Love the journey man, as a fellow Winnipeg who is looking to travel and play this thread is great inspiration.

Very cool thread

Still awaiting part 3!

MOAR

Got caught up in da grind again, sorry guys. Here's part 3 - enjoy.

After getting somewhat lost in the Laurentian mountains attempting to find my way out of Mont Tremblant with a dead phone and no GPS on Saturday, I eventually found my way out and stayed in a small town en route to Montreal overnight. I drove to Montreal on Sunday, where I had planned to meet up with my friend Hugo, a fellow HUSNG grinder who I've stayed with in Montreal before. Hugo was kind enough to host me for the duration of my stay in Montreal this time as well.

Playground Poker Club - Kahnawake, QC, Canada

Anytime I get into conversation about this challenge, the most commonly asked question is by far, "So, which one's your favorite?" Before I played here, I never really had a definitive answer as to which one I liked best. I had a group of casinos that all seemed to fit into a top tier, but I didn't have one that stood head and shoulders above the rest. Playground is my new favorite poker room of anywhere I've played at. The atmosphere is great, with dimmed lighting but more than sufficient lighting at each table. It's very efficiently run, with very good dealers, and competent floor. The rake is high, but something has to cover all the free food and drink you can handle. The A+ poker experience also brings in a steady diet of fish getting their free food and drinks. I was in Montreal for 3 days, and made sure to spend some time each day playing some at Playground. Will likely come back in November for the WPT as well.



VIP Poker Club - Kahnawake, QC, Canada

Hugo joined me for a session at VIP Monday evening, which is just down the street from Playground. Definitely a nice room, but of the 3 rooms on the reserve currently open, I think I liked this one the least. It has so many of the same great qualities of Playground, but IMO is just that step below and doesn't do enough to differentiate itself from Playground. If this room was in another city it'd do much better. The game I played in itself wasn't amazing either, some stationy types but no big donators, and both Hugo and I ran pretty poorly.



Casino de Montreal - Montreal, QC, Canada

On the outside, Casino de Montreal is positively stunning. Unfortunately for me, there was quite a bit of construction happening inside when I showed up, so it didn't feel overly special when I was inside. Was a bit of a challenge to find the poker room, which was several floors up. The rake is lower than the reserves, so that's certainly a plus. That being said, I also found the game significantly tighter than Playground/VIP, although I shouldn't have expected much on a Tuesday afternoon.



Snakes Poker Club - Kahnawake, QC, Canada

Snakes is the third poker room on the reserve, but it has a significantly different feel to it. VIP and Playground aim for more of a glamorous, high-class poker atmosphere, where Snakes aims for the dingy, bar poker feel. It felt very much like a back-of-the-bar type poker room, but without the potential sketchiness that might come with it. Free food and drinks as well here. I really enjoyed Snakes - a unique, chill atmosphere and juicy games.



Stardust Poker Mansion - Kahnawake, QC, Canada

I was in Stardust last September during their Classic tournament, but didn't have a chip. It's actually been closed for a few months now, with plans to reopen soon after I left Montreal (le sigh). Fortunately, Hugo had an extra chip stashed at his place, and donated it to the cause. Maybe I'll get a chance to play here during the WPT in November.



Casino de Charlevoix - La Malbaie, QC, Canada

My plans were to drive up to Quebec City on Wednesday, with plans to stay close to the airport, leave my stuff there, and drive about 2 hours north to Casino de Charlevoix with no plans to stay long. When I got up there, I discovered that there was no game for the evening, so I bought a chip and drove two hours back to Quebec City to stay the night.



I also realized later that I forgot to get to El Jumelgi in Montreal, but it wasn't on my original list so I guess I'll get it in November. The scenery is gorgeous in Quebec, but it's easy to feel uncomfortable in a lot of spots if you don't speak French - so I was happy to move on. Part 4, the final installment of the Eastern Canada trip, up next.

