A lively crowd was on hand for the opening of Parx East next to the existing casino.
"This expansion takes us to 400 new employees for this entire building, most are dealers, however, it's in every department," casino spokesperson Carrie Nork Minelli said.
1,800 people already work at the casino located on Street Road.
The first floor showcases blackjack, roulette, and other table games. Upstairs has 45 poker tables and for those who like to bet on the horses the revamping of what was Philadelphia Park.
Now dubbed Parx Racing, the track is in good shape so is the grand stand.
Among newcomers headed for table games, busloads of primarily Chinese speaking patrons. Parx is marketing to Asians in many ways from Chinese programming on the TV's to a noodle bar; the menu was put together by a top Chinatown chef.
"Part of our new live table games we offer sic-bo and pai-gow tiles and they are games that attract Asian guests," Minelli said.
Parx says it has not felt any impact with the opening of Philadelphia's Sugarhouse Casino. Last month, gamblers at Parx wagered about 405-million dollars, which is up slightly from 2009.
Still, customer Dan Turner of Northeast Philadelphia says the recession has him gambling less.
"It impacts how you think about what you are spending on, so coming to gamble is not top on the priority list," Turner said.
Still others were happy to wager today.
William Israel brought his 21-year-old cousin for his first time in a casino. They broke even.
The new addition is part of a five-year, $100-million expansion
