The two casinos on Calgary's north edge

ACE Casino Airport sits off Deerfoot Trail and Airport Trail, next to the Clique Hotel. There is no hotel on site; guests are directed to Hotel Clique Calgary Airport and Applause Hotel by Clique, both a few steps away. Century Downs is in Balzac, beside the CrossIron Mills shopping mall, with Calgary International Airport lying 5 km to its south in a straight line. The two stand 7.8 km apart in a straight line, a figure that knows nothing about roads.

At a radius of 8 km they make a group of their own. Five casinos, PURE Casino Calgary and Grey Eagle among them, make up another. Deerfoot Inn & Casino and Stoney Nakoda each stand alone. The pair does not link to the rest until a radius of 8.5 km, the straight-line distance from ACE Casino Airport to PURE Casino Calgary. From 9.0 km Deerfoot joins as well, and eight casinos share one group.

ACE Casino Airport covers the live side. Table games run daily 12 PM to 3 AM, and the poker room is open 24/7. That room has 12 tables for No-Limit Hold'em, Pot-Limit Omaha and live tournaments. It has its own entrance at the north-west end of the building. Beside 670 slot machines there is the Pulse Arena, a private electronic table lounge.

There is no poker room at Century Downs, and no live table games either. Slot machines and VLTs together number over 650 on the floor, with fully automated electronic roulette beside them. The rest is horses: live racing on over 60 days across spring, summer and fall, in Standardbred, Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse. An off-track betting lounge sits alongside.

Food follows the same split. ACE Casino Airport has The Kitchen, a nightly buffet, the ACE Sports Bar with a 40-foot TV wall, and a Center Bar. Century Downs has The Derby Restaurant, Celly's Sports Bar and Lounge, The Oaks Lounge and The Starting Gate Food Trailer.

ACE Casino Airport's own pages give Sunday hours in two different ways, so the guide leaves Sunday out. From Monday to Thursday the doors are open 9 AM to 5 AM; on Friday and Saturday they stay open for 24 hours. Holiday hours are a matter for the venue's own website to confirm.