Montreal Casino

The Montreal Casino (French: Casino de Montréal) is a casino on the Notre Dame Island in the borough of Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec, and is the largest casino in Canada. The casino is open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week to patrons aged 18 and older. It opened on October 9, 1993.

Montreal Casino
The main building of the casino (2011).
Location of the Casino de Montréal
Location 1, avenue du Casino
Montreal, Quebec
H3C 4W7
Opening dateOctober 9, 1993
OwnerSociété des casinos du Québec
ArchitectJean Faugeron
Coordinates45°30′19.7″N 73°31′33.5″W
Websitecasinos.lotoquebec.com
Montreal Casino

History

In 1992, the government of Quebec created the Société des casinos du Québec (SCQ) and tasked them to build casinos in the province.[1] The Montreal Casino was the first among the two to be founded for the project and cost $95 million to build.[1] The casino replaced the Palais des civilisations which used to showcase international cultural exhibitions[2] and used to be home to the French pavilion of Expo 67.[1]

The casino received thousands of players within the first few weeks of its opening[1] and 780,000 in its first year.[3]

It went through its first major expansion in 1993 and its second in 2013.[1]

The casino employed 700 people during its opening year; as of 2019, it employs 2,800 people.[3]

Features

The casino consists of three interconnected buildings. Two of these, the France Pavilion and the Québec Pavilion, were built for Expo 67. The third is an annex built by the casino to the south and east of the main building. An enclosed bridge joins the annex to the former Quebec Pavilion. The main building has six floors, in addition to the annex and the secondary building (with four floors). The casino boasts a gaming floor of over 526,000 sq ft (12.1 acres; 48,900 m2). Within the three structures there are over 3,200 slot machines,[4][5] over 115 gaming tables,[4] Keno facilities, and large number of speed lotteries and virtual games. The casino also contains four restaurants,[6] three bars,[6] a cabaret, and meeting and banquet facilities. The casino is known for certain unconventional structural features for such an establishment, such as its numerous windows and low ceilings.

It has been a non-smoking casino since July 2003, and the former smoking lounges were closed in May 2006 with the passing of a new provincial law.

Transportation

Located in Jean-Drapeau Park across from Montreal’s Old Port, there are several ways to get to the Montreal Casino such as by car, mass transit or shuttle.[7] If one is travelling in a group and wishes to get there in a cost-effective fashion, taking a cab is often considered to be the optimal mode of transport. However, a free shuttle leaves from the following points:[7]

  1. Centre Infotouriste
  2. 1001, Square Dorchester. (Boarding between Peel and Metcalfe)
  3. 900, Boul. René-Lévesque Ouest, Fairmont Le Reine Elizabeth. (Boarding on Mansfield street)
  4. 201, Av. Viger Ouest, Palais des congrès. (Boarding corner Viger and Côté)
  5. 77, Rue University, Delta Centre-Ville. (Boarding on Saint-Jacques)

Shuttle timings to and from the casino are from 12:40 PM to 22:40 PM.[7]

There is also access to the venue via the metro.[7]

Visitors can start by taking the metro from their location to the primary transfer point, Berri/UQAM Station and then transfer to the Yellow line.[7] One stop further to Parc Jean-Drapeau will take visitors exactly to where the Casino is located.[7] There is a shuttle bus to the casino just in front of the station.[7] Visitors can use their metro ticket to transfer to the bus.[7] From the metro station visitors can also walk for about 20 minutes to the casino which is located on Notre Dame Island but there is a pedestrian bridge linking it with Sainte-Hélène Island near the metro station and the Biosphere.[7]

Parking at the casino is free.[7] Valet services are also available.[7]

Renovation and upgrade

Casino of the Future

In 2013, Loto-Québec collaborated with Moment Factory to renew the gaming areas of the Montreal Casino.[8] The installation features a digital wall that expands over three floors.[8]

The Zone

In December 2014, the Montreal Casino opened its upgraded area called the Zone. It offers a group-game experience and teaches the basics of table games such as blackjack, baccarat, craps, roulette and many others.[9] The bets are among the casino’s lowest.[9]

Games

The following table games are offered:

Food and drink

Restaurants
  • Le Montréal (High-end Quebecois cuisine)[10]
  • Pavillon 67 (Buffet)[11]
  • Ajia (Asian food)[12]
  • L'Instant (Fast food)[13]
  • L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon (Fine dining)[14]

Bars
  • Valet de carreau[15]
  • Dame de cœur et Roi de pique[16]
  • Bar Poker[17]

Ownership

The casino is owned and operated by the Société des casinos du Québec, which owns three other casinos in the province. The société is a subsidiary of Loto-Québec, a public corporation of the Government of Quebec; all profits go to the provincial government.

Events

The Montreal casino holds all kinds of events and shows throughout the year, including band performances, dances, and comedy shows.[18] Most of the events are free for visitors while others charge a fee for tickets.[18] Every year, the casino holds a New Year's party which lasts from the afternoon all the way to the morning of the next day.[19] The casino invites DJs and musicians to the venue and features a giant screen showing the New Year's Eve countdown.[19] The casino prepares gift packages and prizes for guests.[19] Food selections vary from brunch and buffet to table d’hôte menus.[19] It is suggested to wear appropriate outfits and footwear.[20]

Keno scandal

In April 1994, Daniel Corriveau won $600,000 CAD playing keno. He picked 19 of the 20 winning numbers three times in a row. Corriveau claims he used a computer to discern a pattern in the sequence of numbers, based on chaos theory. However, it was later found that the sequence was easy to predict because the casino was using an inadequate electronic pseudorandom number generator. In fact, the keno machine was reset every morning with the same seed number, resulting in the same sequence of numbers being generated. Corriveau received his winnings after investigators cleared him of any wrongdoing.[21]

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See also

References
  1. ICI.Radio-Canada.ca, Zone Art de vivre-. "Le Casino de Montréal souffle 25 bougies". Radio-Canada.ca (in French). Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  2. "Inauguration du Palais de la civilisation de Montréal". bilan.usherbrooke.ca. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  3. "25th Anniversary of the Montreal Casino: Come celebrate in style!". TASTET. 2019-01-07. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  4. "Montreal Casino". www.money-casino.com. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  5. "Games offered at Casino de Montréal". casinosduquebec.com. Loto-Québec. 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-29.
  6. "Restaurants and bars of Casino de Montréal". casinosduquebec.com. Loto-Québec. 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-29.
  7. "Direction: Get there | Casino de Montréal". casinos. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  8. "The Montreal Casino". Moment Factory. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  9. "The Zone: Interactive games and experience | Casino de Montréal". casinos. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  10. "Le Montreal Restaurant: Seafood and Grill | Casino de Montréal". casinos. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  11. "Le Pavillon 67 Restaurant: Gourmet buffet | Casino de Montréal". casinos. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  12. "Ajia Restaurant: Asian Inspiration | Casino de Montréal". casinos. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  13. "L'Instant Restaurant: deli and pasta | Casino de Montréal". casinos. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  14. "L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon | Casino de Montréal". casinos. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  15. "Valet de carreau Bar | Casino de Montréal". casinos. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  16. "Dame de coeur et Roi de Pique Bar | Casino de Montréal". casinos. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  17. "Bar Le Poker | Casino de Montréal". casinos. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  18. "Show Schedule | Casino de Montréal". casinos. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  19. "Holiday Season at Montreal Casino - Tastet Montreal". TASTET. 2018-11-23. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  20. "New year – Casino de Montréal". casinos. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  21. How to Beat Keno
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