Casino games compared

This page describes the games on a Canadian casino floor and compares what Casino of the Rockies has with what the larger properties in our ranking offer. It explains how each game works. It does not recommend playing any of them, and it makes no promises about results, because there are none to make.

What this floor has

Size

19,000 sq ft, recently renovated

Hours

11 am–11 pm Sun–Thu; 11 am–1 am Fri–Sat

Slot machines

210, including electronic roulette, baccarat and blackjack

Table games

four choices, electronic only

Live dealers

none at present

Also

lottery centre, a pool table, a sports lounge with an 18-foot screen

Entry

19+, government photo ID at every visit

The casino's own pages say it plainly: "Live table games are no longer available." The resort's question-and-answer page says the same: "We offer electronic table games." The terminals can run up to eight games from one 26.5-inch touch screen, among them baccarat, roulette and sic bo.

Roulette: single zero against double zero

A roulette wheel carries numbers 1 to 36, half red and half black, plus green pockets that belong to neither side. A European wheel has one green zero, 37 pockets in all. An American wheel adds a double zero, for 38. The extra pocket matters: every bet on the layout pays as if the zeros were not there, so the double-zero wheel keeps a larger share of what is wagered over time. The arithmetic gives 2.70 per cent for the single-zero wheel and 5.26 per cent for the double-zero one. Some casinos also run a triple-zero layout; the shared Fallsview and Casino Niagara guide shows all three.

At Casino of the Rockies, roulette is played only on electronic terminals, and we could not find which layout the software uses. If you want to know before you play, ask a GameSense Advisor on the floor. At Casino Rama, the electronic roulette is published as "Double 00 Roulette", with limits of $3 to $100.

Blackjack

Blackjack is played against the dealer's hand, not against other players. You want a total closer to 21 than the dealer's without going over. The details change from table to table: how many decks are used, whether the dealer draws on a soft 17, and whether a blackjack pays 3 to 2 or 6 to 5. That last rule matters most, and the Casino Niagara guide says the payout is marked on the layout. At St. Eugene the game is electronic only. Larger rooms deal it live. Grey Eagle in Calgary publishes a high-limit blackjack room at $25 to $2,000, and Casino Rama lists Spanish 21 and Free Bet variants beside the standard game.

Poker: Texas Hold'em, cash games and tournaments

In poker you play against the other players, and the casino takes a fee. In Texas Hold'em, each player gets two private cards and shares five community cards, with four rounds of betting. A cash game uses real chips: you can sit down and leave at any point, and the blinds stay the same. A tournament charges a fixed entry, gives everyone the same stack of tournament chips and raises the blinds on a clock until one player has them all. Prizes are paid from the pool of entries. The two feel very different. A cash game rewards patience over hours, while a tournament runs to a schedule and ends.

Casino of the Rockies has no poker room at present. The casino's etiquette page still has a rule about English at the poker table, a sign that poker was dealt here in the past. For live poker in this list, Caesars Windsor runs a dedicated room, Casino Rama lists six poker tables and Stoney Nakoda lists poker among its games.

Slot machines

A slot machine is a computer that draws a random result for every spin, and its long-run return is set in its software. There is no pattern to learn and no machine is "due". Slots are also the fastest game in a casino, with a decision every few seconds, which is why responsible-gambling advisers suggest setting a time limit as well as a money limit. Casino of the Rockies counts 210 machines, a figure that includes the electronic table games. By comparison, Stoney Nakoda lists more than 300, the Manoir Richelieu's casino more than 700, Grey Eagle 975 or more, Lac-Leamy more than 1,400, Casino Rama more than 1,500, Caesars Windsor more than 2,000 and Fallsview more than 3,200.

Baccarat and punto banco

Baccarat, also called punto banco in its casino form, deals two hands: player and banker. You bet on which will finish closer to 9, or on a tie. The drawing rules are fixed, so there are no choices to make once the bet is placed. That makes it a game of pace and atmosphere rather than decisions. The banker bet wins slightly more often, so casinos charge a commission on it or change its payout. At St. Eugene, baccarat is electronic. Grey Eagle runs live baccarat, including in its high-limit room, and Caesars Windsor lists mini baccarat.

Electronic tables, sic bo and the sports lounge

Electronic tables put a table game on a screen at your seat. You may be playing against a computer-drawn result, or betting alongside others on one shared result. The advantages are low noise and no waiting for a seat. The drawback is that nothing slows you down: no shuffle, no chat with a dealer, no break between hands unless you take one. Sic bo, one of the games on the terminals at St. Eugene, is a dice game in which you bet on the outcome of three dice. The sports lounge at the casino has an 18-foot screen that can show up to six games at once, with BCLC betting terminals. We describe it because it is part of the room, not as an invitation.

Side by side