• Wind Creek Casino Hotel Rooms
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Live concerts are held at the in-house Sands Bethlehem Event Center. The property has a 24-hour front desk a business center with fax and photocopy services a fitness room indoor pool. The in-house casino features 3000 slot machines and 130 table games (including 30 poker tables). Self-Parking is complimentary but there's a fee for Valet service. Located just over an hour outside of Philadelphia, Wind Creek Poker Room (formerly known as Sands Bethlehem) is one of the top choices for poker players in Pennsylvania. The poker room is open 24/7, features 26 tables, and is open to anyone 21+.

Formerly Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem

Tribal Organization: Poarch Creek Indian

77 Wind Creek Blvd
Bethlehem, PA 18015

Wind Creek Casino Hotel Rooms

877-726-3777

Wind Creek Bethlehem is located 82 miles from New York and 50 miles from Philadelphia. It opened as the Sands Bethlehem in May 2009 at a cost of $743 million and was built on the site the former Bethlehem Steel plant. Since its opening the Bethlehem casino has been the most successful in Pennsylvania.

On March 8, 2018 a deal was announced to sell the Bethlehem casino to the Poarch Band of Creek Indians of Alabama. The purchase was completed in early 2019 and official opened as Wind Creek Bethlehem on Oct. 10, 2019. The property is managed by Wind Creek Hospitality, the gaming and hotel operation of the Poarch Creek Indians.

2020 Expansion Projects

In 2020 Wind Creek Bethlehem will begin construction on two new projects. The first will be a $90M hotel with 276 guest rooms and 42,000 square feet of additional meeting space. The second will be a 300,000-square-foot adventure and water park built at the historic No. 2 Machine Shop. See news article

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Gaming

Open 24 hours daily
Must be 21 years of age or older to enter casino
183,000 square foot casino floor

3,000 slot machines - play 1-cent to $100

200 table games:
Baccarat, Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Pai Gow, Poker, Texas Hold'em Bonus, Three Card Progressive Poker, Fortune Pai Gow Poker, Let It Ride Stud Poker, Caribbean Stud Poker, Mini/Midi Sic Bo, Big Six, Casino War

Poker Room - 26 tables:
Limit and no-limit Texas Hold 'Em, Stud, and Omaha.
Limits starting at $3 and $6
Smoke-free environment
Complimentary beverage service.

Paiza Lounge - High stakes tables room with minimum bet $100
Live Dealer Stadium Gaming

Restaurants

Emeril's Chop House
Classic American steakhouse open Sunday - Thursday 5pm - 10pm | Friday - Saturday 5pm - 11pm

Emeril's Fish House
Fresh fish off the grill closed Monday, Tuesday, open Wednesday - Sunday 5pm - 10pm

Burgers and More By Emeril
Prime and grass-fed beef burgers open Sunday - Thursday 11am - 10pm. Friday - Saturday 11am - 11pm

Buddy V's Ristorante
Italian-American cuisine by Buddy Valastro, of TLC's Cake Boss, Monday - Friday 4pm - 10pm | Saturday & Sunday 1130am - 10pm

Carlo's Bakery
Located in The Outlets, Monday - Thursday 9am - 10pm, | Friday - Saturday 9am - 11pm | Sunday 9am - 8pm

Chopstick
Asian cuisine open daily 12pm - 145am

Croissanterie
Coffee, croissants and baguettes open Sunday - Thursday 8am - 10pm | Friday - Saturday 8am - 11pm

The Market Gourmet Express
Hot dogs, burgers, pizza, salads and sushi. Monday - Sunday 10am - 11pm

Steelworks Buffet and Grill - International dishes, pasta station, pizza, meat-carving station

Entertainment

Wind Creek Event Center - 50,000 sq-ft for meetings, conventions and entertainment events.

Molten Lounge - live entertainment
Vision Nightclub
Coil - bar is located in center of the casino floor

Kids Quest & Cyber Quest - open 12PM - 10PM weekdays and 10PM - 1AM weekends

Hotel

AAA Four Diamond hotel
278 guest rooms
Reservations 877-726-3777

A new 276-room hotel will begin construction in early 2020.

Other

150,000 square foot retail mall with premium retail outlet shopping

Where Are The Wind Creek Casinos

News Articles

Wind Creek Bethlehem plans $90M second hotel

December 9, 2019

Wind Creek has submitted building plans to the City of Bethlehem for a second hotel located next to the existing hotel. The new 12-story, 270-room hotel will cost $90 million and include a spa, bar, ballroom and meeting space.

