Penn National Casino Report - visit Feb 18 2008
General Casino
Casino consists of five story garage with attached elevator. Casino
consists of five floors of which only three are open to the public.
Slots are all on the first floor. There is a racing simulcast on
the second floor. Third floor contains the indoor observation
platform for the live racing track. The administrative basement and
banquet/racing officials top floor are closed to the public.
Video Poker
The selection consists of about 100 machines - 80 of which
are .25/.50/$1 machines and 20 of which were $1/$2/$5 machines. The
video poker area is on the North side of the first (slots) floor
between the cashier and what is to become the Epic Buffet. However,
only eight of the $1/$2/$5 machines are in this area. The remaining
twelve surround the inside and outside wall of the separate high-
limit area.
The $1/$2/$5 vp machines feature Jacks or Better, Bonus, Double
Bonus, Double Double Bonus, Joker's Wild, and Joker Poker. The JOB
paytable is 8 for a full house and 5 for a flush. (I did not change
the machine to $5 however to determine if the paytable was the same
at that level).
Most of the quarter machines were in use. There was one standard
bank of Joker Poker, one progressive bank of Joker Poker, and two
Pick 'Em machines. JOB on the .25/.50/$1 machines was only 7/5.
(However once again, I did not increase to $1. It's possible that
at the $1 level it pays 8/5 the same as the $1/$2/$5 machines).
Slots
Mostly one and two penny slots. The lowest full bet needed for a
jackpot on the one cent machines was .75 a spin. A few others
were .90 a spin. Most were $2.00 to $6.00 a spin if you played for
full value. Far worse even than Atlantic City if you ask me.
Nickel machines require 45 credits for a full bet.
There were only one hundred standard five quarter, five line slots
in the whole place with one progressive bank of nine. There were
none of your fancy linked progressives like Wheel of Fortune or
such. An additional one hundred quarter slots require multiple
quarters per line. There are about 200 one line five quarter
slots. There are about 100 three quarter one line slots, including
some progressives.
Drink Service
Arrived at 3:45pm Tuesday afternoon to find that there are no
alcoholic drinks served on the slot floor to those who have the
original slot club tier (Director). Observed some people drinking
on the floor who were in the second tier (Chairman). I've never
seen this kind of restriction in a casino. Drink service was non-
existant until 5:00pm, thereafter I was asked about service about
every 30 minutes. Reportedly, the second tier of slot service comes
with valet parking and a food discount from 15% to 25%.
Food
Eventually there are to be twelve food choices. Right now there are
five establishments within the casino with an additional steakhouse
and buffet to be open by summer. There is a salad and sandwich
place, a grill, a hearth baked pizza place, an Irish place, and on
the second floor simulcast area a snack bar (with eventual full bar).
I visited the salad/sandwich place (has bottled beer at $4 or $5
dollars) and the pizza joint which has draft beer for $4 on tap.
Prices were about about average for pizzas but everything else was
30% to 70% higher than average. The snack bar upstairs had hot dogs
for $3.75 and hamburgers for $4.75. I did not visit the downstairs
grill or Irish establishments.
Yours Truly,
Steve W.
(usadude717)
