Montreal?

johndoe

Well-Known Member
#1
I'll probably have the occasion to get some play in during a business trip. Is Casino de Montreal a reasonable place to play these days? Any unusual rules?

How do comps work up there, if I wanted to earn a free room without prior play?

Any currency conversion issues? Is it fair going from USD to CAD and back to USD, or do they skim it?

(I expect to bring less than 10k across the border, but maybe it'll go well!)
 
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gronbog

Well-Known Member
#2
I cant comment on the casino conditions.

You will get skimmed on the cash conversion both ways. When crossing the border remember that Canadian customs will want to know if you're carrying $10k or more in Canadian dollars.
 

Zero

Well-Known Member
#3
I was there just over a year ago (November 2018) so some of this info may be out of date. You can exchange your USD for CAD inside the casino. The exchange rate was slightly better than the Bureau de Change. Hang on to your exchange receipt. When you're done, you can exchange back at the same rate up to the amount you initially exchanged. So if you exchanged 2000 USD for 2600 CAD you can exchange up to 2600 CAD at the same rate, and 2600 CAD would get you exactly 2000 USD. Any winnings will have a less favorable exchange rate, but still slightly better than the Bureau de Change. I chose to hang on to my winnings and just paid cash for some stuff while I was in town. I got the feeling they don't keep a lot of US currency on hand so if you hit them for a large win, you may not be able to exchange it all at the casino.

Conditions were marginal when I was there. It was standard 8D, H17, DAS, DOA (I think it was NS and I think they had LL9 but memory is fuzzy) and pen was 6 to 6.75 out of 8 depending on the dealer so you have to be selective. Watch out for the 6:5 low min tables. All the dealers I had spoke English but some of the players did not. I played unrated so I don't have info on comps for you.

0
 

gronbog

Well-Known Member
#5
gronbog said:
When crossing the border remember that Canadian customs will want to know if you're carrying $10k or more in Canadian dollars.
I just re-read my own post and realized that it can easily be interpreted incorrectly.

Both US and Canada customs are interested in all of the money you are carrying. US customs requires you to declare if the total value of your money in US dollars is $10k or more. Canada customs requires you to declare if the total value of your money in Canadian dollars is $10k or more.

[edited to provide the correct threshold. $1 CDN ~= $0.75 US at this time]
If you are carrying $6500 $7500 in US dollars, then you are close to the declaration threshold for Canada Customs.
 
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The G Man

Well-Known Member
#6
For what it's worth at this time of the year... I looked back at Zero answer and if he got 6.5 to 6.75 penetration in Montreal he was lucky! Penetration usually sucks and is in the neighborhood of 5 to 5.75

Comps? Forget about it, if you average $50/hand they might offer you a sandwich after 6-8 hours of play. This casino is run by the Quebec government thru Société des Casinos du Québec and as zero competition. They are cheap and arrogant. A shame for a city like Montreal.
 
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