Parx Casino Stalls Hotel Construction Plans, Cites Skill Games

Posted on: June 24, 2024, 10:04h. 

Last updated on: June 24, 2024, 10:19h.

Parx Casino north of Philadelphia in Bensalem says it’s amending its hotel plans from new construction to acquisition.

Just days after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court revealed it would review the legality of skill games, the slot-like machines that have inundated small businesses across the commonwealth, Parx, the richest casino in the state, said the judicial outcome will weigh heavily on whether it moves forward with constructing a 300-room luxury hotel and events center. The casino owned and operated by Greenwood Racing Inc. and its subsidiary Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment, controlled by British gaming businessmen Bob Green and Bill Hogwood, has instead opted to invest in acquiring a nearby hotel.

The Inn at Fox Chase maintains a 3.8/5-star rating on Google based on 112 reviews. Google labels the hotel as a three-star property.

Skill Game Worries

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will soon begin reviewing state Attorney General Michelle Henry’s claims that skill games — commonly branded Pennsylvania Skill — are illegal gambling machines. Lower courts have ruled that the games aren’t subject to the state’s Gaming Act because their elements of skill allow a proficient player to alter the payout rate and therefore chance isn’t the only factor.

Opponents, including Pennsylvania’s 17 brick-and-mortar casinos, say the machines constitute illegal gambling and cut into their slot business. Skill games aren’t taxed or regulated, while casinos pay tens of millions of dollars in licensing fees for their slot privileges and give more than half of the terminals’ gross win to the state via tax.

Speaking with the Philadelphia Business Journal, Parx Chief Marketing Officer Marc Oppenheimer said the threat from skill games put its $100 million hotel project plans on hold.

Until we have greater clarity on those things, we weren’t comfortable making a nine-figure investment,” Oppenheimer said.

The American Gaming Association estimates that there are at least 67K unlicensed and unregulated skill games in Pennsylvania.

Hotel Upgrades

Parx Casino plans to refurbish the Inn at Fox Chase, with the top sixth floor being entirely overhauled to include luxury suites. The hotel’s five other floors were recently renovated, as was the lobby. The hotel will remain open during the sixth-floor work and current reservations won’t be impacted.

The Inn at Fox Chase workforce will also have the ability to retain their employment with Parx. The hotel acquisition is expected to close this week.

When Greenwood applied for a casino license in 2006, company officials told the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board that its master plan included an on-site hotel. Since opening the casino in September 2006, Parx has offered its loyalty members reduced nightly rates at the Inn at Fox Chase.