Summary
Enjoy our review of Casino de Montreal. Casino de Montréal (Montreal Casino) is Canada’s largest casino. I went 3 days in a row in October 2019 and really enjoyed it. I didn’t get to explore every single game and feature of the casino, but did observe them. Overall a great casino with just a few negatives, read all about Casino de Montreal below.
Video Walk Through
Casino de Montreal (Montreal Casino) video walk thru. Note we start at the top floor and work our way out with our special super secret spy glasses. Sorry for the bounce in the video, working on getting some additional super high tech frame stabilization video equipment.
Game Selection & Diversity
Slots
Casino du Montreal lists as having over 3,000 machines. With this amount, it would be impossible to list out every single game they have. Believe me, it’s impressive and diverse. Overall I would say they have a nice balance of modern, theme based machines as well as more retro machines. They also have a great selection of denominations, and do have a High Roller area.
Something I haven’t seen at a casino before is a “learn to play slots” area basically. You are still playing with real money, but there is an employee there who can explain how to play the slots, how the payouts work, how bonuses work, etc. There’s roughly 10 machines in this area. Every time I walked by it there was at least 2 or more patrons in there, so obviously it’s a smart move to have this.
You’ll definitely find a slot that’s suited for you. If you’d like to learn more about their slots, you can find information here: Casino de Montreal Slots
Table Games
Casino de Montreal has the following table games. You will find the classic table versions, as well as several interactive, digital versions of these games.
- Blackjack :(regular, switch, free bet, spanish 21, interactive, zappit
- Roulette : (regular, touch, interactive)
- Baccarat
- Sic Bo
- Craps
- Wheel of Fortune
- War
Poker
Casino de Montreal has a poker room (more like an area) on the top floor. It’s actually bigger than I expected. They do host several tournaments there daily, as well as cash games. It is listed as having 21 tables.
The Zone
The Zone is a great part of the casino, and where I spent most of my time. Honestly I’m excited to go back to The Zone again.
You essentially have live dealers up on stage (2 or more) who are dealing all your favorite games. Primarily black jack, baccarat and roulette are live dealt. The players play on interactive terminals where you can chose which games you want to play. You can play several games at once, for example blackjack and roulette.
On top of the games being live dealt, there are several games which are automated, for example craps and sic bo. There is also additional automated roulette and black jack.
It’s really hard to describe, but it is extremely fun. My first time going was during a Montreal Alouettes game, where they go a little more over the top. The dealers are extremely lively and really create a party atmosphere. When players are dealt a black jack for example, the entire screen behind them does a huge animated black video, the dealers run around, jump, yell, and more. It’s almost like being at a really amazing party while playing casino games. They also show the game on the screen of course.
I went both other times I went to the casino also and it was extremely fun. While it’s not AS festive as when a local sports team is playing, it’s pretty close to as exciting.
You can learn more about The Zone on the Casino de Montreals website.
Here is a picture from Casino de Montreal’s website of The Zone, which I feel pretty accurately depicts the fun to be had:
And here is a picture I took, this was a weekday afternoon so naturally wasn’t quite as exciting, but believe me its fun.
Food Options & Experiences
Food & Restaurants
I didn’t eat at any of the restaurants, so the information below is more about the selection and what is available. My observation is if you are looking for quick food that’s more affordable, head to the top floor where poker is (L’instant). There is a cafe style area with ready to go food, as well as a menu to order from that is more “normal” pricing.
The casino has a big selection of places to eat available, really solidifying Casino de Montreal as a vacation go to. Honestly I’m surprised there’s no attached hotel to fully round this out as a vacation go to.
To get it out of the way, there are several locations in the casino to help yourself to free soda and coffee. This was the extent of my dining, as the Canadian Casino Gambler is not a man of fine food tastes, and I wasn’t really hungry while there.
Le Montreal Grillades et Fruites de Mer
Seafood and grill restaurant. On the nicer side, but not the most expensive restaurant at the casino. Big menu, if you want some fine dining without breaking the bank this would be the place to go.
Pavillion Buffet Gourmand
This is the buffet. It appears to be more upscale. I don’t list prices as any restaurant tends to change over time, but they are on the higher side. The food quality reflects the pricing though.
L’ajia
I wish I had seen this place (honestly not sure where in the casino it’s located), but the menu looks pretty good and very reasonably priced. It’s basically asian themed food. “Asian fusion” as the kids say.
L’instant
Quick food available on the top floor. I was tempted to eat here but really wasn’t that hungry. Worth noting there’s no where to really sit. It’s more of a bar with a little cafe at the end. I suspect its more to cater to the poker room which is right next to it.
L’Atelier Montreal de Joel Robuchon
Basically in laymans terms this is a fancy restaurant with a world renowned chef.
