Red Shores Racetrack & Casino Poker

What the Floor Actually Offers

Red Shores at Charlottetown Driving Park is, by our team’s read, essentially the only room on Prince Edward Island where you can sit in on a live poker table. You will find it at 58 Kensington Road in Charlottetown, a 5,700 square-foot gaming floor with a defined poker corner set in among Blackjack, Ultimate Texas Hold’em, Baccarat, and Roulette. World Casino Directory lists six poker tables running here, which makes it small compared to bigger Canadian casinos, but for this region it does the job.

Live Texas Hold’em is the format that is consistently confirmed. The room is not big, so the poker section feels more like a local community card room than a big-city casino spread. For a lot of players that vibe is actually a plus, our team included; expectations are just different from a downtown resort property.

Entry to the gaming floor is restricted to guests 19 and older, in line with provincial rules in PEI. The whole thing runs under a government-related structure through the Atlantic Lottery Corporation, so you are dealing with a regulated, land-based casino. No offshore ownership stories, no half-legal setups in the background.

Poker Hours - The Part That Actually Matters

Poker does not run every single day, and that is probably the one detail you do not want to gloss over when you plan a trip.

Poker is scheduled for three nights per week: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, with tables opening at 6:00 PM each night. The casino closes at 2:00 AM on those days, so the practical poker window comes out to something like eight hours if the tables run through. From Sunday to Wednesday, poker is simply off the floor.

Slots stay active for a longer daily stretch - 11:00 AM to 1:00 AM on Sunday through Wednesday, and 11:00 AM to 2:00 AM Thursday through Saturday. So if you arrive on a poker night a bit before 6:00 PM, you still have slots and other table games to keep you busy while waiting for poker to open.

From what we have seen, Friday and Saturday evenings pull in the largest and most focused poker crowd, with Thursday a little lighter. With poker limited to three nights, the people who do show up are usually there with a clear intention to play rather than just drift past a table.

Planning the Visit

Whenever someone is heading in mainly for poker, our standing advice is to call ahead. The poker and casino information line is (902) 620-4266. Race nights, private events or seasonal changes can move things around a bit, and the official website - redshores.ca - is the other place we check for any updated hours.

On arrival, things are simple enough. Parking is on-site at the Charlottetown Driving Park complex, right by the Eastlink Centre. Bring government-issued photo ID that proves you are 19 or older - the age check is done at the entrance to the gaming floor and they do not wave that rule. Once you are in, any floor staff can walk you through to the poker area; the floor is not sprawling, so nothing is far away.

Before you sit down, take a minute and confirm with the floor team what is running that night and what the table minimums and buy-ins look like. Texas Hold’em is the documented live game here, but actual minimums can change, and it is better to clarify than assume.

If you want to eat first and then head into poker mode, the on-site restaurant and the race-night buffet both sit in the mix. Buffet reservations are handled at (902) 620-4264 and the buffet price is $29.95 plus tax. On busy race evenings, we would not skip the reservation, as those seats go fast.

One general habit that works here and almost anywhere: try to show up a bit early if the poker hours are limited. Give yourself a few minutes to look around, check the room, see how the staff run the floor, and then buy in. Jumping straight into a seat in a new room, cold, usually makes the first bunch of hands feel more rushed than they need to be.

The Racino Setup

Red Shores is not a standalone poker room; it is a racino setup with harness racing, a casino floor, and food all tied into one property. The Charlottetown Driving Park has been running harness racing since 1888, and the casino part was added on later as the venue grew into a more general entertainment stop.

On live racing nights, the place picks up a very mixed crowd: racing regulars, casual slot players, and poker fans all using the same building but drifting between different areas. The 6:00 PM poker start sits nicely next to the evening race card, so a typical night can go something like this: catch a few races, have dinner at the buffet, then slide over to the tables. For a lot of visitors, that is the rhythm.

There is a second Red Shores property at 55 Greenwood Drive in Summerside, which our notes show as being more about slots and VLTs on a smaller floor. Live poker is only at Charlottetown. If you are driving in from outside the city, it is worth double-checking which address you punched into the GPS before you hit the road.

Casino Floor and What Is Around It

On the Charlottetown casino floor, you are looking at roughly 200 to 210 slot machines in rotation along with the table games area. Casino directories also point to three restaurants operating on-site. The footprint is modest - 5,700 square feet is not huge - so the poker part of the room is compact, and the feel leans more intimate and familiar than big and anonymous.

Our team’s take on this property overall is that it fits players who care more about a regulated, predictable spot with clear hours than about sheer size. With poker funnelled into that three-night structure, the action on a good Friday or Saturday can bunch up nicely, which can work in your favor if you like a room where most people are really playing rather than just killing time.

Contact Details

For poker-specific questions and current status on tables, the casino information line is the direct route. The racing office numbers are separate and handle race scheduling and related details, so it is worth not mixing those up when you only need table game information. Red Shores also keeps a Facebook page under “redshoresPEI”, and table game hours have at times appeared there as short video updates. Every now and then, those posts get refreshed a bit faster than the main website.

If you like to have everything written down before you go, you can simply note the key contacts:

1. Casino information: (902) 620-4266
2. Buffet reservations: (902) 620-4264
3. General inquiries: (902) 620-4222 or toll-free (877) 620-4222
4. Website and social: redshores.ca and “redshoresPEI” on Facebook

Responsible Gaming

Red Shores operates under the gaming rules set by the Province of Prince Edward Island. The minimum age for any gaming activity on the property is 19. Responsible gambling resources are provided through the Government of PEI at princeedwardisland.ca, and the casino’s link to the Atlantic Lottery Corporation means there is a formal player protection framework backing the operation.

There is no Red Shores-branded online poker room in the picture right now. Everything poker-related here takes place at the physical tables. Players in Canada who want online poker have to look to other provincially regulated online platforms, because Red Shores does not run a digital poker product at this point.

We always suggest that visitors set a session budget before stepping onto the floor and keep to it once play starts. If, while you are there, something about your own play or someone close to you feels off, use the responsible gaming materials the casino posts on-site or the PEI government resources instead of third-party advice. Make sure you have ID in your wallet before you arrive, and if you need details on self-exclusion programs or setting gaming limits, front-line staff or official provincial contacts are the places to start that conversation.