Wind Creek Casino App

The new hotel will include 362,000 total square feet with 270 guest rooms on the upper floors and 35,200 square feet of new meeting space. It also includes a 6,400-square-foot pool, an outdoor patio and an 11,600-square-foot spa. The hotel will wrap around the Wind Creek Event Center.

Construction is expected to start this spring and take 14 months to complete.

The existing hotel has 282 rooms and a 95% occupancy rate. Wind Creek is also planning a third hotel with 400 rooms at the No. 2 Machine Shop where they are building an indoor water and adventure park.

Wind Creek Bethlehem plans new hotel and water park

October 20, 2019

(Courtesy Wind Creek Hospitality)

Wind Creek Bethlehem celebrated its grand opening last week after purchasing and rebranding of the former Sands Casino Resort at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Wind Creek also confirmed it will start construction in early 2020 to expand their new property.

The first phase will be a $90 million hotel with 276 rooms and 42,000 square feet of additional convention space. The ground breaking is expected in early 2020 and construction will take 14 months to complete.

The second phase is a $250 million adventure and water park project at the historic No. 2 Machine Shop. This will be a 300,000-square-foot attraction. Wind Creek is seeking a partner for this project but is committed to proceed alone if the 'right' partner is not found.

These projects are estimated to attract an addition 1.4 million visitors per year.

Wind Creek Bethlehem Celebrates Grand Opening

October 14, 2019

The Poarch Creek Indian Tribe celebrated the grand opening of their new Wind Creek Bethlehem on Oct 10. The casino is the former Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and was purchased by the tribe for $1.3 billion five months ago. Since then the casino and hotel have been rebranded, renovated, expanded and reopened under the management of Wind Creek Hospitality, a Poarch Creek Indian corporation also known as PCI Gaming Athority.

The grand opening celebration included tribal dancing and a visit by tribal princesses prior to the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Video is courtesy of lehighvalleylive.com

Video is courtesy of Bettors Insider

Wind Creek Bethlehem Goal: 'No. 1 Resort Destination in the Northeast'

May 27, 2019

The $1.3 billion sale of Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem to Alabama's Poarch Band of Creek Indians can now proceed with this week's approval by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

The Board also approve licenses for the tribe and its gaming executives. The casino will be managed by Wind Creek Hospitality, the gaming and hospitality operation for the Poarch Band of Creek Indians.

Wind Creek President and CEO Jay Dorris said: 'Our expectation for this property is it will be the No. 1 resort destination in the Northeast.'

Two major projects are planned to achieve this:

$90M HOTEL EXPANSION
Wind Creek will build a 276-room hotel and add 42,000 square feet of meeting space. This will add to the property's current 282-room hotel and 27,000 square feet of meeting space. Construction is expected to last 2 years.

$250M ADVENTURE AND WATER PARK
This project will transform the No. 2 Machine Shop of the old Bethlehem Steel factory into a 300,000 square foot water park and 400-room hotel.

These property enhancements are estimated to add 1.4 million visitors to the current 9 million visitors per year.

Sands Casino is renamed Wind Creek Casino and Resort

March 18, 2019

As the sale of Sands Bethlehem to Alabama's Poarch Band of Creek Indians is in the final stage of approval by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, the new name of the casino was unveiled this week when the sign on the ore crane was changed to Wind Creek Casino and Resort.

Approval to change the sign was approved by the Bethlehem Planning Commission last week following a presentation by Wind Creek Hospitality. Wind Creek Hospitality is the gaming and hotel operation of the Alabama tribe.

The board approved changing all signs to the new name. The Outlets at Sands Bethlehem will be renamed The Outlets after the sale is finalized.

When the sale is finalized, Wind Creek Hospitality plans to break ground on a second hotel as part of a $190 million expansion of the property. They are also considering building an indoor water park.

Sands Bethlehem Bethlehem is sold to Alabama Tribe

March 08, 2018

On Thursday an announcement was made that the Sands Bethlehem Bethlehem is being bought by Wind Creek Hospitality. The company is owned by the Alabama based Poarch Band of Creek Indians.

$1.3 billion is being spent to purchase the property.

