Hi, I read the thread but couldn't find the information I wanted.
I will be visiting Montreal for 5 Months this year.
Is there a list or website which lists the different poker venues in or near Montreal?

Is LHE spread anywhere?

Thanks in advance.

I'd go with no to LHE. Although the casino does "offer" it it'll never spread they probably won't even open a list for you. (Dealers are qualified and such).

I'm sure playground also offers it if you get enough people to go which I doubt you will. (Not sure if dealers are qualified)

Casino de Montreal (Just outside downtown)
Snakes Poker Club (Khanawake)
Playground Poker Club (Kahnawake)

Please ask if I forgot anything. There are a few Montreal regs here and all of them will be happy to answer any of your questions

Thanks for the answer!
So to sum up, there are 3 places in Montreal where poker is spread, but none have regular LHE games going?!

Guess I'll have to brush up on my NL skills then. How are the low stakes games in town (i.e. 1/2 NL) and what would be the best place to go to for them?

Very soft for 1/2. I've always been a reg at the Casino. I don't really like paying more rake especially at 2/5+ at playground (even for free food which is delicious; hands down best comps). Snakes has the lowest rake (5$ max I think, which cheap comps sandwiches and pizza and such) but tbh I haven't been there in at least a year so I'll let someone else tell you about whats going on there.

Casino has no comps. Hand of the day (best hand all day gets 250$ choppable) and BBJ which all of them have. see:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/19...ntreal-661613/

Playground has comps for 5 star food. Spin the wheel promo. 1 million BBJ promo (impossible to hit). Bonuses for quads+. Check out their facebook page has excellent info. Also 2+2 thread See:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/19...ake-qc-943707/

At any given time the Casino will have more table of every stake offered. As well as a much better rake than playground. Can't remember the exact rake structures for play ground. Think it was 15+1 at 2/5 and 8+1 for 1/2 and gets worst the higher you go or if you play PLO. At CDM its 7+1 (10% capped) for 1/2 and 10+1 (5% capped) for all higher games also no PLO. I posted accurate rake table comparisons somewhere in this thread or maybe one of the other 2 threads.

For MTTs it's not even a debate. Playground is by far better. Structure/rake everything. I don't play these but it's quite obvious.

Playground's rake (others please correct me if I miss something here) is:

1-2 - 10% max $8 +1 (BBJ), no rake on chopped pots.
2-5 - 5% max $14 +1 (BBJ)

Not sure about 5-5 or other limits.

I've never seen LHE anywhere. Playground is the only place you'll find PLO or mixed games afaik, though they could spread those at Snake's if there were interest.

The Casino has the most tables at any limit and the most consistent higher stakes action (5-5 and above).

Playground has much better comps and the environment as a whole is WAY better. For me, they more than make up for their higher rake.

I have a strong preference for Playground at the moment. From my perspective the Casino tables are too small and cramped, the lack of proper drink service (even just decent coffee or pop) is very annoying, the environment is clean and fine but to me a little depressing (the ding ding ding of the slots on your way to the poker room is tilting). I find the players (at 1-2 and 2-5, never played higher) can often be heavily weighted towards the stereotypical 70-yr-old rocks. I find the dealers slow though they are accurate and manage the game reasonably well.

I'm being intentionally one-sided here for effect - fact is I do play at the Casino from time to time and it's OK. If you're lucky you can find the softest 2-5 games there.

For daily tournaments it's all about Playground and Snake's. Both are very popular and the structures and whatnot are excellent compared to what I read about other areas' daily tournaments. There's a good range of tournaments available from $60 all the way up to $330 on a weekly basis.

Playground is also starting to differentiate itself in terms of big events - at the beginning of March they're running a $2200 HU tourney (sold out) plus a 2-day (two day ones plus a day 2) $550 and a bounty tourney at around $200. That said, when the Casino does run big tournaments they do a good job - though their dailies are kind of lame.

Anyhow - sort of a ramble, but those are some current impressions.

