SugarHouse Casino Becomes First Casino in Philadelphia

Philadelphia became the largest city in the United States to be home to a casino on Thursday, as the SugarHouse Casino opened for business in the Fishtown neighborhood of the city. The previous largest American city with a casino was Detroit.

The SugarHouse Casino features over 1,600 slot machines and 40 table games, meaning that it offers a surprising amount of variety considering the relatively small casino space. However, there is one major thing missing from SugarHouse – a poker room. It has been speculated that this is due to the lack of space.

The small size of the casino, which is situated right on the Delaware River waterfront, was partially a result of pressure from the local community. Lawsuits filed by community protesters, government agencies and other bidders who lost out to the SugarHouse group delayed the casino’s opening. At the casino’s opening, protesters from the group Casino-Free Philadelphia were on hand to voice their displeasure over SugarHouse. The group displayed a mural – drawn by local children – that depicted a scene of the waterfront without the casino there. Members intend to continue protesting in the weeks to come, and will look for legal violations in the hopes of closing down the casino.

However, local officials in Philadelphia were generally pleased at the opening of the casino. SugarHouse created approximately 900 new jobs, and lawmakers stated that they believed the casino would also bring other economic benefits to local businesses.

There is still the possibility of a second Philadelphia-area casino opening, though the status of that casino is in question. Foxwoods had obtained a license to open a casino, but has since declared that they do not have the money to build a casino at this time. Foxwoods has faced a fine each day since they missed a deadline to provide more information in December, and the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is planning to revoke their license.