River Rock Casino Resort in

Richmond, British Columbia Richmond is a city in the coastal Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Mainly a suburban city, it occupies almost the entirety of Lulu Island (excluding Queensborough, New Westminster, Queensborough), between the two estuarine dis ...

is the largest

casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

in the province of

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. The casino is owned by

Great Canadian Entertainment Great Canadian Entertainment is a Canadian gaming, entertainment and hospitality company. Prior to its acquisition by Apollo Global Management in September 2021, the company was listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and was part of the S&P/TSX Com ...

. The hotel has a total of 396 rooms, including standard rooms and suites and it is situated on the river with a 144-berth

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...

. The casino has 10,000 visitors per day on average and generated an annual revenue of $244 million as of August 2006.

History

The casino was built on the site of the former Bridgepoint Market in Richmond. It first opened to the public on June 25, 2004. Several variances were needed from the City of Richmond to allow it to open with service that customers expect. This included a modification of its liquor licence and operating licence to allow liquor to be consumed in the casino's theatre. It hosted the British Columbia Poker Championships in November 2005, 2006 and 2007. The premier event of the Johnny Chan Poker Championship was also held in 2007. The 2006

Gemini Awards The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in th ...

were presented at the River Rock Casino Resort, marking the ceremony's West Coast debut; the event is normally held in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. The grand atrium of the resort also contains the first spiral escalators to ever be installed in Canada.

Transportation

The casino is served by Bridgeport Station on the

Canada Line The Canada Line is a rapid transit line in Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, that is part of the SkyTrain (Vancouver), SkyTrain system. The line is owned by TransLink (British Columbia), TransLink and InTransitBC and is operated by SN ...

SkyTrain, located across from the casino. Bus service, operated by TransLink, is provided via bus routes within walking distance of the casino. The casino is located about five minutes from

Vancouver International Airport Vancouver International Airport is an international airport located on Sea Island (British Columbia), Sea Island in Richmond, British Columbia, Richmond, British Columbia, serving the city of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland region. It is lo ...

, on Richmond's Sea Island. It is also near Highway 99, the main highway connecting

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

to the southern suburbs. The casino also plans to build a 1,200-parking space complex for casino patrons and for park-and-ride transit use. The 1,200 stall parkade will cost $33 million to build. TransLink (the Canada Line Operator) will give the Great Canadian Casino Corporation land worth $9.5 million, and $4.5 million in cash in return for building the park-and-ride facility. Transit users will be charged $2.50 to use the facility.

River Rock Casino and the film industry

Because the Vancouver area has a big film industry, River Rock has played host to various productions looking for casino filming locations. While this is generally well received, there have been some unfortunate incidents. On 8 November 2006, three photographers made their way onto a closed section of the hotel's balcony intending to photograph actress

Denise Richards Denise Lee Richards (born February 17, 1971) is an American actress, TV personality, and model. She rose to prominence with roles in the science fiction film ''Starship Troopers'' (1997), the erotic thriller film '' Wild Things'' (1998), and the ...

during filming of the movie ''

Blonde and Blonder ''Blonde and Blonder'' is a 2008 Canadian comedy film directed by Dean Hamilton and starring Pamela Anderson, Denise Richards, and Emmanuelle Vaugier. The film was released on January 18, 2008. The title is a nod to the 1994 comedy ''Dumb and Du ...

''. In an ensuing argument, she allegedly threw a laptop computer belonging to one photographer off the balcony, striking the arm of an elderly lady in a wheelchair. The casino was also prominently featured in the ''

Psych ''Psych'' is an American detective comedy-drama television series created by Steve Franks for USA Network. The series stars James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department whose "heightened o ...

'' episode entitled " Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Piece."

Loan sharking controversy

A report released by the

British Columbia Lottery Corporation The British Columbia Lottery Corporation is a Canadian Crown corporation that manages all legal gambling (AKA gaming) products in British Columbia including lottery tickets, casinos and online gambling. It is based in Kamloops, with a secondar ...

showed that out of 56 incidents of a casino patron in British Columbia being barred from gambling for suspected

loan shark A loan shark is a person who offers loans at Usury, extremely high or illegal interest rates, has strict terms of debt collection, collection, and generally operates criminal, outside the law, often using the threat of violence or other illegal, ...

ing activity, 34 of those incidents took place at River Rock. Controversy within Richmond was further stirred when the RCMP admitted it could do little to stop loan sharking unless a victim came forward, yet it was the suspected motive for a variety of kidnappings, extortions, threats and violence. The most prominent case occurred when Rong Lilly Li, a suspected loan shark, disappeared after last being seen getting into a van outside the casino on 26 May 2006. Her body was finally recovered on the weekend of 9–10 September 2006. A June 2016 audit found that the casino knowingly allowed high rollers to buy chips with funds from lenders with anti-

money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...

restrictions who were being investigated by the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

Concerts and pageants

Miss Chinese (Vancouver) Pageant have been hosted at the casino venue in 2009 and has been used as venue for Cantopop stars from Hong Kong for their North American tours.

References

External links

* {{coord, 49.196257, -123.128141, type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures in Richmond, British Columbia Casinos in British Columbia Casinos completed in 2004 Casino hotels in British Columbia