Excellent post. All true. For me the rake and game selection is more important than the overall comfort. I totally forgot the over all atmosphere and comfort level for me anyway is much better at playground. From the lager tables to the office type chairs that you can actually sit on for more than 30 minutes without having to walk around. Tv's everywhere at playground (2-3 in good view per table with sound) rather that 5-6 spread out for the whole room.

To add to Mike's post.

PG No rake on chopped pots goes for all stakes
Also NO FLOP NO DROP.

No flop no drop at the Casino too. However they do rake chopped pots

BTW the BBJ is over $130K... unless it has been hit tonight since 2:30am lol.

Playground's BBJ was hit last Thursday at $133K, and then again last night for $100K. There were probably only 4 tables when it was hit last night for a nice payout for everyone (not me, alas).

This weekend is the Laak/Esfandiari events at Playground - should be packed!

I'm pretty sure you had left already but at 2am tonight a new 1/2 table was opened - LOL - normally at 2am on a Monday the tables are breaking, not opening. Been a crazy week at Playground already - looks like the $100k BBJ minimum is definitely driving traffic up.

Those guys got there just before I left. Me and the guy in Seat 6 (can't remember his name) sort of laughed and were kind of flabbergasted. At least one table had already broken by the time those kids got there - and frankly I considered staying longer and trying to move - looked kind of juicy though I doubt there was much money on the table. Not that my table wasn't juicy enough - some guy called me down for three streets of value with TP middle kicker while I held AA.

Well your last round at that table was also mine but from what I overheard while at table 4 the action definitely did not get any worse after you left. One of the guys from the tourney who must have had a decent cash (I know he made top 6 at least, may have been 2nd) and was a little intoxicated was trying (with moderate success from what I could tell) to get people to go All In blind pre-flop...

Something tells me he didn't keep as much of his tourney profit as he should have for all the effort he put to get it.

Laak won the prop bet at the Laak/Esfandiari Open - Antonio goes into the dunk tank (been sitting out in the cold all day waiting) at 6:15pm.

Does anyone know if there is any new developments with either 4 aces re-opening or the opening of stardust. I'll be in town for a few days at the end of the month and would like to check out as much as possible

Thanks

Full Tilt will re-open before Four Aces does. Stardust is a big question mark. They`ve lost any and all credibility with their opening-not-opening shenanigans.

I`m not sure if this is a Public link or if you have to Like the Playground Poker Club page first but in case it is Public here is the video of Antonio Esfandiari getting dunk-tanked in frigid Montreal weather on Sunday:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150601328462233

OK I first noticed this last night and now there are some details available...

The Playground Poker Classic tournament series has been announced from April 27 to May 14 and it looks like there's a full slate of tournaments at a variety of buy-ins as you'd expect.

But they've also added a $10K ($9500+$500) event this year. It will be a 3-day event starting on May 12. 50K starting stack and 60 minute blind levels.

wow 10k at playground....seems insane to me...but I guess good on them for going fullballs ahead

Aside from the fact that it is largely -EV and an absolute crap shoot, is any one attending the party poker classic at le Windsor next week?

Uh, probably. I thought I was going to have a chance at a free ticket tonight but it didn't happen (last longer bet in another tourney). But as I said elsewhere: 1. it's for a good cause and 2. It's the highest-profile event on the Montreal calendar each year.

So, 90% for sure yes, but under strict self-imposed rules wrt rebuys etc.

Awesome, you also went last year to the open did you not?


Hopefully it brings in a lot of action at the nearby card rooms and CDM

Mike - I'm headed there tomorrow night. Mike L from PG may have a ticket for you at discount if you're interested, contact him on FB. There are a whole bunch of PG regs going Monday (and some tonight too) - I can see it now, we all end up starting at the same table LOL

Yeah I got one of those tickets as well and pretty much everyone I've asked is going tomorrow as well. That's probably a good thing if people are smart about it lol. See you tomorrow night - I'm going relatively early so I can socialize a bit before it gets started!