Does anyone know anything about poker in Macau?

I heard that they have huge private games there (often in hotel rooms above the casino). Do they have poker rooms there? What are they like? Is Holdem the game of choice?

BA

There's about to be a whole lot of drunk people!

Hey Brandon,

I'll be out in HK next semester studying abroad and I'm interested in the same thing. I talked to someone who was at Wynn Macau's opening and they said it didn't have a poker room, but that there was still planned expansion so who knows now.

On a side note, I think my high school friend Ravi at Harvard knows you. Tell him playing me heads up is -EV haha. Anyways, I'd like to see what others have to say on the topic.

The way I hear it, China is the wave of the future when it comes to poker, so games should be plentiful. Be sure to watch out for the TOTAL GLOBAL DOMINATION though.

I heard there wasn't I'll be in HK starting Dec 24th -> Jan 10th. I'm sure ill call them up when im there to see if they got any. GF will call them when we are there, considering i speak no chinese or portugese.

what others think? dave, good thing you are going to HK--you are getting away from an embarrassing game. stick to what you know buddy, this isnt it.

I will be going to HK in early January and will be spending about 4 days in Macau.

Last I went they had no poker rooms and no one cared. The bacarrat tables were all full and everyone was throwing money around. People just don't know holdem right now. They prefer quicker action games like bacarrat, pai gow, & blackjack.

The casino floor makes so much on these pit games that poker rakes will seem like pennies and lots of real estate must be used to open up a poker room. Until the boom has arrived I don't think we'll see any poker rooms there.

Olivert has mentioned about the WPT launching there, was it in 07, 08, or 09? I'd be so willing to pay huge rakes if they started games there. The action would be crazy and many novice Chinese poker players play open enders or flush draws like the nuts. It would be alot of fun and with a bit of luck, huge potential to make decent $.

No poker so I'll just visit China City, new clubs and Rio. If Wynn had a poker rooom that would be sweet. It won't happen for at least another year before the poker boom explodes there. Probably more.

WPT will be on Macau Cable TV in 2007. That's really small potatoes (expected viewership to be on the order of 1000 households or less) given that most of the gamblers in Macau are day-trippers from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the GuangDong Province of China. (Cantonese is the dialect of choice in Macau.)

(Discovery Channel Asia won't air the BetFair APT in China, Taiwan, or Hong Kong until the Spring of 2007.)

I don't expect a WPT event in Macau at the MGM Grand Macau until the 1st quarter of 2008 at the earliest. The MGM Grand Macau won't open until the 4th quarter of 2007.

There is a possibility that another American-owned mega-resort casino in Macau (i.e. Wynn Macau or Venetian Macau) will host a major televised poker tournament in the 2nd half of 2007. That event obviously will NOT be a WPT event.

Nothing has been announced yet.

Texas Hold'em will eventually have a niche in Macau, but I don't expect much if any progress until 2008.

(My client swung my Macau on her trip to Singapore in November. She told me that those hourly Air Macau "gambler" commuter flights between Taipei and Macau were jam-packed.)

Ravi- Do you live in Sacremento??
I think I may know you..

"My client swung my Macau on her trip to Singapore "

Is that a euphemism or a typo ?

Otherwise, thanks for the information.

Typo. I meant "...swung by Macau..."

I went to The Sands in Macau last december. It was a zoo in there. More pit games then I've ever seen in my life in 1 area. I'd say the area had to be at least 1/2 a football field in size. Every table was full of people and there were people side betting. I really don't think they care about poker. It doesnt have enough action.

I was there a year and a half ago on Easter weekend (4-day weekend for many HK people) and it was pretty crazy. Cheapest minimum at a blackjack table (or any table game) was $300 HK - close to $40 U.S. at the time. Every seat at every table in the place was full. Mind you, that may have been the busiest time of the year, but it would be great if the Wynn or whomever got some poker games running there. Tons of $$ flowing through that place from HK and the mainland. I saw an interview with the Sands CEO where he said Macau had already eclipsed Vegas as the largest gambling market in the world...

there is nothing there

No poker in Macau. Just Pai Gow poker.

Yes, it is nuts there. Both the 1st & 2nd floors at the Sands were totally busy.

With all the people and action there, I was really disappointed in a few aspects of the place though. People seemed to be real uneducated and rude. The staff weren't really friendly and the cage team took forever to cashout. The scan every single chip first but only have about 3-4 girls working when the lines over ten deep.

Safety, I didn't feel very safe when lining up to cashout, people stand VERY close to you and they generally look like bums. I'd say one out of ten looked clean cut and somewhat decent. I know that sounds harsh but I just wish they had more security around that area and control it better, people were squeezing in line and standing WAY too close. I was holding onto my wallet and passport very tight for that 20min wait at the cage. I hope the Wynn is better than the Sands.

Lisboa obviously was a total hole. I was approached twice in 30 minutes by loan sharks asking if I needed money. LOL. Oh the whores at Lisboa were pretty gross too. At least the Sands ho's were waiting around at the bar and a few were smokin hot wearing beautiful evening gowns, the Lisoboa ones looked cheap and very obvious.

I don't want to sound racists, but Chinese people seem to be very rude, have no manners and no concern for their appearance. It's funny that most Japanese are the polar opposite of this.

Arbitrage,

if you are an american, this might well be the funniest thing I have ever read on a message board. There is no nation on this planet more rude, devoid of manners, and care less of their apperance then the obese americans.

Thanks for making me laugh before I go to sleep.

My family and I are from Hong Kong, and we like differentiate ourselves from people coming from China. Your above description of Chinese people matches our stereotype of people from China.

Concur with the Japanese comment. People in Japan generally are very polite and treat guests with much respect. Lots of bowing and respects for people around them.

I know people in HK totally look at mainland Chinese people in a different way. A person from Hong Kong will always say that they are from "Hong Kong" not China. Is it a fear of embarrassment? They even have a name for them specifically like "ah chunz" or something like that.

I'm in HK for a 6 month posting for work, and I'm going to Macau this weekend. I would really like to play in a hold'em game, but I can't seem to find any casino that would offer it. I've heard of some casinos offering limit hold'em, but the big bet is about HK$200, which is quite steep.

Which casino is that? I may go and take a stab at in a few weeks.

You sure about that? Where is the game and where did you hear this from? Big bet of $200 so it's a 100-200 lhe game?

Thats is pretty much equal to a 15-30game (usd)

I'd rather play no limit but if they only have limit 100-200, its better than nothing.

I'm there in a month!

Do they casinos in Macau have european dealers? Anyone know?

Mostly Chinese dealers.