I put my headphones in there since I don't usually use them but will put them on if I feel tilted or something. I also use it to put tournament receipts in and snacks or drinks if I want them. Probably not totally necessary but it's a convenience for me.

sweatshirts are pretty common

Ipad, laptops etc..

i know what is normally contained in your bags/backpacks

my point was that you do not really need all of that stuff to play poker; it is similar to how some people always carry around a water bottle

since some people are putting pressure cooker bombs in backpacks now, i would either get used to be being searched or leave anything you cannot keep in your pockets at home or in your car

i am glad they are checking bags at Parx

the american way is to try to make things more enjoyable. if that means having a sweatshirt so we aren't frozen while we're playing or an ipad cause it isn't hard to get bored during poor rushes of cards then it isn't a crime to have these things on our person so we can enhance our playing experience.

I bring my own water bottle and it saves me hundreds of dollars a year. It is a mild inconvenience but it seems worth it.

I should really just carry the water bottle and ditch my backpack though. Having a backpack is not good for the game.

The extra security regarding backpacks because of the Boston bombing is just plain stupid. It amazes me that some of you guys support the gesture or feel safer now.

Two terrorists blow up some bombs at the Boston marathon and you think that players bringing backpacks into Parx poker room is now any more of a threat? Are you guys serious or leveling? There are tons of places with that many people that are much more likely to be attacked, unless you guys are suggesting that every church or playground in America should have security guards there to check every backpack or oversized purse someone tries to take to those places.

You were allowed to have backpacks this weekend when I was there.

Hey guys in the 10/10 game, there's an action fish luckbox showing up at about 8:30.

Also, it appears that the Cornwell Heights Amtrak stop is only about 10 minutes from Parx. I have no clue how possible it is to catch a cab there, or how populated/convenient/safe/whatever it is.

It is on the Amtrak line between NYC and Philly tho. My train from NYC just stopped there.

If anyone knows about Bensalem cab services, this might be an option for some guys wanting to get Parx from NYC.

Just got back from my first visit to Parx. I have to say being a resident of southern Nevada and playing strip and San Diego card rooms It blows me away how awful the service and management is here back east. I know Parx has no local competition but jeez.

First thing I loved is how I am next on the 6/12 OE list and mysteriously someone gets put in front of me. I was playing 1/2 and watching the board and when I asked what happened I got told by the floor the guy ahead of me was taking off by mistake. Total BS as we all know you only get taken off if you miss your call or get seated.

Second I find out cash on the table doesn't play. ??? Chip runners are horridly slow and there is no reason money shouldn't play.

Then when I finally start playing 6/12 in a kill pot I notice the killer has to act in turn? No, in a unraised pot the killer should always go last. I mean what advantage does he have? Another Bush league rule.

I then decide to play the tourney. Only to find out that late regging made me an alternate till they got enough for a table? Instead of having more tables with open seats I found myself at a table with 2 people, clock running and no cards being dealt as the other tables played. FAIL!

To top it off drink service was abominable and food wasn't much better. Very understaffed. Two girls with 20 tables running? One food girl?

I guess got spoiled playing at the Venetian and in San Diego but it was pretty ridiculous.

I will say dealers are very good and floor is decent. Not to mention cocktail babes were the hottest but I just don't want to wait 30 mins to get a drink.

Most of the complaints are warranted. Only one that I don't think they have control over is the cash playing, as I am pretty sure I've seen that the PA gaming commission or whatever it is doesn't currently allow it, so there is nothing parx can currently do about it.

Parx has competition, maybe not strip like competition. Plenty of people drive to AC or harrah's..

I would also imagine people get snuffed on the list WAY WAY more in Nevada and Socal since you can tip the floor. That rarely, to never happens back east. I would bet it was in fact a mistake.

Agree on the Kill, although I feel like acting in turn is a rule in most places on the east coast.

Cash not playing in no limit is a great idea, and given it's 95% no limit, it's easy to to just have one rule. It does take some getting used to, I think you'd find if you played here a lot it's better overall. It keeps chips on the table and in play.

Tournament -- sounds lame.

food/drinks 1,000,000 % agree they are heinously slow. I'd rather look at a dude and get a drink when I want it rather than wait...food waits are worse. Food is a new thing at parx, it's getting better.

At Harrah's AC and Borgata (the only other places I've played with a kill) the killer acts in turn. How could the killer go last if they are in mid position? And why should he have an advantage? He already just won the last pot.

BTW, my biggest complaint of Parx is a tie between the non-automatic toilets in the restrooms and the slowest wait staff I have ever seen (both drinks and food). 3rd place would be that every weekend there is not enough dealers when there is a tournament going.

