[luckychick]

So, I saw this new forum yesterday (I don't know when it actually showed up) and I was pretty excited to see it... a few of us had been requesting it!

I checked out the forum today, and still no new threads... so I decided to put a useless thread in here for advertising. I'm still in California, with no car, so I haven't been to a B&M for a long time. I'm going back to Edmonton at the end of the week though, so maybe next week something interesting will happen there and I can post something useful.

Sooooooooo, in an attempt to make this a semi-useful thread, here are the B&M casinos (with poker) in Edmonton, Alberta:

1. The Baccarat

• This place is a couple of blocks from where we live, so we end up going there a lot. I actually don't like it, as I've seen a lot of poor floor decsions (like this one ), although apparently they have a new manager and it's gotten better. Popular games are 3/6 w/kill, 4/8 D.C., and occasionally a 1-2 NL D.C. The latter is kinda weird, b/c it ends up being primarily a NL O8 game. They have about 10 tables, although usually there are about 4-6 running.
• They have pretty good tournaments there - for a $60 buy-in there is a nice, slow blind structure for a live tournament. The NL games that pop up after the tournaments are always good.
• Recently they've repainted and recarpeted - I haven't seen it yet though.
• They have worn out, but nice chips - the $1 is a white chip with 3U spots in green, burgandy and... oh damn I forget. Time to go back, I guess.
• The Baccarat has a great poker menu - the fried rice and the sandwiches are good. At 2 am everynight they have a free buffet, full of the usual buffet crap, but with lots of fresh fruit. Strawberries, cantelope and watermelon at 2 am are pretty good.

2. The Century

• We ended up going here a bit in the winter because they have underground parking, a big plus in Edmonton.
• Really, this place runs a lot like the Baccarat in the games and how they are run, although it looks a bit more updated. The menu isn't nearly as good though. Has the same weird 1-2 DC that plays NL O8.

3. River Cree

• The newest casino in Edmonton, is on the edge of town, technically on a reserve. It's associated with a up scale Marriot hotel, and also has some nice restaurants and two ice rinks. It is very pretty.
• They have a 5/5 NL "big game" there that they rope off with those red velvet ropes - this cracks me up.
• The tournaments there are prolific, but I don't like them. They often run these promotional tournaments where they take half the prize pool for 20 tourneys, and then give the winners a key, and whoever's key starts a Lexus, they win the car. Takes too much out of the pool.
• The games there, however are pretty good, and the nice atmosphere is maybe worth the drive.
• Some of you may remember when this casino opened, tastic went and bought a bunch of chips straight out of the boxes and sold them here on CT.

4. Yellowhead Casino

I haven't been here, so I can't say much. They have some of the Canadian Poker Tour events, including on which a CT'er (TheDuke) won! I think it is one of the bigger casinos in town, so maybe I'll swing by sometime.


5. Argyll

• Owned by the same people as the Yellowhead - I also haven't been here, but my husband has, and he doesn't like it (he said it was "dingy"). I think it spreads 2/4 as it's lowest game - the lowest at Baccarat, Century and River Cree is 3/6 with Kill.

6. Palace

• Located in the world's largest shopping mall is the Palace casino. They've had an incredibly long dealer strike that ended a couple of months ago, which is all I can really say. I meandered through one day, and the poker room looks pretty comparable to the others in the city - about 10-12 tables, with 2/3 of them running.

All the poker rooms in Edmonton are open 24 hours, but the casinos (except maybe River Cree, I'm not sure) close at 2.

[tastic]

I used to play at the Argyll (aka Casino Edmonton) a lot. Mainly because it was a 3 minute drive from our place in Eddie. Not sure I'd call it dingy though. Unless something has changed in the last 6-8 months, the almost 2 years I played there the lowest game was 3/6 limit. I'd never seen a 2/4 limit game spread there. I mainly played 1/2NL and 5/5NL though. I also liked that several CPT events were held there and the structure was quite good for those. I believe that was also where John (TheDuke) took down one of the $500 buy-in CPT events for $30K, not the Yellowhead, although the Yellowhead also ran CPT events.

EDIT: I'm a tool, John's win was at the Yellowhead

[Freelancer72]

I've played at the Yellowhead a few years ago. not a bad sized poker room. didn't really care for the 4 deck blackjack however as i'm used to 6 deck blackjack or 2 deck blackjack here in Winnipeg. had a blast as the anchor spot on a low limit BJ table.... there were a couple weirdos staying on stiffs against a face card consistently, so i finally had enough when i got 5 and 5 for my first 2 cards. i split them, the dealer made 21, and i laughed loudly as half the table up and left. BJ is like a team game, so if they were going to play like that, i was going to play silly too.

[mike33]

Sweet!! I'm happy, as well, that this forum made the cut. By the end of the summer there should be some good info in here for everyone.

[luckychick]

Originally Posted by tastic

I used to play at the Argyll (aka Casino Edmonton) a lot. Mainly because it was a 3 minute drive from our place in Eddie. Not sure I'd call it dingy though. Unless something has changed in the last 6-8 months, the almost 2 years I played there the lowest game was 3/6 limit. I'd never seen a 2/4 limit game spread there. I mainly played 1/2NL and 5/5NL though. I also liked that several CPT events were held there and the structure was quite good for those. I believe that was also where John (TheDuke) took down one of the $500 buy-in CPT events for $30K, not the Yellowhead, although the Yellowhead also ran CPT events.

Ah, you most certainly know better than me on both counts, Tim. I've never played @ Argyll, that's just Jesse's report.

