I agree with Quothorn. I am from the US and have lived in the area for almost 4 years. Macau is MUCH safer than any US city you will visit, especially Vegas!

Welcome to Macau!

Goto meetup.com
Search for card games,poker, region Hong Kong and look for "Hong Kong Poker House"

I would be careful about playing anything other than the restaurant poker games in HK, i.e. you pay for dinner and drinks and get a free entry to a poker tournament and you can win a bottle of booze or something minor. HK has very strict laws re gaming and we understand the police are already reviewing the activities of this room as cash games are rumoured to be taking place (why are there lock ins otherwise) and in HK it is illegal even under the gaming (as opposed to gambling) ordinance to give away prizes with a monetray value over some miniscule amount. Giving away seats to Macau tournaments is in breach of these regulations I don't think its high priority for the police when compared to busting illegal sports bookies so maybe nothing will happen but why people would risk it when you can play 100% legally an hour away is a mystery.

I am sure the room operators will have a smart answer, but I have also seen two legal opinions that I will try and get a copy of and post

Please do, I would like to know too

Put it simply..if they can ban poker they can ban majohn aswell. They are both essentially the same, play against each other rather than against the house.

Mah Jong is a special case...

MJ houses were granted special licences many years ago. Those licences were special in that they were good for the owner only, so once the licencee passes away...those business will lose their licence and cease to exist. There arent very many MJ houses left in HK and there aren't any new ones opening.

Crime in Macau, HK, or Mainland China is very rare, outside of petty theft.

A huge deterrent is that even minor crimes are punished harshly. Then again, if somebody is going to commit a crime, they might just kill you because the penalty for murder vs. theft isn't all that different.

while that sucks, crime is very low. Don't worry about it.

Yeah I was riding a rickshaw past the opium dens and man, you gotta watch yourself

C'mon, you can't see the opium dens from the road

LMAO

Spent much time in Asia, FatMan? Where do you get this info, FOX news?

Well, if he's right about the penalties, this makes sense. When the soviet union enacted capital punishment for rape, suddenly a very large percentage of rape victims were also murder victims, much larger than before.

I'm in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Macau a combined 45-60 days a year. Now granted, I'm not local and I'm just there on business, but the idea that anywhere in china is rife with crime is something I've not been exposed to.

Like I said before - there isn't an absence of crime, but in relation to other places, violent crimes are not common. And penalties are harsh. I think Hong Kong is one of the safest cities in the world as long as you don't run afoul with the organized crime - which is a different matter altogether.

You surprise me with your earlier comments.
Did you know Macau and Hong Kong has a well developed western style justice system? Theft and robbery will give you 1-5 years in jail...murder is life. How is this different from USA or UK? Theft and robbery will not give you the same punishment as murder as you suggested.
Zipping through the country living in 5 star hotels did not give you a very good insight to the country it would seem.

The reason I say that is because a fair amount of the crime committed in Macau and HK is from Chinese mainlanders who do not have a good grasp of the judicial system. In the mainland, the crime for theft vs. murder is similar. Many do not realize the difference and thus, you can find yourself on the wrong end of a blade for no good reason.

All in all, this is not much of an issue because outside of the possibilities of pickpocketing in HK or Macau and petit larceny, you are in a very safe environment.

My initial comment was made to agree that the areas are safe, especially in comparison to the US and especially some areas where casinos are located (like AC).

It appears I misunderstood your initial post, although I dispute that theft punishments are similar to murder as murder is normally a capital offence in China and theft certainly isn't. Not unless you are stealing $100,000,000 from the government anyway.
I agree with you that the only crime a regular person is likely to experience is pickpocketing or similar and that in general China including Macau and HK is a very safe place to be.

From wikipaedia:

The Republic of China Criminal Code (zh:中華民國刑法) rules the following offenses eligible for death penalty, although none of them carries mandatory death penalty[3]:

* Treason (Article 101)
* Espionage (Article 103,104,105,107)
* Hijacking (Article 185-1)
* Murder (Article 271,272)
* Robbery with murder, rape, or arson (Article 332)
* Piracy (Article 333,334)
* Kidnapping (Article 347,348)

Article 63 of the Criminal Code also rules that death penalty cannot be imposed on juvenile offenders aged under 18 or senile offenders aged above 80 for any offenses.

Other special laws which rule non-compulsory capital offenses:

* Unauthorized manufacture, trafficking or selling of heroin, opium, morphine or cocaine (Act for the Control of Drug Abuse, zh:毒品危害防制條例 Article 4)[4]
* Unauthorized manufacture, trafficking or selling of firearm weapons (Act for the Control of Weapons, zh:槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例 Article 7)[5]
* Serious counterfeiting which disturbs financial order(Act for the Punishment of Counterfeiting, zh:妨害國幣懲治條例 Article 3)[6]

Nice post, I live in HK and didn't know half this stuff

Where can I get a license for that?

Quick post about games in Hong Kong mentioned earlier. Check this out.

http://tv.pokernews.com/Hong+Kong+Po...use/1778583613

APT will apparently be holding the "HK Cup" in Macau on December 6th in conjunction with Ironmonger Events, the Corporate Events Company. More news to follow.

For HK and Macau residents only, looks like an interesting concept, have an interview with them Monday and will advise further

Oh my god

GTFO you online pros!

What's the best night to check this place out? My friends tell me that there isn't alot of traffic there.

It seemed reasonably busy Tue-Friday, they had a visit from the police at the weekend, so not sure if that had an impact. I think the police are trying to understand how gambling which is banned across HK except for gambling via Hong Kong Jockey Club is thriving in poker clubs. There are some technicalities that are allowing them to operate a poker room (great for the guys that cant get to Macau), but we will see how practical application of law goes as opposed to a lawyers interpretation of law.

I only go there on Saturdays (I can't play on Friday...I work 6 day week )
Saturdays theres usually 4 tables. On Fridays I hear all 7 tables are full. Busier than Grand Waldo.