At DP action skips past the killer and he has an option after the BB. Or... if there is a raise in front of the killer, then he acts in turn. As to why, I don't know.

As mentioned above:
* For 6/12 it probably was a mistake. We cannot tip floors. Regs get some vague preferential treatment, but that rarely extends to hopping to the front of the line. It is much, much, much worse in vegas and LA, in my experience.

* Cash doesn't play in PA, don't blame Parx for following the state regs. In fact, applaud them for trying to get it changed:
* Acting in turn is the common practice on the east coast, and in most rooms IME. Acting last causes weird jumps in action, particularly if the killer raises (who acts next? SB or left of killer?). It's understandable why one would want to give the kill player last action, but having the action not proceed in turn is too weird, IMO.

* Finally, I think we'll all agree that the drink service is slower than it should be. Food service has been much improved of late, in my opinion, but is still slower than other major rooms.

When a Mississippi straddle is live action ends with him even though he is the button a kill should be no different. It's why out west the killer goes last unless there is a raise in front of him. It's common sense.

As for horrible drink service, you do realize it's an easy fix of hiring more help at a very low cost yet you don't do it? They make min wage and live on tips. I mean really. SMH.

I've never played in a kill game outside of the east coast, but just acting in turn seems logical to me. The point of the kill isn't to give the player with the kill button an advantage, and it seems like going out of turn would just confuse people and slow things down.

There are only so many gorgeous women in the area.

I had the same exact thing happen a few months ago during the Big Stax tourneys. I late-reg'd for the nightly after busting out and sat around for 20 minutes with 2 people - same exact thing. Ridiculous. There were 3 tables running, two of which had an empty seat, but he didn't want to fill them and end up in the same boat if more people registered. So I sat until the break... So irritating. I figured it was a fluke and not standard practice. I haven't been back since.....

Yep, totally putting you and I at a horrible disadvantage. It's not a good way to run any tourney. I scratched my head at how that room is managed. It's really bizarre.

In a Miss. straddle, action proceeds from the left of the straddler (so SB can be first to act). Using this process, there are never any irregularities in action, they always proceed in order around the table.

Unless I'm mistaken, this is not how you're suggesting a "last action" kill works (nor is it how I've seen it implemented in places with a last action kill). Instead, action starts at UTG as normal, then skips the kill, then returns to him last. Unless, as you say, there is a raise before the kill (though some rooms don't have this exception either). And if the kill decides to raise, there is always confusion and a room rule needed to decide who is next to act, either returning to the SB, or UTG, or proceeding to the left of the kill.

Given all these exceptions and odd action rules, it's a complex and confusing nightmare. There is no possible way you can argue that this mish-mash is "common sense". Common sense is to have action that always proceeds in turn around the table.

Of course, maybe you're saying the last action kill starts to the left of the kill and proceeds in order, but in that case I'm not sure why you'd say "unless there is a raise before the kill", because that wouldn't matter in the slightest.

As for drinks, I don't run the room. But it's tautologically obvious that there is some increased cost to the room, because they're paying more people, even if it's just minimum wage. Plus, the waitresses themselves might not be happy about it, because they're splitting tips with more people. Having said that, as I've said before, I think all players would agree the service tends to be way too slow.

Yea I know it's only done that way all over Vegas because it doesn't make any sense. Trust me your room makes little sense.

The waitresses now are losing money anyway because they are slow and lazy. They could be making more if they hustled but they don't seem to want to. It's a shame. Food and beverage service is probably the worst of any card room in the country.

Wow, you've played in Vegas? I defer to your massive experience!

Take the blue pill and join us, or the red and go back to Vegas, I don't really care. Just realize that there is poker being played in places other than where you are from, and they don't all use the same rules.

It's not great and all . . but come on. How do you even type something like this and be serious?

"banonlinepoker" is like a stereotypical "big time gambler" who's come from the west to let all us simple folk know how ridiculous our game is!

Parx definitely has a lot of downsides but it also has a lot of upsides. Finding a table is infinitely easier than in most poker rooms. If they tell me to go to table 23 at Borgata I have no idea where that is; at Parx, I marvel at the fact that people say "hey where's table 23?" since the numbers are LITERALLY RIGHT ABOVE THE TABLES. It's so convenient!

The dealers are very good at Parx! For the most part every one cares about his or her job and does a good job in making sure to keep the game moving but being social at the same time!

Parx has a ridiculous amount of tables! There's like 70 tables in the room or whatever. For a place in little old Bensalem that's pretty awesome.

I understand complaining about some things but damn that post made it seem like Parx is some terrible run down place with no point in existing!