Thanks for the response.

Yes of course the players that turn up make all the difference with regard to winrate/EV. And of course players being drunk is a factor too; but it's not something you can rely on or enough of a factor to take into account when considering rake etc in my opinion. I have played with drunk gambling people all over the world. Most casinos are full of regulars/grinders - most of whom don't drink most of the time whilst playing (as I'm sure you know).

Casino A: Playground, Montreal, QC.

Casino B: Elements, Victoria, BC.

Casino C: Casino Niagara, Niagara, ON.

Casino D: Cowboys, Calgary, AB.

For comparison, here are some other rake structures for casinos in Canada:

Casino de Montreal:

$1/$2: 10% up to $8, and $2 for BBJ once pot gets to $20.
$2/$5: 10% up to $10, and $2 for BBJ once pot gets to $20.

Casino Nova Scotia:

Nova Scotia

$1/$3: 10% up to $7

Deerfoot, Calgary:

Deerfoot

$1/$3: 10% up to $7
$2/$5: 10% up to $7

Parq and Grand Villa, Vancouver:

$1/$3: 10% up to $8 + $2
$2/$5: 10% up to $9 + $2

Cascades, Vancouver:

$1/$3: 10% up to $9 + $2

So - in general - rake is best in the west and worst in the east.

That Victoria casino is running 1 table 95% of the time and laughably has euro pros playing there as well as 2-4 hour waitlist every day unless you get there before 4pm. Also pretty sure the rake is $2 more then what youre saying.

Not gonna go back and forth with you anymore on Playground. Every casino on every part of the planet has gotten worse over the years. I know when I go to PG I am waiting 5 minutes max before I get to play among everything else I listed.

Anything 10/20 nlh+ or 5/10+ plo is in the private room and they can make their own rake. Last i heard 10/25 is 5% 75$ and 10/25/50 is 5% 125$. Dunno about the 25/50/100 that ran last night but 2bb cap sounds about right.

Yes, the Victoria casino usually only runs one table, and the wait times can be long. However, this discussion is about the rake, and I included that casino because I know it well. Euro pros!? Where did you hear this? Yes you're right about the rake being $2 higher than what I originally listed - my mistake; I remembered wrong.

Okay, no problem if you don't want to respond to the points I made about Playground - I will take that to mean that they are valid and you have no legitimate counter arguments. Some casinos are improving, and everyone I talk to says that Playground has 'lost the magic' that it used to have, despite being able to get a game quickly (although this is true for most of the casinos I listed, but not the one in Victoria). It's a shame on a personal level, because I would seriously consider moving to Montreal if the rake was better there.

Thanks for the feedback.

Casino A i s the worst. BBJ is just gambling so I'd rather not have it. Casino D has best variety and rake is reasonable. I'd go there or C.

A lot of the euro pros are just rich kids traveling. There's not a lot of poker in most of Europe and really not a lot of people doing it professionally. There's big tournaments there but there's not as many games.

I typically loathe euro players.

AAJT0 is claiming that there are regular euro players there, not random rich kids passing through/travelling.


Poker is massive in Europe and played year-round all over the continent, with hordes of professionals in every city. You haven't heard of the EPT?


Why do you loathe the euro players? They make the game tough for you eh?

There are usually 2 good players at any given time in that game who could beat a public 5/10 and about 3-5 typical boomers who play like typical 60~ year olds do. The main point Im making is that the casino is garbage and the game isn't soft enough to warrant going out of your way to play in it. Go to Grand Villa or better yet anywhere in Alberta.

Have you actually played there, or are you getting this information from somewhere else?

The word on the street is that it is one of the softest and juiciest $2/$5 games around.