The entire province of Quebec is quite famous for both its lavish and alley side casinos, but the province’s finest gambling establishments are mostly located in Montreal. From the days of barbotte (Canadian craps) which became extremely popular during the mid-1940s, to the grand opening of Casino de Montréal in 1993, Montreal has quite a bit of gambling history to go through for those interested.
Focussing on the present day though, every other land casino pales in comparison to the grand Casino de Montréal. Before you step into Canada’s first casino, here’s a brief guide to the establishment that you may find to be quite fascinating. More importantly, the following information will provide you with an idea of what to expect and how to experience Casino de Montréal in its full glory.
Casino de Montréal: An Introduction
As far as land casinos or traditional casinos are concerned, there is nothing bigger or better in Montreal. In fact, Casino de Montréal is officially the biggest land casino in not just Montreal or Quebec, but it is simply the largest gambling establishment in all of Canada. Built on the Notre Dame Island in 1993 by the Société des casinos du Québec (SCQ), Casino de Montréal is the casino that never sleeps.
Prior to government mandates and officially declared emergencies seen in the last few years, Casino de Montréal never closed its doors to guests, remaining open 24×7, 365 days a year for decades. Even back then, US$95 million was invested towards building Casino de Montréal and millions more have been spent on the casino since then to further augment the establishment.
To get an idea of how much more the casino has been renovated since its first inception, we only need to take a look at Casino de Montréal’s present workforce. While Casino de Montréal already started with an impressive workforce of 700+ employees in 93, the number has since grown close to almost 3,000 in 2022.
Size, Structure and Facilities
Casino de Montréal consists of two main buildings plus one annex building, each of which are interconnected. The three buildings cover over 12.1 acres of gaming space in total. Only the main building has six floors, while the other two buildings have four floors each. An astounding 3,200+ slot machines can be found spread across the three buildings, complemented by 115 tables (poker, blackjack, craps, roulette, etc.). No traditional Canadian land casino comes even close to those numbers, which once again shows why Casino de Montréal is unmatched in its gambling grandeur. In addition, the casino houses:
- 5 restaurants: Le Montréal (dine dining), L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon (fine dining), Pavillon 67, Ajia (Asian), and L’Instant (fast food)
- 3 bars/lounges: Dame de cœur et Roi de pique, Valet de carreau, and Bar Poker
- 1 cabaret
- Several banquet halls
Casino de Montréal is one of a kind in terms of architecture as well. Characterised by low ceilings and huge windows everywhere, the interior and the exterior highlights of the three buildings are nothing like what you would see in any other large casino. The reason why these buildings are so dissimilar to traditional land casinos elsewhere is because they were not originally constructed to serve as a casinos or hotels.
Both the France Pavilion and the Québec Pavilion were constructed decades before the casino ever came to be. They hosted the Montreal Expo 1967, which remains the most successful and the most attended World’s Fair till date. Of course, renovations and changes have since been made to no small degree, but the core architecture remains the same, adding a unique appeal to Canada’s premiere gambling establishment. The annex (3rd) building is markedly different since it was added during the casino’s establishment. Nevertheless, it too has been intentionally designed to retain some of the two older buildings’ unique architectural properties.
Casino de Montréal Vs. Online Casinos
The only casinos that can possibly challenge Casino de Montréal are a handful of online casinos. Take a look at some of the best online casinos listed on OnlineCasinos.co.uk to properly understand the scale of comparison here. For example, the 3,200 slot machines we find in Casino de Montréal are not all different games, even though there are easily a few hundred different slots for guests to enjoy. At the same time, the top rated, UKGC licensed online casinos listed by OnlineCasinos.co.uk easily sport anywhere between 500-800 slot games for their members to explore.
While Casino de Montréal’s ability to accommodate 3,200 players simultaneously in their establishment is extremely impressive for a land casino, the best online casinos simultaneously host tens/hundreds of thousands of players every single day. That does not hold true for every net casino mind you, as the Casino de Montréal does have a greater capacity than most small online casinos as well!
The Zone
Back in 2013, Loto-Québec and Moment Factory started building and renovating in a major Casino of the Future project which involved adding a three-storey tall digital wall. All planned additions and renovations were completed by late 2014 and in December, they unveiled The Zone. The Zone turned out to be a huge success for them as all its main goals were in perfect sync with their business plans. The Zone was and still is a place for guests to:
- Enjoy casino games as a group
- Learn about the various games available at Casino de Montréal
- Learn playing and strategizing in classic casino games like blackjack, craps, baccarat, roulette, etc.
- Play, learn, and practice at low stake games
Note that in addition to classic casino games like blackjack, Texas Hold’em poker, 3-card poker, Pai Gow, craps, roulette, etc., Casino de Montréal also has a few unique table games which you are not likely to find in any other land casino either. For example, you may want to learn the rules of Ultimate Texas Hold’em, before sitting down at a table where it is being played. Just stick to what you know and avoid table games that you are not adequately familiar with.
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