That, he reasoned, would have been difficult to achieve under non-pandemic conditions, but the task was made significantly, if not exponentially, tougher by various COVID-borne impediments. But over the course of the year, our team has really solidified and done a tremendous job from a guest-service standpoint.” We trained all of our in a virtual environment. “If you go back over the last year, we opened this property at the height of the pandemic. “I would describe the first year as very challenging but a great success,” offered Joseph Billhimer, executive vice-president of both Philly Live! and its sister property in the Pittsburgh suburbs, during a recent interview. That added a significant set of headaches and issues that the braintrust at Baltimore-based corporate parent Cordish Gaming Group could never have imagined when it successfully landed the coveted gaming license that allowed the company to create the complex. And what a year it’s been for the city’s second casino–and first with an attached hotel.Īfter all, Live! opened in the midst of the worst pandemic in a century. This February marked the first anniversary of Live! Philadelphia Casino-Hotel, the $700 million adult playground located on the northern edge of the South Philly stadium district.