Playground Kahnawake guide: poker club, casino and getting there

Playground is the Kahnawake casino most people mean: the gaming complex on Route 138 in Kahnawake, the Mohawk Territory on the south shore across the Mercier Bridge from Montréal. It is open 24/7, admits players 18 and over, and is licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission rather than Loto-Québec. It is best known for its poker room, one of the largest in Canada, but it also has a large floor of gaming machines, three restaurants and a busy events calendar. This guide covers how it is regulated, what you can play, how to get there and what changes compared with the Loto-Québec casinos. Hours, games and tournament dates change, so confirm anything time-sensitive on the official Playground site before you leave.

The basics

• Address: 1500 Route 138, Kahnawake, QC J0L 1B0.
• Phone: 450-635-7653 or 1-855-685-7653.
• Opened: 2010, according to Playground's about page.
• Size: 65 poker tables, more than 1,200 gaming machines and over 128,000 square feet, per the same page.
• Hours: open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Minimum age: 18. Playground's site states it only welcomes people of legal gambling age (18+) on its premises.
• Entry: free. You need a Playground Member Card to sit at a poker table or play the gaming machines (see below).

Who regulates Playground

Playground is not run by Loto-Québec. It is licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC), the gaming regulator of the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawà:ke. The KGC licenses three kinds of land-based gaming: poker rooms, raffles and electronic gaming devices. Its poker room regulations date from 3 October 2007 and its electronic gaming device regulations from 29 March 2018.

The KGC's licensees page lists Playground twice: Playground Poker Club as a poker room licensee, and Playground as an electronic gaming device licensee. The same page says the Commission is not currently accepting new applications for land-based poker rooms or gaming device licences.

Playground also posts a notice on its site that it does not operate an online gaming site, and that any ad or website claiming otherwise is fraudulent. If you see a "Playground online casino", it is not theirs.

Your Member Card

According to the Players Guide, the Member Card is required to access the poker tables and gaming machines, and it also unlocks promotions. First-time visitors pick it up at the Guest Services desk just inside the entrance. You can sign up online ahead of time and collect the card at the desk, or register in person, which the site says takes a few minutes. Bring government photo ID.

Poker

The poker room is on the 3rd floor and runs 24/7. Playground's cash games page lists these regular stakes:

• No-Limit Hold'em: $1/$2, $1/$3, $2/$5 and $5/$10.
• Pot-Limit Omaha: 4-card and 5-card PLO at $2/$2, $2/$5 and $5/$5.
• High stakes: $10/$25, $25/$50 and $50/$100, in two separate high-stakes rooms. You can email highstakes@playground.ca to hear about upcoming games.

The waitlist runs through the Poker Atlas app. Names that stay on a list for more than an hour without checking in are removed, and the old text line has been discontinued. The page also shows live games and waiting lists in real time, which is the quickest way to judge how busy the room is before you drive over.

Perks listed on the Players Guide: free drinks for all players, free food delivered to the table for cash game players, and massage therapists at the tables at $1.50 per minute. Playground also says it has paid two of the largest bad beat jackpots in poker history, with several over $2 million.

Tournaments and series

Playground runs daily tournaments. The tournament calendar for late November 2026 shows a regular weekly rotation with buy-ins from $100 (Deepstack Turbo) to $300 (Mega Stack Bounty), plus Monster Stack and Pot-Limit Omaha/Hold'em mixed events.

The calendar also lists the WSOP Circuit Playground 2026 series from 2 to 16 November 2026. Listed events include a $400 Mini Main Event, a $1,000 Colossus, a $400 Ladies Event, a $400 Senior Event (50+), a $5,000 Mega Stack High Roller and the $2,500 Main Event, with Day 1 flights on 12, 13 and 14 November. Satellites run most evenings. Earlier series listed on the site include the MSPT Canadian Poker Championship, the Summer Million and Spring Break Power Weeks. Check the calendar for exact start times and structures, which can change.

Gaming machines

Playground spreads its machines over two floors. Besides slots, it offers electronic table games: blackjack, roulette and baccarat on terminals rather than at tables with live dealers. The Players Guide names titles such as Lightning Link, Dragon Cash and Big Hot Flaming Pots, and says drinks are free while you play.

Floor slots do not show a return to player figure the way online games do, and every machine and electronic table carries a house edge. Free drinks and promotions do not change that.

Restaurants and smoking rooms

Playground lists three restaurants: THE RAIL for comfort food, etc. Steakhouse for steaks, and ORSO Trattoria Moderna for Italian. Bookings are online through the site.

One clear difference from Loto-Québec: Playground has self-contained smoking rooms. The 2nd floor has two, both with gaming machines, and the poker floor has its own smoking room with TVs. The rest of the gaming floor is smoke-free.

Getting there from Montréal

Playground's visit page describes it as about 20 minutes from downtown Montréal.

By car

From Montréal, take Autoroute 20 to the Honoré Mercier Bridge, keep right at the fork and stay on Route 138. About five minutes after the bridge, Playground is on your right. Parking is free, valet parking is free, and RVs or other large vehicles should check with parking security. The Mercier Bridge is often congested, and Playground links to a live traffic page for it.

By bus

Take the metro to Angrignon (green line terminus), then exo bus 31 or 32 towards Châteauguay and get off at the Playground stop. Tell the driver where you are going so you do not miss it. Check exo's schedules for the last bus back, since Playground never closes.

Hotels

The visit page lists partner hotels, including one five minutes away in Kahnawake and others downtown and near the airport, some with promo codes. Rates and codes are on the page.

How Playground differs from Loto-Québec casinos

Self-exclusion is separate too. The KGC runs its own player protection program: a comprehensive self-exclusion form, submitted to a room's management or to the Commission with a recent photo and two pieces of government ID, bars you from all KGC-licensed land-based facilities. A request to lift it cannot be made within six months. Loto-Québec runs its own program for its casinos, so if you want to stop at both, sign up with both. Player complaints at KGC venues can go to third-party arbitration under the Commission's rules.

For the Loto-Québec side, see our Casino de Montréal guide. For where Playground fits among all the options, see casinos near Montréal, and for poker specifically, Montréal poker rooms.

Playing within limits

Set a budget before you cross the bridge, and remember there is no closing time to stop you. Playground's site lists the Quebec gambling help line, 1-800-461-0140. Our glossary entry on self-exclusion and our responsible gambling page have more.

Sources

Checked 5 November 2026.

• Playground, home page
• Playground, about us
• Playground, players guide
• Playground, visit us
• Playground, poker cash games
• Playground, tournament calendar
• Playground, electronic table games
• Kahnawake Gaming Commission, land-based gaming
• Kahnawake Gaming Commission, land-based licensees
• Kahnawake Gaming Commission, player protection