The tribe is made up of 3,000 members. They currently have casino locations in the northwestern section of Florida. Another location is in the southern area of Alabama. The casinos are considered smaller in size. They do operate with a Class II gaming license. This means they can operate pull tab based games, as well as bingo. Gaming regulators in Alabama will not allow for the operation of slot machines. Wind Creek has expressed interested in being able to operate slot machines.

The Sands Bethlehem will be nearly three times larger than the other facilities. Plus the tribe will be allowed to offer slot machine gaming.

A deal was made in 2016 to purchase the Margaritaville Resort Casino located in Louisiana. However, agreements on licensing of the name cause the deal to fall through.

The tribe also purchased 35 acres of land in Mississippi in 2016. Plans were announced last year for a new Wind Creek Casino location.

When the tribe bought the Sands Bethlehem questions were raised about possible other casino purchases in the future.

The gaming industry is not the only business that the tribe has invested in. OWA is an entertainment amusement park that was opened last year. It cost $260 million and is located in Foley, Alabama.

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Coordinates: 40°36′53″N75°21′33″W / 40.6148°N 75.3591°W

The Wind Creek Bethlehem (formerly Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem) is a casino hotel located in the Bethlehem Works development site in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is owned and operated by Wind Creek Hospitality, an entity of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians.

• 3Facilities
• 4Events

History[edit]

The property is one of five stand-alone casinos that was awarded a slots license by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board on December 20, 2006.^[1] It was developed by the Las Vegas Sands corporation. The casino was slated to open in July 2008, but demolition took longer than expected due to the heavy concrete foundations of the old steel building. Its opening was delayed until the second quarter of 2009. The first concrete for the complex, which is located on the former Bethlehem Steel land on the south side of the city, was poured on November 15, 2007.

It opened on May 22, 2009. While the Las Vegas Sands owned several properties, this was the only casino in the United States to carry the Sands brand in its name, since the original Sands Hotel in Las Vegas was demolished and replaced with The Venetian, and the Sands Atlantic City was closed and demolished.

In the winter of 2009–2010, the casino was granted a license for table games which allowed the casino to expand to include 180 table games, including poker, blackjack and craps.^[2] Table games began operation on July 18, 2010. The Sands Hotel opened on May 27, 2011.

Following the addition of table games, the casino has become a popular destination for Asian Americans from New York City, who frequently travel to the casino on motorcoach buses operated by Chinatown bus lines. More than 3,000 riders a day traveled by bus to the casino from Asian American neighborhoods in New York City. The casino has the busiest motorcoach business of any casino in Pennsylvania.^[3]

Sands had offered $45 in free play vouchers for slot machines to riders who paid $15 for a bus ticket. This offer led to the creation of an underground market where Asian American bus riders from New York City, often low-income or homeless people, would sell their free play vouchers upon arriving at the casino and would hang around Bethlehem for the day without gambling before returning by bus to New York City. Casino patrons would buy the free play vouchers in bulk at a discount and use them in the video poker machines, which have a lower house advantage, and attempt to make a profit. On March 31, 2014, in an effort to end this practice, the video poker machines at Sands stopped accepting the free play vouchers given to bus riders.^[3]

It was the only property in the company to end 2014 with a profit, doing better than Sands' Vegas and Asia properties.

In November 2016, a planned expansion of the gaming floor, along with, two additional restaurants was announced.

In March 2018, it was announced that the property would be sold to Wind Creek Hospitality for $1.3 billion.^[4][5] Wind Creek Hospitality had plans for a $190-million expansion to the property that would add a 300-room hotel and possibly an indoor water park.^[6] The sale was completed in May 2019,^[7] and the property was renamed as Wind Creek Bethlehem in July 2019.^[8]

Wind Creek Event Center[edit]

The Wind Creek Event Center was designed by Howard Kulp Architects of Salisbury Township. The event center features 14,000 sq ft (1,300 m²) of flexible multipurpose space, which accommodates meetings, conventions, and a variety of entertainment events.^[9][10] The venue can house 3,800 in a general admission setting and 2,500 in a reserved seating setting.^[11] Operated by Live Nation Mid-Atlantic, it was opened on May 16, 2012 as the Sands Bethlehem Event Center, with a concert by Incubus.^[12]Janet Jackson performed to a sold-out crowd at the venue in November 2017 for her State of the World Tour.^[13]Britney Spears performed at the venue in July 2018 on her Piece of Me tour.^[14]

Facilities[edit]

Gaming[edit]