Bars
I’m not going to do into detail on each bar (currently 3 available). They all have great seating and selection, as well as live entertainment at the main bar on the main floor.
Entertainment
There is plenty of live music & entertainment at the casino. There are different free shows every day, you can find the list of live entertainment here.
I was at the casino on a Friday and Saturday and both times the main bar near the entrance had live music as well. Definitely adds to the fun factor.
Staff Friendliness & Helpfulness
I have mixed feelings on this one. I had some super friendly staff, and some not so friendly staff. The staff in The Zone area of the casino are amazing. Very fun, festive, friendly, and I can’t say enough good about them. The security staff at the front are okay, although a bit abrupt. I didn’t realize I had to check my drawstring bag, and I felt a bit like I had done something wrong when they stopped me. As well the coat check ladies I experienced were marginal on niceness. Rewards program staff as well (I dealt with 2 on the trip) were so-so. Not overly friendly, not necessarily mean. They could up their customer service skills a notch.
Comps Program
Only being there 3 days I didn’t build up enough points to really do much with the rewards program, but I will say it’s structured nicely. New sign ups get $5 freeplay on your first trip, $10 on your 2nd trip, and $10 on your third trip. I personally had a Passeport Montreal which I highly recommend if you are going to be playing tourist around Montreal (basically pay 1 price and get into a lot of attractions for free, and free transit). The bonus with the casino is you get $25 your first visit (instead of $5), and you still get the 2 additional $10 freeplay your next 2 visits. I was able to turn my free $25 into $75 on day 1, which was even better.
Note that on the 2nd & 3rd visits (and they do tell you this up front), it takes about 30 minutes from the time you insert your card in a machine until the freeplay shows up. So you could easily be spending your own money for a bit until the free play shows up. Not that $10 is a lot, but I appreciated the fact it was available.
Cleanliness
Not much to say here, overall the casino was clean, smoke free and pleasant. Outside as well was kept clean.
Location
Location is one of the negatives about this casino. While it is close to downtown, it’s on an island and somewhat difficult to get to. Overall Montreal is a very transit-friendly town, and for a tourist getting around on the Metro is very easy. Unfortunately getting to the casino by Metro is basically out unless you want to take several buses and still walk. Out of the many things I did on my trip, getting to/from the casino was the 1 difficult place to get to.
Driving is of course an option, although there is a fair amount of construction going on immediately outside of the casino area on the roads at the time of our visit, creating some traffic backup.
Personally I used Uber to get to the casino from downtown (and back) each of the 3 times. It was approximately $15 each way each time, which seems a bit steep considering it’s basically right there. It is convenient though, and if you use my referral code to sign up, you get $2 off your first 3 rides, which will help. Sign Up For Uber or if you use the app, use code chrisb134162ue to get the $2 off your first 3 rides. I suggest signing up before traveling, it just makes it a bit smoother when you want to get going.
Official Canadian Casino Gambler (CCG) Score
- Games 9/10
- Food 8/10
- Entertainment 8/10
- Staff 7/10
- Comps 8/10
- Cleanliness 9/10
- Location 6/10
- Adjusted Total Score Out of 100: 79/100 (55/70 x 100)
Address and Contact Information
1 avenue du Casino
Montreal, Quebec H3C 4W7
Contact InformationWebsite – casinos.lotoquebec.com/fr/montreal/accueil
Facebook – www.facebook.com/CasinoMontreal
Youtube – www.youtube.com/user/CasinosQuebec
General Information – (514) 392-2746
Toll Free – (800) 665-2274
Gaming Machines – 3,000 total
- Electronic Poker Tables, 10 machines
Table and Poker Games – 111 total
- 3 Card Poker
- American Roulette
- Blackjack, 60 tables – CAD 5 to CAD 2,000 bets
- Caribbean Stud Poker, 10 tables – CAD 5 to CAD 500 bets
- Electronic Horse Racing
- English Roulette
- Grand Baccarat
- Let It Ride, 3 tables – CAD 5 to CAD 50 bets
- Midi-Baccarat
- Mini-Baccarat, 7 tables – CAD 20 to CAD 500 bets
- Pai Gow Poker, 3 tables – CAD 50 to CAD 500 bets
- Poker, 21 tables
- Sic Bo
- War
Restaurants and Bars
- Ajia – Restaurant
- Dame de Couir – Bar
- Le Montreal – Restaurant
- L’Instant – Deli
- Pavillion 67 – Buffet
- Poker Bar – Bar
- Roi de Pique – Bar
- Valet de Carreau – Bar
To read reviews of all the Canadian casinos we’ve visited, you can read them here: Canadian Casino Reviews