The new Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia continues to move toward an opening in early 2021. When that happens, there will be live poker.

According to a casino representative, the new property will feature a 29-table poker room. No official opening date has been announced as yet.

Hotel and Casino will open in early 2021, bringing gaming and entertainment to South Philadelphia near the Sports Complex. The 10th Street Market will feature Philly staples Termini Brothers. Cordish already operates a Live! Venue in Maryland and they operate as Stadium Casino LLC in Pennsylvania. Cordish has plans to open the Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia in 2021, after spending $700 million its creation. The Pittsburgh location is not a fully functioning casino, as it is classified as a satellite location. South Philadelphia’s long-delayed Live! Hotel & Casino Philadelphia will be open and operating in 2020, according to developer Stadium Casino LLC. Gilbane Building Company is the general contractor for the project. Demolition is scheduled to begin in December 2018, with construction beginning in 2019. 2 days ago  Live! Casino Hotel Philadelphia will debut as the second gaming hall within the city limits. Located on the south side of Packer Avenue between 10th and Darien streets, the adult playground will open with a full-service casino (including a 29-table, state-of-the-art poker room), a FanDuel-branded sportsbook, and several bars. Casino Pittsburgh, in Westmoreland County, is anticipated to open at the end of 2020. The 100,000-square-foot facility will feature 750 slots and electronic table games, about 30 live action table.

Live! Philly eyeing mid-January for poker room launch

Earlier today, poker reporter Anthony Cicali tweeted confirmation that Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia will have a poker room. Cicali shared a short video showing movers bringing a poker table into the casino and unwrapping it.

According to Cicali’s sources, “They are looking to launch mid-January.”

Confirmed!!! Philly Live will have a poker room .. here’s first look and inside sources tell me they are looking to launch mid January @LiveCasinoPHLpic.twitter.com/KOQk3itSUt

When Will Live Casino Philadelphia Opening Date Today

— Anthony F Cicali III (@EataHoagie) December 9, 2020

When asked, “Will you guys have poker, and if, so will it be immediately?” via Instagram, a Live! rep responded:

“We will have a poker room, however with covid restrictions, we won’t know until we open.”

The casino was developed and is owned by The Cordish Companies, which also operates Xfinity Live! Philadelphia. Like other Philadelphia casinos, Xfinity Live! has temporarily closed due to citywide restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

All Philadelphia casinos must remain closed until Jan. 1, 2021, at the earliest, meaning the opening of Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia will not happen until the new year.

Located in the South Philadelphia Stadium Entertainment District, Live! Philly will feature 2,200 slot machines and over 125 table games.

While plans move ahead toward the casino’s grand opening, the PlayLive! Online Casino and FanDuel-powered online sportsbook are already up and running.

PA poker rooms return slowly, continue to face challenges

It has been a challenging year for Pennsylvania poker rooms, all of which were forced to close in mid-March due to the pandemic. Casinos began to reopen over the summer, but the poker rooms remained shut down as dictated by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB)‘s COVID-19 Casino Reopening Protocols.

It wasn’t until early October that some of the poker rooms began submitting reopening plans to the PGCB.

Five rooms reopened in late October and early November. They included the rooms at Mohegan Sun Pocono, Mount Airy Casino, The Meadows Racetrack & Casino, Rivers Casino Pittsburgh and Rivers Casino Philadelphia.

Rivers Casino Philadelphia opened its poker room as well, although the citywide restrictions forced the casino to close once again on Nov. 20.

Parx Casino in Bensalem plans to reopen the state’s largest poker room on Dec. 15.

The poker rooms at Hollywood Casino, Presque Isle Downs and Wind Creek Casino have all remain shuttered. A representative from Wind Creek informed PlayPennsylvania in late November that the casino had no update to provide regarding when the poker room might reopen.

Meanwhile, one of the closed poker rooms, the WSOP-branded one at Harrah’s Philadelphia, will not be reopening. In August, it became known that Harrah’s intended to close its poker room permanently.

For the latest on PA poker room reopenings and plans, visit our live updates page.

SugarHouse, Parx and Harrah’s are about to have that much more competition in Philadelphia as Live! Casino and Hotel is set to open a $700 million property by the end of 2020.

The mammoth building will be located in walking distance to Citizens Bank Park, giving Parx’s South Philadelphia Turf Club sportsbook competition on the same block.

When Will Live Casino Philadelphia Open Today

The close proximity to the South Philadelphia Sports Complex should benefit Live! Casino immensely.

“The new Live! Casino & Hotel spearheads the transformation of the Philadelphia Stadium District into an integrated sports, entertainment and casino resort destination,” a statement from Live! Casino & Hotel said. “The project sits adjacent to Xfinity Live!, the highly successful dining, entertainment, and hospitality destination developed and owned in partnership between The Cordish Companies and Comcast Spectator … The opening of the $700 million casino resort destination will transform the Philadelphia Stadium District into the only place in the country to experience big league action from four major professional sports teams, best-in-class dining and entertainment, and world class gaming and hotel accommodations.”

When Will Live Casino Philadelphia Opening Date

As a comp, the top physical sportsbook in New Jersey – FanDuel – operates in the shadow of MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford and the top retail shop in the state of Pennsylvania is Rivers Casino – which is steps from Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.

Even with online sports betting about to kick off in Pennsylvania, industry experts believe the physical books will still get plenty of traffic.

“Retail will always be a viable part of our success,” FanDuel President and COO Kip Levin told MetroBet last month. “There’s a healthy social aspect at a physical sportsbook as people want to be there with their friends.”

Surely a traditional casino atmosphere will lend itself well to Live’s sportsbook as well. Live! is projected to have 2,200 slot machines, 125 table games and over 200 hotel rooms.

Officials for the casino say that it will create approximately 2,000 new direct and indirect jobs as well.

Live! is owned and managed by Stadium Casino LLC, which is an affiliate of The Cordish Companies.