, seriously. I could just see it now: hey bro can I have a swig of your spirits?

I ordered a tomtato juice the other day, it was $3. Obviously I should have asked if they charged first. That will my last tomato juice at parx.

If you want to drink so bad...
Step 1:Bring flask of captain
Step 2:Order "free" coke from beautiful waitress
Step 3:Use restroom bringing coke with you
Step 4:Add captain to coke and voila "free captain n coke"

Want to drink free screwdriver instead?...
Bring vodka, order orange juice, repeat steps 3 thru 4.

Sidenote: Hold drink high when at urinal or you will have an extra splash of unwanted flavor.

Do you really think people who regularly drink are not going to drink bc they charge for alcohol?? No... Degens gonna degen.

Drinking is more prevalent in other casinos bc of the fact that there is a hotel in the casino. No one wants to get mangled and then have to drive back home. In a hotel casino, you have the freedom to drink as much as you want then go upstairs and pass out. Parx does not have a hotel yet and when they do maybe things will be different.

Until then, as mentioned above, vote with your feet and stop talking about the room being bad bc they don't serve free booze. If the room thought it would be more profitable they would have done it already 300 pages ago before all these one timers started complaining about it again.

since i can't afford anything on the menu if I play a 5 hour session can I sneak a sandwitch?Eat it in the bathroom while im guzzling my drink? Always a way to beat the system just have to think outside the box is all. Its funny and all but I finished up at 4 am one night and saw a few people snoozing in their cars on the way to my car so really your suggestion is not that far fetched. They didn't even have engine running and it was pretty cold outside.