Casino de Montréal, Casino in Parc Jean-Drapeau, Montreal, Canada
The Casino de Montréal occupies the former France and Quebec pavilions of Expo 67 on Notre-Dame Island. Its curved facade is lined with tall pale vertical fins, and a stack of balconies with metal railings projects on the right. A low canopy on angled columns carries black banners reading "CASINO", and red letters mark the wall above the entrance. Grey steps lead to glass doors.
The casino occupies the former France and Quebec pavilions of Expo 67; the France building had become the Palais de la Civilisation. Quebec's cabinet approved the project on December 15, 1992, architects Jean Faugeron and André Blouin fitted out 5,100 m² over several floors, and it opened on October 9, 1993, at a cost of $95 million. Expansions followed in 1994 and 1996, and the Quebec Pavilion was added in 2013.
The casino's name comes from its island setting in Parc Jean-Drapeau, and its cabaret, the Cabaret du Casino de Montréal, seats 500 and is the only performance hall in Montreal where guests can dine during a show. Interior work at opening involved artists Micheline Beauchemin, Serge Lemoyne and Marie-Christiane Mathieu and designers Michel Morelli and Alain Albert. Each New Year's party runs from afternoon into the next morning with DJs, musicians and a giant countdown screen.
Access is via the De la Concorde bridge through Cité du Havre, or by metro to Jean-Drapeau station on neighbouring Saint Helen's Island, then a dedicated connecting bus. The casino is open seven days a week, from morning until late night; since 2020 it closes at 3:00 a.m., or 5:00 a.m. at weekends. Three restaurants and five bars are inside.
In April 1994, player Daniel Corriveau won $600,000 at keno by picking 19 of the 20 winning numbers three times in a row. He said he used a computer and chaos theory to find a pattern; investigators found the machine was restarted each morning with the same seed, repeating its sequence. He was cleared and kept the winnings.
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