Casino New Brunswick - Moncton, NB, Canada

I flew from Quebec City to Moncton on the Thursday, and picked up my new rental car, a little Fiat 500. Fun to putt around in on sunny days, not so much in a post tropical storm. More on that later. Casino NB is a smallish casino, but I didn't expect large extravagant casinos in the Maritimes. The poker room is separated from the rest of the casino, but is right in the entrance - both features that I am very much in favor of. The most interesting thing I took from here is the chatter about the private games. I know they definitely exist in most cities across the country, but I was really shocked to hear about some pretty large private games in other cities in NB, namely Saint John and Fredericton. Seemed to be a common theme in all the Maritime provinces that there were pretty large private games scattered across the province in every reasonably sized town and city.



Red Shores Racetrack and Casino - Charlottetown, PE, Canada

The drive to Charlottetown was fun in itself. I'd never driven across the Confederation bridge before, and the scenery driving across the island is fantastic. When I got to the casino, I couldn't believe the games running in this tiny little island. Aside from the standard several $1/2NL games, there were two $2/5NL games and a $5/10NL game running. $5/10 doesn't even run in Calgary outside of Friday nights and special occasions, so it was pretty impressive to see Charlottetown get one going. Having a tournament running there certainly helped, as it seemed to draw a lot of traffic in from NS and NB as well. There's another Red Shores in Summerside, but with the tournament running, there were no games running in Summerside over the weekend with all the dealers sent to Charlottetown.



Casino Nova Scotia - Sydney, NS, Canada

I left Charlottetown in the afternoon, and while it was raining hard when I left PEI, it got much worse as I drove into Nova Scotia. I had to pull into a small town just off the highway at one point as my wipers couldn't keep up with the rain. The highway was only 2 lane for a good chunk of the way up to Sydney as well, and the rain was coming down so fast and hard that the little Fiat I was driving was hydroplaning through the highway. What should be a 6 hour drive ended up being 8 hours of pretty awful driving conditions. There was 1 table running when I got there, and I got my name on the list as soon as I got in, but was informed that the casino wouldn't start a second table, and the list was already 10 deep. So it was a little dicey as to whether I'd actually get into a game. I chatted with the floor manager while I waited, which I really didn't mind - Maritimers really are some of the best people around, and Sydney proved that. I told the floor manager a little about the project, and after I finally got into the game, she came back with a gift package for me. It included a coffee mug, a cash clip, and a deck of cards all bearing the Casino NS Sydney logo. She told me she just wanted to make sure that Sydney treated me well and I'd come back with good memories from there. Just proof that East Coast Canadians are truly awesome people. As for the game itself, I got to play for a little less than 2 hours with a small profit, but that was overshadowed by the friendly personalities in the game and the well-known East Coast hospitality I received.



Casino Nova Scotia - Halifax, NS, Canada

My last stop of the trip was in Halifax on Sunday, and after so much driving it was a relief to know that this was my last stop. The casino is right in the harbour, with a great looking poker room. There were a couple $1/2 games when I got there, and not a ton of action. Seemed like a lot of the action had flowed to Charlottetown over the weekend, and by the time Sunday had rolled around, most of the area had been a little pokered out. No big deal though, as I was more concerned with getting my fill of lobster at the restaurant inside the casino. I ate nothing but lobster dishes during my stay in the Maritimes - including the McLobster at McDonalds! As a kid growing up on the prairies, lobster is that one meal on the menu that your parents tell you that you can't order because its the most expensive thing there. So to find it in abundance here at ridiculously cheap prices - I was a kid in a candy store. I can't wait to come back to the east coast.



The Eastern Canada trip as a whole was all that I expected. Poker wise, I only posted a small profit, but given the breakneck pace of the trip I knew I wasn't going to play my A game throughout, and there were definitely moments where I played flat out terrible. I covered a ton of ground in 17 days, with 5 flights and some long, but scenic, drives in between. From getting drenched in Niagara Falls, to getting lost in the Quebec mountains, to driving across the Confederation Bridge and eventually finishing in Halifax - there are some memories that I'll keep with me from this trip for a lifetime. I've officially gone coast to coast this year, now just a few more in between and one way up north to finish Canada.

This is my home casino. Pretty accurate. Games are soft, but full of regs. Some nights are a real grind. The regs are mostly loose passive, face up type players. But, taking their money is a grind.

