Poker in Canada: Live Poker in Quebec

Cash Games

The cash game action is non-stop, running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and you can get on the waitlist by either calling the room or going onto PokerAtlas to join the list.  Routinely they will have over a dozen cash game tables going – the majority spreading $1/$2 or $1/$3 with a decent amount of action at $2/$5 and the wait list is reasonable as they prefer players playing than players waiting.  When the room gets busy, expect limits up to $5/$10 for NLHE and $5/$5 spread on the floor, and for those high rollers, they will host games up to $50 / $100 in one of two intimate rooms separate from the main floor.

Tournaments

Tournaments are a daily occurrence at Playground as well – when there are no events going on, you’ll find anything from $100 to $600 tournaments planned during the week and weekend, but they have one of the most robust event schedules out there.   This year the WSOP Circuit is paying Montreal a visit in April, as will the Moneymaker Tour in May.  The WPT is a frequent visitor as well, and they have hosted PartyPoker events in the past.

Bad Beat Jackpot

One unique aspect of Playground is their Bad Beat Jackpots.  There are three in play – the NLHE Bad Beat; the Omaha Bad Beat and the High Stakes Bad Beat – all have different qualifying hands.  The uniqueness to the NLHE jackpot though – 20% of the jackpot goes to everyone signed in playing NLHE cash games on the property!  All you need to be is playing to grab a share of the jackpot!  And Playground has seen record jackpots hit – on multiple occasions, jackpots of over $2 million dollars were hit!

Rake

To pay for the bad beat jackpot, Playground removes $2 from every cash game hand where the pot exceeds $2.   On top, hands are charged 10% up to $10 if you are playing $1/$2 or $1/$3; and 15% up to $16 if you are playing $2/$5.  While this Overall, between the cash game selection, the tournament and festival schedule, the location centrally to Montreal and drivable from Toronto, the Maritimes and New England and the overall value, Playground has been called a heaven for poker players and there is no doubt in that.

Cash Games

Offering up to 12 cash game tables, poker players who want to stay close to the city will find $1/$2, $1/$3 and $2/$5 offered most of the time with action going non-stop through the night.  Occasionally you will find higher limits here, with $5/$10 getting spread when the room gets busy and more high rollers enter the casino, but rarely will the games get bigger than that.

Tournaments

What you will not find here are tournaments – while the cash game room is busy, there is no excess room to host tournaments, so players will have to look elsewhere if that is what they are looking for. Given the location of the poker room in the casino, and the vast number of tournaments that other rooms in the city offer, this is not likely to change anytime soon.

Rake

Where it does have an advantage over Playground is in the rake charged – you will see hands raked at 10%, capped at $10 playing $1/$2 including the portion for the Bad Beat Jackpot. Playing $1/$3 the cap goes up by $1, and again by another dollar if you are playing $2/$5 – a $4 savings over Playground.

Bad Beat Jackpot

The Bad Beat Jackpot is also lucrative, last hit just under $1 million dollars and pays everyone playing in the poker room. Currently you must lose with quad tens to qualify, and while the amount is generally high, it’s not hit as often as it is elsewhere in the province.

If you are in the Montreal area and want to scratch your poker itch, the OK Poker Room at Casino Montreal is a great, affordable option for lower stakes poker players to get some cash games in. It will not replace the experience playing at Playground, but it should not be discounted as a second-rate room because of its competition!

Cash Games

This room is run by the Loto-Quebec which also runs the Casino Montreal’s poker room, so these will feel very similar to each other.  Lac-Lemay’s room is smaller with only 9 tables earmarked for poker, spreading limits from $1/$2 to $2/$5 – one thing to note, they don’t spread $1/$3. 

Tournaments

Tournaments, like in Montreal, are also non-existent, given the size of the room and space in the casino, tournament poker fans are going to have to make the drive down to Playground if they want any action.

Rake

While tournaments are a negative, the rake here should be seen as a positive – at $1/$2, the table is charged 10% up to $8 with a $2 charge for the “heartbreaking hand” only at $30. Add this up and you will pay less for your poker experience in Lac-Lemay than you will in room in Montreal. IF your game is $2/$5, the rake cap is $10 with the same charge for the “heartbreaking hand”.

Bad Beat Jackpot

Don’t call it a bad beat – call it a heartbreak at Lac-Lemay – while the qualifying hand here is also quad tens, it hasn’t been hit anywhere near as often as it has in Montreal – as of the writing of this article, the last time it was hit was October, 2019 – and currently stands at over $2.4 million today! Talk about a chance to become an instant millionaire as the share for the person with the bad beat gets just under $1 million of that!

All in all, the poker action is steady and constant at Lac-Lemay but you will find a more intimate atmosphere than you will in Montreal. The lack of tournaments hurts, but the better rake is nice for your bottom line at the end of the night.

Cash Games

When tournaments are not in play, the cash games are open; generally spreading only $1/$2 and $2/$5. Given the location of the poker room and the traffic, it’s not common to see games spread higher than this, and with only 8 tables in play at any one time, if you happen to be there during a tournament, you may be out of luck for a cash game.

Tournaments

One major upside though is the availability of tournaments – aside from Monday and Tuesday, you’ll be able to get into low stakes tournaments here with buy-ins ranging from $40 up to $210 with weekly tournaments starting in the evenings, and weekend tournaments starting in the early afternoon. These tournaments are not NLHE either – you’ll get other variants like Crazy Pineapple on the schedule!

Rake

From a rake perspective, the room is on par with others we have reviewed – playing $1/$2 you’ll pay 10% up to a cap of $8, plus $2 for the bad beat jackpot on hands with a pot greater than $20. The rake may seem steep for a small room, however free food and drinks do come with that if you are seated at the right time, and it is better than other rooms in Quebec.

Bad Beat Jackpot

The room does offer a bad beat jackpot as do all of the rooms in Quebec, which starts at $50k and grows from there. We could not confirm at the time of writing what the jackpot sits at today but given that there are only eight tables at a time, and they offer a competitive tournament schedule, the jackpot does not climb as fast as it does in the other rooms – nor would it be won as often.

Overall, the action here appears to be softer than the room in Montreal and Gatineau, primarily for the location and the draw of the bigger sharks to Trois-Rivieres. However, if you enjoy a scenic drive along the St. Lawrence River and don’t mind a two-hour drive from Playground, this small room is on the rise and looking to draw more players northeast to this quaint poker room!