Casino at Hollywood Aurora

Hollywood Casino Aurora is one of 13 casinos that Penn National Gaming operates under the Hollywood Casino brand. It opened in 1993, and at the time, was one of only a few riverboat casinos in the area.

Like all Penn Gaming’s casinos under the brand, Hollywood Casino Aurora occupies an art deco-style building inspired by the glitz and glamour of 1930s Hollywood. The casino is on Stolp Island, within walking distance of some of the city’s most notable landmarks like the Paramount Theatre, Aurora City Hall and SciTech Hands-On Museum, to name a few.

The casino’s exterior design exhibits excellent attention to detail, and it’s almost a mirror image of its sister casino in Joliet. Inside, you will find spacious areas and plenty of themed decorations. The casino features 53,000 square feet of gaming space filled with more than 1,000 video slots and video poker machines, some of which have progressive jackpots.

There are 21 tables where you can play blackjack, baccarat, craps and roulette. Unlike its sister casino in Illinois, Hollywood Casino Aurora hosts a dedicated poker room with Limit and No-Limit Texas Hold’em games.

At the Barstool Sportsbook at Hollywood Casino Aurora, you can place wagers on football, basketball, ice hockey, boxing and other events.

Those who want to enjoy a nice dinner or have a few drinks don’t have to leave the casino at all. There are three restaurants and a VIP lounge specifically for mychoice cardholders.

One of the biggest perks of the casino is the in-house check cashing. It gives you the option to cash checks up to an approved amount and use Telecheck (electronic check cashing).

Slot machines

Hollywood Casino Aurora has over 1,000 slot machines representing the latest video slot technology, all equipped with tall, curved screens and impressive graphics. You can find slots of all kinds here, from classic three-reel machines to themed titles with plenty of bonus features.

Those who feel lucky can try progressive games where jackpots go up to thousands of dollars. Hollywood Casino Aurora gives out $3 million in jackpots every month.

The video slot library of Hollywood Casino Aurora can accommodate every player type. Casual players can enjoy penny slots, while high-rollers can sit down at one of many $100 machines.

Some of the casino’s featured slots include titles:

• Dancing Drums
• Magic Eyes
• Happy Lantern Lightning Link
• High Stakes Lightning Link
• Tiki Fire Lightning Link
• The Walking Dead
• Wow Black Gold
• Wow Triple Blazing 7s
• Sahara Gold Lightning Link

Some of the newest and most popular video slots include:

• 88 Fortunes
• Jinse Dao Dragon
• Jinse Dao Phoenix
• Buffalo Gold
• Buffalo Grand

Among video slot machines are several video poker games as well. These are great low-limit, single-player poker games that can prepare you for the casino’s live poker room.

Table games

Hollywood Casino Aurora has 21 tables where you can play blackjack, baccarat, craps, roulette and poker. Each table has its limits, and players who like betting big can take a seat at one of the high-stakes blackjack tablets.

The casino also features an exciting game called High Card Flush that is not commonly seen in other casinos. This game is not a type of blackjack or poker, but a game whose goal is to create the strongest possible flush hand.

All the available games at Hollywood Casino Aurora are:

• Craps
• Blackjack
• High Card Flush
• Mini Baccarat
• Mississippi Stud
• Roulette
• Three-Card Poker

Mychoice rewards program

Hollywood Casino Aurora is partners with mychoice, a popular player rewards program that lets you get the most out of your playing sessions.

You can collect points and redeem them at any participating casino by joining this program. You earn points every time you play video slots and table games, bet at the casino’s sportsbook or eat at one of the Hollywood Casino Aurora restaurants. After earning a certain number of points, you will reach the next tier and reap additional benefits. You can also earn comps and redeem those comps for video-slot or table-game free play or in the form of hotel, restaurant and outlet discounts.

Mychoice has five tier levels — Choice, Advantage, Preferred, Elite and Owners Club. Only the Preferred, Elite and Owners Club cardholders will be allowed entrance to the casino’s VIP Lounge.

Other benefits include discounts at Epic Buffet and free valet and self-parking.

Hollywood Aurora Poker Room

The live poker room at Hollywood Aurora has Limit and No-Limit Texas Hold’em games.

The casino also organizes weekly tournaments with a no-limit structure that you can participate in with buy-ins of $120 and rebuys of $60. Each player receives $10,000 in non-value tournament chips. The prize pools account for 85% of the buy-ins, rebuys and add-ons. The tournaments are every Wednesday at 1 p.m. The players can register the day of, starting at noon.

Every Hollywood Aurora poker player at the casino will be eligible for the Big Beat Jackpot. You will also have the option of presenting your mychoice card every time you play to earn comp points and special rewards. Every player who spends more than 30 hours a month at the poker tables will enter the promotion prize draw the following month.

Hollywood Aurora Sportsbook

Following the legalization of sports betting in Illinois, Hollywood Casino Aurora hosts a retail Barstool Sportsbook. The sportsbook is at the Center Stage. It provides three kiosks where you can validate your bet slips, four teller windows and multiple HD screens where you can watch the games.

You can place moneylines, totals, parlays, props and futures bets. The sportsbook allows you to bet on all the US major leagues and a few international competitions. Available options include:

• Auto racing
• Baseball
• Basketball
• Cricket
• Darts
• Football
• Golf
• Ice Hockey
• Lacrosse
• MMA
• Rugby
• Soccer
• Tennis

Both professional and college games are available, too.

Hollywood Casino Aurora Amenities

Places to stay

The casino itself doesn’t have a hotel adjacent to it, but the brand-new Holiday Inn Express & Suites is within walking distance, along the Fox River’s eastern bank. The hotel offers luxury accommodation, an indoor pool, fitness center and spa, complimentary breakfast and more.

Dining

Here are all the restaurants and bars that you can find inside Hollywood Casino Aurora:

• Take Two Deli is for those who want to take a quick break from their gaming sessions and treat themselves to some tasty hot dogs, burgers, sandwiches and pizzas.
• Epic Buffet is an endless line of dishes ideal for those who can’t decide what they’re hungry for.
• Fairbanks Steakhouse is a 1930s Hollywood-themed restaurant with a classy atmosphere and a business-casual dress code. If you want to eat dinner here, you better make reservations.
• VIP Lounge is only available to top-tier mychoice cardholders. It features American cuisine and an assortment of drinks.

Hollywood Aurora History

Hollywood Casino Aurora opened on June 7, 1993, by Hollywood Casino Corp. Penn Gaming International bought the company in 2003, but the casino continued operating under the same brand.

The Aurora casino has a sister casino in Joliet; however, there are several other Hollywood-branded casinos in Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, West Virginia and Maine. The casino never went through any major renovations apart from adding state-of-the-art slot machines and expanding its collection of games.

Being on the Fox River next to some of the city’s most notable landmarks makes Hollywood Casino Aurora one of the biggest tourist attractions in the entire Chicago area.