Shark Club - Winnipeg, MB, Canada

Winnipeg opened a third poker room last month, located in the cityplace mall attached to the MTS Centre. Fortunately, I have a friend who was hired as a dealer there, and he tipped me off as to when it was opening. I would never have known otherwise, as Shark Club did absolutely zero advertising prior to opening, and relied simply on word of mouth. So I had the opportunity to play in the first ever hand dealt at Shark Club, and in good form, was runner runnered in that first hand to a competent player floating a dry flop vs my made hand and getting there anyway lol. All whining aside though, this is a very different poker experience than usual, as there's a sports bar attached to the casino with bar patrons moving freely between the bar and casino sections. So this makes for a very loud atmosphere, almost like playing poker in the middle of a dance club. Of course with a new club, there are going to be kinks to iron out, but the games were great and this place will have no trouble being successful. Games will be nuts here after Jets games.



Aseneskak Casino - Opaskwayak, MB, Canada

Opaskwayak is way the eff north in the middle of nowhere. It's attached to the town of The Pas, and other than that there appears to be no form of civilization for hours in any direction. It's a 7 hour drive from Winnipeg, and it may be the most boring drive in Canada - yes, worse than Winnipeg-->Calgary, and worse than Montreal-->Quebec City. When I called ahead, I was told poker ran on Fridays and Saturday evenings. My brother and his girlfriend tagged along for a long Saturday drive, and when we finally got there, I discovered that cash games actually only ran on Friday, and the tournament ran on Saturday which I was now too late to enter. Unfortunate, but so it goes. I purchased my chip from the blackjack tables, stayed the night in The Pas, and drove back the next day.

7 hour drive each way to be told you cant even play poker. Now that sucks

awesome!

Awesome thread! Are you planning to head up to the Yukon this year?

this cool thread gl op. plz take photo of whole collection at some point.

btw i can ship you a $1 chip from aus if you want. postage is only like $2 i will cover it, be fun to add to the collection.

whats your favorite chip so far?

Enjoying these Canadian trip reports. You mentioned that you'll be returning to Quebec in November so you may be interested that the WSOP Circuit events for November 13-24 has just been moved to Casino du Lac Leamy near Ottawa. For all the players invading Quebec soon for the WSOP/WPT/CPT/FTP tournaments, can you please confirm or tell us the cash game rake for the rooms you visited?

Rideau Carleton Racetrack: 10% up to $5, no Bad Beat Jackpot.
Casino du Lac-Leamy: 1/2 is 10% up to $7. 2/5 and 5/5 are 5% up to $10. Plus $1 BBJ rake. Up to $11 rake.
Playground Poker Club: 1/2 is 10% up to $8. 2/5 is 5% up to $14. Plus $1 for BBJ rake if pot >=$20 (payouts raked at 5% for staff gratuities). Split pots are not raked. Up to $15 rake!
VIP Poker Room: 1/2 is 10% up to $7; $1 is taken on the flop and another $1 after $30. For 2/5 & 5/5, 5% up to $13; $1 is taken on the flop and another $1 after $50. Up to $15 rake!

Casino Montreal?
Snake's Poker Club?
Casino de Mont Tremblant?
Stardust Poker Mansion?
Casino de Charlevoix?
El Jumelgi?

In case you ever return near Toronto, there are a few smaller rooms you missed:
Georgian Downs Racetrack
Mohawk Racetrack
Western Fair Racetrack
CNE Casino: summer only but may have the dirtiest chip for your collection; will start NL tournaments next summer.

To all those readers that were enjoying my updates here - I'm truly sorry I've ignored this thread. I could blame it on some unfortunate circumstances, but that would ignore the fact that I've been flat out lazy on top of it.

The goal of getting to every Canadian cardroom this year is unfortunately a failure. I was on pace to finish it up, before a series of events happening in short time made it incredibly difficult for me. Not going to go into all of it, but two major problems were being left car-less in Calgary and had my e-wallet hacked, preventing me from accessing my online income for almost 2 months. By the time most of it was fixed, I had planned to leave Calgary back for home in Manitoba at the end of September, which made for very difficult time constraints. At that point, I realized to finish this project I would definitely not be enjoying the ride anymore - it would be a stressful rush that would really not be worth the effort. I finished 10 rooms on my checklist short of completing the goal for this year.

