Prince George Casino Online, Snowbound

The whole premise of this guide is that Prestige Treasure Cove Resort connects directly to the casino. Check-in starts at 4:00 PM, check-out is no later than 11:00 AM, and guests must be 19 to check in. The hotel lists suites and accessible rooms; call 250-614-9111. Staying guests can also use a waterslide, a hot tub and an indoor pool, which stay open until 11 PM without a lifeguard.

If the weather turns, decide early. Choosing to stay before the evening starts is easier than making that call at 2 AM. Settle the room first, and the rest of the night can follow its own pace.

• 4 PMcheck-in opens
• 11 AMcheck-out
• 19+to check in
• 8 AM to 11 PMpool and hot tub

The hotel next door, in full

The Cove Café is the café and bar inside the casino. The lunch and dinner menu runs until 10 PM Sunday to Thursday and until 11 PM on Friday and Saturday. Homemade soups are on the menu, which counts for a lot on a cold night. The bar pours until midnight Monday to Thursday, 1 AM on Friday and Saturday, and 11 PM on Sunday.

Inside the hotel there are two more places. BRIXX Brewhouse is a pub with burgers, local beer and cocktails, and PixelPlay Cafe does bubble tea, baking and breakfast. Their hours are not published, so call the hotel before counting on either.

Treasure Cove opens at 9 AM and closes at 2 AM, seven days a week, and stays shut on Christmas Day. Other holiday hours are best checked by phone at 250-561-2421. Live tables open at 4:15 PM Monday to Thursday and at 11:15 AM Friday to Sunday. Poker is $1-$2 No Limit, starting at 4:30 PM Monday to Thursday with a second table at 5:30 PM.

Bingo is to the left inside the main doors, and the evening sessions start at 6 PM and 10 PM. More than 500 slot machines pay out by ticket. Every game here is set up with an edge for the house. Pick an hour in the tool below to see what is open at that time.

If you wake early, the athletic centre opens at 6 AM for guests 19 and over. The pool, hot tub and waterslide follow at 8 AM. Breakfast at the Cove Café runs from 9 AM to 11 AM every day.

The casino opens at 9 AM too, though nothing there needs to happen before coffee. Check-out is by 11:00 AM, so breakfast and packing fall in the same window. A slow start is part of the reason to stay.

Waking Up at Treasure Cove

Guests must be 19 or older to enter Treasure Cove. At the door, show acceptable government-issued photo ID together with a secondary form of ID; staff may request it again at any point in the visit. All casinos in British Columbia scan photo ID on entry and compare it with the list of people barred from entering. Once someone is admitted, the system keeps none of their personal information.

House rules ban outside alcohol, drugs and weapons, and clothing or accessories with gang-related graphics. Photos, filming and live streaming need permission. Anyone enrolled in self-exclusion, including Game Break, may not enter.

Everything the door asks for

In straight lines, the casino sits 83 km from Vanderhoof, 103 km from Quesnel and 137 km from Fraser Lake. Mackenzie is 160 km away and Burns Lake 199 km, measured the same way. Any road is longer than the line, and Snowbound gives no driving times or road reports.

Parking at the casino is free. The casino calls the hotel the first one on the way into town from Prince George Airport. For the bus, BC Transit routes 5 and 55 use stops on Upland Street; measured on the map, those stops sit about 235 to 350 metres off. Nobody has checked how a walker gets across the highway from them.

• 83 kmVanderhoof, straight line
• 103 kmQuesnel, straight line
• 137 kmFraser Lake, straight line
• 160 kmMackenzie, straight line

British Columbia allows gambling only when the province itself runs it, and BCLC handles both casinos and online play. Online, that means PlayNow.com, BCLC's own site; no other online gambling site is permitted for BC players. The minimum age is 19. The Independent Gambling Control Office, or IGCO, is the regulator.

The Ad links on Snowbound's home page lead to a private online casino the province does not run or allow. PlayNow limits and Game Break do not reach it, and a BC player there has none of the province's protections.

BC online rules in full

• Gambling Support BC, at 1-888-795-6111 or gamblingsupportbc.ca, is the province's free help line, open 24/7 for players and for people affected by someone else's gambling.
• Inside the casino, the GameSense Info Centre explains how the games work and how to keep play in check.
• Game Break, BCLC's self-exclusion, runs 6 months, 1 year, 2 years or 3 years, and you enrol in person at a casino or by video.

Help lines in British Columbia