Illinois required its casinos to cruise at the time, with each Harrah’s gaming session consisting of a half-hour boarding period, an hour on the Des Plaines River and a half hour disembarking session. The early boats were small, cramped and smoky, with games on three levels, requiring a lot of stair-climbing for players to see all on the boats. When a second boat, Southern Star, opened the following year and later replaced by the roomier Southern Star II, it enabled Harrah’s to offer the full 1,200 gaming positions allowed under Illinois law.

Harrah’s was one of the first generation of riverboat casinos in the Midwest, opening in the spring of 1993 aboard its first boat, the Northern Star. And if you just want to grab a burger or a dog on the run, you’ll find the Cross Street Grill on the casino floor.

In addition to the buffet, there’s the elegant steakhouse, The Reserve. Harrah’s is a steadfastly adult experience. The full Total Rewards package is in place here, with its Gold, Platinum, Diamond and Seven Stars levels bringing extra rewards depending on your play.įood service options include a Flavors buffet which offers a wide variety of cuisine including Brazilian BBQ, house-made deep dish pizza, and build-your-own stir fry. Restaurants are on the casino side of the turnstile, so there’s no taking the kids to dinner here. It’s bright, lively, and has plenty of Harrah’s purple. So it goes at Harrah’s in Joliet, Illinois, right in the downtown area of this growing city of 146,000, located 40 miles SW of Chicago. It’s deeply ingrained in the Harrah’s philosophy that a smile-on-the-face entertainment experience will keep more customers coming back than an extra few tenths of a percent for the player in the blackjack rules or video poker pay tables. You’re not necessarily going to get the best games in town.

Harrah’s Casino Resort in Joliet, Illinois But when you go to a Harrah’s casino, you know you’re going to get the multi-tiered Total Rewards players club, décor that emphasizes the purple in the Harrah’s logo, an expansive and solid buffet, and employees who are well-trained in customer service. Not every Harrah’s is identical, of course. More than any other casino company, Harrah’s Entertainment has long been all about imprinting its brand on the consciousness of the nation’s gamblers.

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