So now I'm back in Manitoba with family through at least the holidays. I'm sitting at 88 rooms played in, so I will be making a Vegas trip before Christmas to try to make it an even 100. Will likely end up passing on Montreal WPT for this year. For you Winnipeg readers, I'll probably frequent the peg city rooms several times over the course of the winter, as well as South Beach since it's equally close for me.

As for 2014 prospects, I have all but decided that I'll be in Europe for 3 months this summer. That means lots of country hopping and attempting to win lots of euros. Lined up as possibilities before Europe include more Nevada action, Arizona, AC, Florida, and LA rooms. No chance I'll get to all of them, but a couple trips down south before Europe would be ideal.

I was planning to, and was really looking forward to it! Then life said no, so it'll be done another year.

I def appreciate the gesture, but I prefer to only collect chips from rooms that I've physically been to. AUS/NZ rooms will most likely a 2015 prospect honestly - but if this thread is still going strong and you're still reading by then, I'm always up to meet for beers wherever I travel.

I'll be getting a case this winter for all the chips, and will post a pic of the whole collection when I've got them all in the display. Fav chip? Really tough to pick one, but gun to head I'll say the Casino NS Halifax one. It marked the end of the Eastern Canada trip, was a nice room, and is a good looking, clean chip with a cool holographic center. Also the Maritimes provinces are incredible and I can't wait to go back and spend more time there at some point in the future.

Don't remember exactly, but the rake figures you posted look accurate. Snake's is the same rake as VIP/Playground I believe, all the Kahnawake rooms have disgusting rake - but the games are good enough to still make it beatable, as well as the free food/drinks and promos.

Casino Montreal, Charlevoix, Mont Tremblant, and Lac Leamy are all within the same casino group so iirc all have the same rake. Missed El Jumelgi along the way, and Stardust was closed at the time of my visit.

I know I missed the few you mentioned, however the e-table rooms weren't on my original checklist. So I resolved to just hit up the ones that were convenient on my trip, and not go out of my way to ensure I played there. Will get to them another time, and hopefully my next trip coincides with CNE as well! Doubtful it will be the dirtiest chip in my collection, I've got some bad ones. Hard to top Red Deer's.

Rock, keep posting even if you don't hit all your rooms goals etc, it's interesting to hear about different places you've played. Sucks about your car/e-wallet issues though.

I agree you should keep posting even if youre not travelling. Let us know if you're crushing the Manitoba games over the winter and add some chip porn

Looking forward to reports about the poker rooms in Europe. I avoid playing in the US due to the 30% withholding tax, so I've been wondering which European poker rooms are worth a visit, especially to satellite into.

Very nice thread! Ambitious and unique project. Hope to read more of it pretty soon and am curious what you will think of the Dawson City poker room in due time...

Awesome reports and enjoyed seeing the chip pics. You mentioned hitting LA at some point. Another awesome trip I might recommend if you are looking to hit a bunch of casinos on one trip is to fly into Reno, then drive to Sacramento, then San Francisco. From there you could take the PAcific Coast Hwy. to LA which is one of the most scenic drives in the US. Lastly you could drive to San Diego and fly back from there. In 7 days you could easily add 20+ chips to your collection and play in some of the best card rooms in the US.

Awesome thread!!!

This morning, I booked a flight to Vegas for a week. Will arrive Jan. 14.

I'm going to spend a bit more time enjoying Vegas this time around, as opposed to the insane pace of my last Vegas trip. Still looking to get something like 7-8 new rooms in while I'm down there. Really just need to get the hell out of Winnipeg for a bit, it's a tad chilly here lately. For those of you who haven't heard, today's been the warmest day in the last week. It's -24C. Before windchill. On New Year's Eve it was officially colder here than it was at the North Pole and on Mars at the same time.

Oh, and one way to Amsterdam also booked for March 4.

GL on the trip man. One way to Amersterdam, are you moving there or backpacking Europe?

I feel like doing all those locations in 7 days would be insanely rushed. IMO that trip would take me at least a month to do properly. At some point I'll need to do a big American road trip, but to be quite honest it's low on the priority list for now. I'm more keen on doing Europe and Australia atm, and would like to fill gaps in with American trips.

Backpacking Europe, starting in Amsterdam. Really don't have anything planned, it's going to be go to whatever country or region I decide is the next best option. Not expecting to come back to Canada until next winter!