The
Casino at Monte Carlo is a 40-minute drive from
Cannes. To get there, you pass through the delightful
towns of the French Riviera. The casino is located
in the Principality of Monaco, where you can witness
the changing of the guard at the palace.
The Casino doesn’t open until after lunch,
so you can do some sightseeing or shop for souvenirs
in the morning. If you take a bus tour, you will
be surprised to discover how many celebrities
and wealthy people live in this area. Rock stars,
movie stars and oil barons all call this resort
area home.
The Casino at Monte Carlo was built in 1878. Besides
providing casino games, it also houses the opera.
It is surrounded by gardens on the outside and
decorated with bronze lamps, paintings and sculptures
on the inside. It has many gaming rooms that are
each used for specific games.
The casino offers many table games such as roulette,
American roulette, Blackjack, Craps, Chemin de
Fer and Trente-Quarante. However, much of the
casino floor is now devoted to slot machines,
most of which are video poker.
In the casino’s brochure, the slots are
described as one-armed bandits. Even though the
table games don’t open until 3:00 or 4:00
in the afternoon, you can start playing the slots
at 10:00 A.M. The casino must be responding to
the demands of the players, who can’t seem
to get enough.
The pay schedules on the machines are very liberal,
and you can play 5, 10 or 20 francs. The bonus
on royals is available only if you play 20 francs.
The exchange rate varies of course, but as of
this writing a franc was approximately 20 cents
US. So if you play 20 francs, that is about $4.00.
There are about 150 video poker machines at the
casino. Most of them are 8/5 progressive or 9/6
jacks or better. There are also many slant-tops,
and a few rapid 5-way machines. There is a booklet
that is given out to customers to help them understand
the linked jackpot games.
However, there are some drawbacks to gambling
at this casino. For one thing, no one seems to
be able to speak English. If you have questions
about the games, it will be difficult to get an
answer unless you have someone with you who can
speak French.
Another drawback is the admission fee. You actually
have to pay 50 francs (about $10) to get into
the casino. Then there is the currency problem.
The casino will convert your American dollars
to Francs so that you can play, but the won’t
convert your winnings back to dollars. So you
may end up losing money from your winnings when
you get the currency converted due to the exchange
rate where you exchange the money.
There are two newer casinos in Monte Carlo as
well. The one that is directly across the plaza
from the old casino does not charge an entry fee
and has wall-to-wall video poker machines. There
are hundreds of them, and they pay out well.
With the rising popularity of video poker, the
old table games are losing their drawing power.
Many casinos, even those that are most well-known
for catering to the wealthy and high rollers,
are being transformed into a place for average
working people, due to the popularity of these
new games. |
