Shuffle up and deal: Harrah’s Atlantic City set to reopen poker parlor closed by the COVID-19 pandemic

After more than nine months, the cards will soon be in the air once again at Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City.

The Press of Atlantic City is reporting that the casino’s 40-table card parlor—the city’s second-largest—will resume operations Dec. 26. Not surprisingly, players will find some changes to the facility: According to the newspaper, the table maximum will be eight players with plastic shields separating each chair. And of course, masks must be worn at all times.

In addition, the facility, named for the World Series of Poker – which, like Harrah’s is owned by Caesars Entertainment – will be open noon to 4 a.m. daily, instead of 24 hours as it was in pre-COVID times.

“Harrah’s Resort is thrilled to re-open our World Series of Poker room just in time for the new year, which will serve as the destination for poker in Atlantic City at our Caesars Entertainment resorts,” said Ron Baumann, senior vice president and general manager of Harrah's and Caesars Atlantic City. “We’ve spent the last several months ensuring we had enhanced health and safety measures in place, so both our players and team members can feel confident when they play at Harrah’s, while allowing us to take an important step forward in responsibly returning more of our table games product to the market.”

Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa was the first to revive poker when it restarted operations at its 77-table facility—AyCee’s largest--in late October. There are currently no plans for the city’s other two rooms, at Tropicana Atlantic City and Golden Nugget Atlantic City, to reopen.