View Royal casino visit

Introduction

by the Wizard2011-07-15 11:02:23 (edited 2011-07-18 17:46)

During my trip to Victoria, British Columbia, I stayed from July 8 to July 12, 2011. In a different blog post, I'll share other happenings from my time in Victoria. This entry will solely concentrate on my experience at the View Royal casino.

The View Royal casino stands as one of just two casinos situated on Vancouver Island, with the other located quite far to the north. Hence, View Royal is essentially the most convenient gambling venue for anyone in Victoria. Upon my arrival, I only knew that the casino was situated on the outskirts of the city. Without a car rental planned, I expected to have to take a taxi to reach it.

Fortunately, I discovered that this wasn't necessary after all. The View Royal casino is quite accessible from downtown Victoria. The helpful staff at the visitor center in the Victoria inner harbor provided me with a brochure about the casino and a timetable for the complimentary shuttle service. The shuttle operates every 90 minutes, stopping at six central locations in Victoria, including the Royal Museum.

The shuttle journey lasts around 20 minutes. Ironically, the View Royal casino, despite its name, does not offer a magnificent view—it overlooks a used car lot instead. The establishment is moderately sized, featuring about 500 slot machines and roughly 20 table games. All casinos in British Columbia, including several others, are closely regulated by the provincial government, although private companies manage them. According to the slot manager at View Royal, all BC casinos participate in the same player reward program and generally follow the same gaming rules.

I quickly realized that gambling was the primary activity at the View Royal. There is a no-smoking policy (which is nice), no alcohol served (unfortunate), and no music is played (also unfortunate). The patrons appeared to be predominantly locals, but it was hard to gauge since many players seemed to be engrossed in their games without conversing. From my observations, Canadians tend to be more reserved and quiet compared to Americans, but the atmosphere at View Royal was especially subdued even for Canadian norms. If you appreciate a quieter environment while playing, this casino suits that preference well. However, if you're hoping for an exhilarating atmosphere beyond just gambling, you might be disappointed. The average age of the players seemed to be around 50.

I visited the casino on Sunday, July 10, between 7 PM and 9 PM. Around half of the table games had dealers, and typically, there were about three players at each table. I would estimate that around a quarter of the slot machines were in use. Aside from the gaming area, there is a snack bar located in a separate room. Within the penny slots section, there's a small bar where alcoholic drinks are available for order. However, you cannot get these drinks anywhere else in the casino. Additionally, there's a counter dedicated to selling lottery tickets. Now, let's discuss the specific games offered and their associated rules.

Video Poker

Video poker seems to be less favored at the View Royal. I would estimate that the ratio of traditional slots to video poker machines is around 20 to 1. The games that I did locate were of multiple denominations, including the following:

Deuces Wild

• 25¢: 25-15-10-4-3-2 (94.82%)
• 50¢ 16-13-10-4-3-2 (96.77%)
• $1 25-15-9-4-4-3 (98.91%)

Double Bonus

• 25? 8-5 (94.19%)
• 50¢, $1 9-6 (97.81%)

Jacks or Better

• 25? 6-5 (95.00%)
• 50¢ 7-5 (96.15%)
• $1 8-5 (97.30%)

When compared to Las Vegas, the payouts for these games are relatively low.

Slots

The BC casinos web site says:

In general, due to the \"house edge,\" slots tend to retain approximately 8% of all wagers made throughout the lifespan of their operation.

While the BC slots do not explicitly state a 92% payout, I would concur that this figure is an industry average, which aligns closely with what you'd find in Las Vegas.

Video Keno

I took note of the payout tables for 8-spot keno and examined them after returning home, as shown below.

• 25¢, 50¢ 8-spot (92.31%)
• $1 8-spot (92.62%)

For the 25? game, the 92.3% payout appears competitive with Vegas. However, the 92.6% return for the $1 game is somewhat lacking; in Las Vegas, you might expect around 94%.

Blackjack

Here are the blackjack rules.

• 6 decks
• Continuous shuffler
• Dealer hits soft 17
• Late surrender
• Double any two cards
• Double after split allowed
• No resplitting aces
• The dealer doesn't hold any cards initially, and a player will only lose their initial wager if the dealer draws a blackjack. If the player chooses to surrender and the dealer has a blackjack, all bets are lost.

The house has a 0.55% advantage when optimal basic strategy is applied.

They also offered a less favorable version of the Lucky Ladies side bet, which offers 9 to 1 for a suited 20, resulting in a house edge of 24.7%.

It's worth mentioning that the tables did provide basic strategy cards. However, these were tailored to a different rule set, specifically one where the dealer stands on a soft 17, and players cannot surrender or double down after a split. Here’s how much a player might lose by following the provided card instead.

• Not surrendering when appropriate: 0.088%
• Not splitting when appropriate: 0.016%
• Not doubling when appropriate: 0.004%
• Total errors: 0.108%

Craps

Unfortunately, there were no craps tables available. Until about five years prior, dice games were entirely prohibited in Canada. I've heard that the larger casinos on the mainland do have the game, but it hasn't been popular enough to warrant inclusion in a smaller place like View Royal.

Other games

• Roulette (double zero)
• 4-Card Poker
• Baccarat
• EZ Baccarat
• Texas Shootout

Poker

While I was there, they also had an electronic poker game that was out of service.

Player Club

The players' club is beneficial for those who enjoy slots. However, people playing table games do not accrue points. Points are collected at the following rates:

• Slots: $1 bet = 1 point
• Video blackjack & baccarat: $5 bet = 1 point
• Video roulette: $5 bet = 4 points.

Earning 1,000 points equates to $5 in free play. This translates to a return rate of 0.5% for slot players, 0.1% for video blackjack & baccarat players, and 0.4% for video roulette.

The players' club features three types of membership cards: single, double, and triple diamond. To reach double diamond, you only need 7,500 in turnover, and for triple diamond, it's 45,000. This is quite easy compared to Las Vegas. Double diamond status grants an extra 5% in bonus points, while triple diamond status gives a 10% boost.

Staff

In general, I found the staff to be accommodating when I asked questions. Yet, the dealers I encountered were just as reserved as the customers. Even after tipping, a simple 'thank you' was rare. There was an evident sense of indifference from the dealers due to their tips being pooled. On the other hand, the floor supervisor was very helpful in responding to my many inquiries.

The staff at the players' club desk near the entrance were significantly friendlier and more willing to assist, though they were not familiar with some gaming terms that are common in Las Vegas. When they couldn't provide an answer, they called the slot manager who came down to help.

I must admit, I can be somewhat annoying with my questions. For instance, outside of the casino, I'd ask every waitress about the difference between shrimp and prawns. A lot of them mistakenly said the only distinction was size, but that’s a different topic altogether.

Summary

In conclusion, I found the View Royal casino to be a pleasant spot for casual gambling, although it isn't worth going out of your way to visit. You can find similar gaming options and rules as you would in any small casino across North America.

I've heard rumors about the possibility of a larger casino being constructed near the cruise ship terminal in Victoria. If I lived there, I would strongly oppose such a development. It would, in my opinion, detract from the charm of Victoria, which is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful and clean cities I've ever experienced.

Links

• BC Casinos home page .
• View Royal casino
• Wizard of Vegas forum entry about my review.

Written by: Michael Shackleford