The casino features over 3,000 slot machines, 200 table games, and several electronic table games. Sands spent $26 million in 2009 to add 119 table games: 41 blackjack tables, four craps, four roulette, four three-card poker, fourteen mini-baccarat, four midi-baccarat, three pai gow poker, two pai gow tiles, one Big Six, two Let It Ride, two Caribbean stud, four Texas Hold'em Bonus, one Casino War, one sic bo and 12 poker tables. Later a 30-table poker room was built off of the main floor. Table games began operation on July 18, 2010.^{[citation needed]}

Dining[edit]

• Buddy V's
• Burgers and More by Emeril (BAM)
• Carlo's Bake Shop(also known as Carlo's Bakery)
• Chopstick
• Croissanterie
• Emeril's Fish House
• Steelworks Buffet & Grill
• The Market Gourmet Express Food Court, currently including:
  • Bananas
  • Casa Java
  • Far East
  • GreenLeafs
  • Mo Burger
  • South Philly Steaks & Fries
  • Villa Italian Kitchen

Nightlife[edit]

• Molten
• Coil Lounge
• Vision Bar

Shopping[edit]

The Outlets at Wind Creek Bethlehem is an indoor shopping mall that connects the casino and the hotel.^[15] The outlet center, which opened on November 1, 2011 and is located under the Minsi Trail Bridge, comprises 133,000 sq ft (12,400 m²) of retail space and includes a food court, near the casino entrance.

Events[edit]

Lehigh Valley Food & Wine Festival[edit]

The hotel hosts the yearly Lehigh Valley Food & Wine Festival, held at the end of May/early June to benefit the culinary and hospitality program at Northampton Community College.^[16]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'PA Gaming Control Board Approval'(PDF). PA Gaming Control Board. Retrieved 2017-08-23.
2. ^'PA Gaming Control Board Renews Slots License For Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem - Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board'. gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov. Retrieved 2017-08-23.
3. ^ ^abAssad, Matt (April 12, 2014). 'Sands Casino cracks down on bus riders'. The Morning Call. Allentown, PA. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
4. ^Radzievich, Jon Harris, Nicole. 'Sands Bethlehem casino to be sold to Alabama Indian tribe for $1.3 billion'. Lehigh Valley Business Cycle. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
5. ^'Las Vegas Sands selling Bethlehem casino for $1.3 billion'. lehighvalleylive.com. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
6. ^Backover, Justin; Lewis, Will (January 15, 2019). 'Sands Bethlehem expansion plans include 300-room hotel, possible water park'. Allentown, PA: WFMZ-TV. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
7. ^Harris, Jon (May 31, 2019). 'The deal is complete: Sands Bethlehem casino is now owned by Wind Creek Hospitality'. The Morning Call. Allentown, PA. Retrieved 2019-07-20.
8. ^Gore, Leada (July 16, 2019). 'Sands Casino renamed by Poarch Creek, now known as Wind Creek Bethlehem'. The Birmingham News. Retrieved 2019-07-20.
9. ^'Venue - Sands Bethlehem Event Center'. Sands Bethlehem Event Center. Retrieved 2017-08-23.
10. ^'Sands Event Center to expand, with new balcony, before 2nd anniversary | Howard Kulp Architects'. www.hkulparchitects.com. Retrieved 2017-08-23.
11. ^Moser, John J. (February 12, 2012). 'Sands Bethlehem Event Center: Here's what it looks like, what's ahead, and why it will succeed'. The Morning Call. Tribune Publishing. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
12. ^Olanoff, Lynn (May 16, 2012). 'Sands Bethlehem Event Center holds grand opening before Incubus concert'. The Express-Times. Advance Publications. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
13. ^Moser, John (November 10, 2017). 'Janet Jackson seeks respect, wins with hits, at Sands Bethlehem Event Center'. The Morning Call. Retrieved November 13, 2018. But it also wasn’t a surprise when, after all that, Jackson told the sold-out crowd, “Get the point? Good, let’s dance,” and spent most of the rest of the 34-song show doing a litany of hits.
14. ^Moser, John J. (July 18, 2018). 'Britney Spears' Vegas-style show borders on boring at Sands'. The Morning Call. Allentown, PA. Retrieved 2018-07-20.
15. ^Darrow, Chuck (November 1, 2011). 'Sands opens shopping mall'. The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
16. ^'Lehigh Valley Food & Wine Fesitval'. Lehigh Valley Food & Wine Festival Website. Retrieved 2017-08-23.