Montreal Casino

[Lizzo54]

Anyone been to the casino in Montreal?


Heading up there tomorrow for the weekend and hope to check it out.  Only casino I've been to outside the US was in the Turks and Caicos and it wasn't much of a casino.  Hopefully Montreal will be more like US casinos. 


Do they have the same WMS, IGT, Ballys slots as we do here?

[LINDAM]

I was up there several years ago (maybe 10) it was NO smoking, NO drinking, NO damn fun...........But have fun, and good luck.

PS. Not all, but many of the ignorant Frenchmen won't even speak English......It's as if they don't need the tourist dollars

[jay]

Casino gambling is pretty much the same here in Canada as it is in vegas.
There are a few things that are different.....
No free drinks or other incentives for people to play. This goes against the gambing addiction rules. Conversely one of our local casinos raffles off a car each month - free to enter, but you have to be present at drawing. They can coherese you into coming to the casino but not to play.
Machines run slower - they have associated the speed of play with problem gambling, so it takes you longer to lose. Same machines, same games, good payback percentages (nothing ever lower than 92%).
BlackJack is typically auto-shuffler driven to prevent counting, where they use a manual shoe its generally higher minimums ($25 and above), but they also limit the max bet. Ie a $5 table will have a $100max limit.  In Vegas this would normally be around $1000 max bet.
The BlackJack dealer on deals himself one card (eliminates the need for dealer peek) and then takes his second card after all hands are played.  If you split or double against a dealer Ace and the dealer then gets blackjack you only lose 1/2 your bet. This is one of the rare times I will split 10's - better odds than insurance.
Blackjack is always 6 decks, dealt face up, no double deck or single deck.
Craps, roulette, are all the same.
3card, 4card poker are popular.
You see Spanish 21 occasionally but in general there are fewer prop games - ie no BlackJack Switch, No Casino War.
The side bets on BlackJack is usually called Lucky/Lucky. If your two cards and the dealers add up to certain combinations it pays. Unlike most side bets this one has reasonable odds. Suited 777 200:1, 777 100:1, Suited 678 50:1, 678 30:1, Suited 21 15:1, 21 3:1, 20 & 19, 2:1.  I usually throw out a $1.00 on this when playing a $5.00 game and have actualy won more on the stupid sidebet than I have gambling.

[LINDAM]

Jay,

I've been to a few others in my homeland, Montreal is a different world, and I found for the most part the Casino was very unfriendly. BUT I am an Ex-Montreal er and never got along with the french. I grew up there during the trouble with the FLQ.

[jay]

I am in Calgary and agree Montreal is a different world. The casino regs however are the same all over.
What is kind of funny is my friend Chantel grew up in Montreal and speaks fluent french. When she was in Paris she would ask questions in French and they would answer her in English as they new she was non-Parisan.
I spent a good anount of time in Paris and found that if I tried to speak french they usually responded well and either spoke slowly in small words, pointed/guestered or replied in English. Albiet I was in one bistro and ordered, and what came resembled nothing that I had ordered, I tried arguing with the waiter and he insisted that this is what I ordered. Not being picky eaters we accepted the food. The little old guy sitting at the table next to us - said that is not what you ordered but clarified - that if you are not french you were not going to get what you ordered ever in that place no matter how exact you were. Told me that we were just lucky not to be German.
I moved to Pittsburgh in 2000 and did my US imigration for a green card in 2002 in Montreal, spending a couple of weeks there. I found it similar that if you tried they tried, but there was definately an contigent of the francaphone that would prefer non-french speakers to stay away.
Marks Work Warehouse (mens store that sells safety boots, and outdoor clothing) was told by the French Language police that they would need to change their name to Le Marche Marc's (Marc's Market). They argued in provinical court that Mc'donalds did not need to change their name but they said Mark with a K was english and Marc with a C is french. They refused to change their trade marked name and closed up 32 stores in the province - 1280 lost jobs. The stupid Quebec goverment said we showed them.....