As for John's win - I just assumed it was at Yellowhead b/c that's where I saw adds for CPT tourneys around the time he won; I sure I'm wrong - you would know better than me.

[tastic]

Actually I take that back. You were absolutely right. I just checked and John's win was at the Yellowhead. I was confused as Dave (you remember Dave from John's game) had come in 6th or 7th for $7K at the Argyll not too long before that. Usually when the CPT rolls through Alberta there are events at both the Argyll and the Yellowhead. My bad.

I'm pretty certain about the 3/6 being the smallest game there though.

Originally Posted by luckychick

Ah, you most certainly know better than me on both counts, Tim. I've never played @ Argyll, that's just Jesse's report.

As for John's win - I just assumed it was at Yellowhead b/c that's where I saw adds for CPT tourneys around the time he won; I sure I'm wrong - you would know better than me.

[TheDuke]

I agree that the roped off 5/5 table at the River Cree is hilarious. The Big Game! It's usually run as a PL DC game - which turns into an omaha game.

On occasion they'll have a 1/2 NL DC game (holdem, pineapple, crazy pineapple, omaha) - which turns into a 1/2 NL Omaha game.

On the weekend they'll usually have a 2/5 NL or a 5/10 NL game.

However, most of the tables will be running 1/2 NL or 3/6 Limit.

This poker room allows a max buy in of 250BB (at least for the 1/2 and 2/5 tables - I've never tried the 5/5 or the 3/6 games). So the games are very juicy - deep stacks against players probably on par or worse than 10NL players online - probably worse.

One unique aspect of this poker room are the tables. They're football shaped tables with a segmented rail. Here's a link:

Wisemen Poker - Finest Tables & Accessories

At first I hated playing on those tables but I grew to like the rail. Each segment of the rail defines the rail space for each player. So you can sit quite comfortably for a few hours and not feel squeezed by other players.

Most of the tables are equipped with functional auto shufflers so you get a decent pace of hands.

The casino uses Kem circle back casino cards - I like them alot. They tried using some customized Gemaco cards a few months ago - they had a horrible weird red back design that was very hard on the eyes. Fortunately those decks only lasted a week or so because most of the players complained about them and management was kind enough to listen.

The dealers and house are friendly and competent - no nightmare decisions like what Michelle described over at the Baccarat.

There is a bad beat jackpot at this card room. It gets capped at 25k. Aces full of Tens beaten by Quads is the minimum.

[TheDuke]

Originally Posted by luckychick

Ah, you most certainly know better than me on both counts, Tim. I've never played @ Argyll, that's just Jesse's report.

As for John's win - I just assumed it was at Yellowhead b/c that's where I saw adds for CPT tourneys around the time he won; I sure I'm wrong - you would know better than me.

Originally Posted by tastic

Actually I take that back. You were absolutely right. I just checked and John's win was at the Yellowhead. I was confused as Dave (you remember Dave from John's game) had come in 6th or 7th for $7K at the Argyll not too long before that. Usually when the CPT rolls through Alberta there are events at both the Argyll and the Yellowhead. My bad.

I'm pretty certain about the 3/6 being the smallest game there though.

Yeah, that hot run of cards I had was at the Yellowhead!

The CPT is now defunct. Although the casinos are still running the same tournaments without the CPT banner.

[luckychick]

Originally Posted by TheDuke

I agree that the roped off 5/5 table at the River Cree is hilarious. The Big Game! It's usually run as a PL DC game - which turns into an omaha game.

On occasion they'll have a 1/2 NL DC game (holdem, pineapple, crazy pineapple, omaha) - which turns into a 1/2 NL Omaha game.

On the weekend they'll usually have a 2/5 NL or a 5/10 NL game.

However, most of the tables will be running 1/2 NL or 3/6 Limit.

This poker room allows a max buy in of 250BB (at least for the 1/2 and 2/5 tables - I've never tried the 5/5 or the 3/6 games). So the games are very juicy - deep stacks against players probably on par or worse than 10NL players online - probably worse.

One unique aspect of this poker room are the tables. They're football shaped tables with a segmented rail. Here's a link:

Wisemen Poker - Finest Tables & Accessories

At first I hated playing on those tables but I grew to like the rail. Each segment of the rail defines the rail space for each player. So you can sit quite comfortably for a few hours and not feel squeezed by other players.

Most of the tables are equipped with functional auto shufflers so you get a decent pace of hands.

The casino uses Kem circle back casino cards - I like them alot. They tried using some customized Gemaco cards a few months ago - they had a horrible weird red back design that was very hard on the eyes. Fortunately those decks only lasted a week or so because most of the players complained about them and management was kind enough to listen.

The dealers and house are friendly and competent - no nightmare decisions like what Michelle described over at the Baccarat.

There is a bad beat jackpot at this card room. It gets capped at 25k. Aces full of Tens beaten by Quads is the minimum.

Oh yeah, I forgot about the craptacular tables at the River Cree. In addition to the funky shape, the felt seemed worn pretty soon after the casino opened.

Sounds like the funky NL O8 game gets spread all over town.

All the casinos at Edmonton (afaik, definitely RC, Baccarat, and Century) have jackpots... I think Aces over Tens beaten by quads is standard. Omaha has a higher requirement, though I think -- I forget what it is. Regardless, it seems common to have multiple jackpots going at one time in a casino.

[jamby]

I agree Michelle. This forum was a long time coming. Thanks Greg. Now to fill it with lots of good card room and casino info.

Originally Posted by luckychick

So, I saw this new forum yesterday (I don't know when it actually showed up) and I was pretty excited to see it... a few of us had been requesting it!