The issue in macau is twofold: players are just too serious, and rake is of course very high. Now all the poker rooms offer free alcohol. I did a little experiment, couple of times ordered 3 glasses of wine. The free wine came, I enjoyed a glass and begged players at the table to join me to no avail. Regs and recs both didn't want to drink while playing, several people said they'll happily have a glass once they left the table. Both times were on the weekend too.. sums up the state of macau poker.

Different cultures, Chinese in general aren’t drinkers and if you try to be table mood maker, might be looked at as an annoying GwaiLo. Complete different vibes to the West.

It’s great as is rn, it’s not too serious. Many beginners are forced to play 50/100 as entry stakes which is beautiful.
(Yeah mgm has 25/50 but all action is in Taipa)

Yes, a lot of Asians can't drink much or in some cases any alcohol cos of genetics, they lack in an enzyme. But even if they drink, when gambling they usually drink tea. Like they drink tea on many occasions. Just local culture. Much healthier than the crap we usually drink BTW

^ have had mainland chinese friends that would have 5-6 beers then up to 10 shots on a night out so some of them can definitely drink

But these friends at the poker table wouldn't have a sip of alcohol.

Macao is not the same anymore. After covid my winrate dropped from 18 to 7.5 bb/hr on 50/100 & 100/200. 5k+ hr sample for both

So is it MGM macau side offers 25/50 and nowhere else? How about the MGM Taipa side?

10k hrs * 18bb per hr * 150 (average of BB being 100 and 200 as you said)
= $27 million HKD

If you've made more than $27M HKD from macau live poker why were you starting out last November playing $0.10/$0.25 online poker as your posting history indicate? Shouldn't you be sitting in the highest stakes possible live and online?

Or you meant you played 5k+ hours each on each stake after covid. Considering they reopened from Jan that's 8 months * 30 days * 24hrs a day which = 5760 hours. So even if you're a robot that never sleeps or leaves the table you couldn't have possibly put in that many hours as claimed. And def after making $27M HKD would not be playing 25NL online according to your other posts.

IMHO fraudsters in these info threads where people make travel decisions based on info provided should be insta-banned.

If all the people with exceptional imagination gonna be banned, various discussion boards worldwide would lose 70% of traffic

I wonder what does 100/200hkd game in Macau look like if no one is drinking at the table. At least from my experience in Europe 2/5 and up if no one is drinking at the table games are pretty tough.
Are there bad players who play on a regular basis in those games or you have some VIP gamblers who jump in at random or it's close to high stakes online where pro's battling pro's with a hope that some fish comes and punts a few buyin's?

There’s gonna be a dozen+ 100/200 table’s during Golden Week if you’re wondering what it looks like. Similar view to heaven.

No alcohol needed to push action with Chinese gamblers. It’s in their veins.
Latest Triton episode was sick and none were drinking.

(Koreans are champs when on tilt) No one spews harder.

Generally outside holiday periods 1/200 is the worst stake in macau. Worst reg to tourist ratio. Go lower and you'll find some recs, while higher stakes that have no waiting lists attract the whales.

1/200 during golden week should be good if you're happy paying $250 usd a night for a crappy 2-3star hotel or have someone to stay/rent with..

In the early 2009-2012 days 100/200 was somewhat similar to what 25-50 became eventually post 2015. Chinese economy still booming hard as ****, lots of extra money to spend, some kinda new, unknown game where you get an opportunity to potentially humiliate foreigners. Every limit was juicy more or less, depending on a day. After a while obviously the initial excitement dried up and same people realized can have the same type of fun, just at cheaper stakes if still were hooked on playing poker.

So 100-200 became a wierd as **** "transitional" stake notorious for "bum-hunting" and quiet teamplaying. The average span of a 100-200 table on a weekday late pre-Covid was 3 hours. When "target" is eliminated, everyone goes around their business or jumps back in 50-100 which is bread and butter. On weekends sometimes when 50-100 list is too full, regs start these tables themselves and softplay for a while until someone appears. Rinse repeat.

The question regarding a generic Chinese person drinking or not at the table comes down to one simple factor that stems from their background. In Chinese culture the concept of "face" is very prominent. Secondly, middle-aged Chinese men are not exactly the most open-minded type to nonchalantly just small-talk with everybody around. Regardless of their poker skillset or bankroll, in their mind if they misplay a hand, for example or perform another "embarassing" act while drinking, in the eyes of others they consider it to be 3x more humiliating than would've been otherwise. In addition, they take great pride in winning at an intellectual game, regardless if their actions justified the outcome. And absence of drinking in their minds allows for a higher chance of that happening.

**Main point is basically that it doesn't automatically mean that if noone is drinking the table is tough, just the mentality in general is different.

Having vast experience in non-poker games in Macau, there's I would say about 5-6x increase of Chinese actually enjoying alcohol in "feel based" games like baccarat, etc. And 20x+ in slots where zero intelligence is required whatsoever.

The Chinese guys who drink at poker tables usuaaaaally, fall under 2 categories :

1. Due to various reasons they're actually there to have fun.
2. A very strong pro at an easy table, extending the tables longevity, while simultaneously getting even more high from making money.

Some of the days, driving home after work, been having thoughts about just signing a 1 year contract on 3 bedroom One Grantai or something and "going back to the roots" as I feel part of me been missing. Rent out the other rooms while I'm away, grind the rest of the time. But the older you get, on top of all the other family commitments, you tend to triple think every decision which is not a great trait to have if wanted to go back to grinding. Plus Macau is just soooo damn boring in general, it's nuts.

#Nordling89 It seems i was a bit too optimistic, thinking that high stakes there would be anything but ''bum-hunting'', even Macau don't have immunity to this. #1000lakes you said higher stakes without waiting lists attracts whales, what stakes are we talking about like 300/600 or some super nosebleeds like 5k/10k hkd?

Maybe someone who played recently (2023) 50/100 could give me an example what that game looks like on a random tuesday night. What would be expected pro to rec ratio at the table, are most rec's tight straight forward players, or more on the splashy side like 70% VPIP, limp call 10bb isolation raise with any two cards, type of players.

100/200 was never considered high-stakes at any point. just a weird transitional limit as I've mentioned. Even though technically it kinda qualifies for it but the line ups and game dynamics are drastically different from 300/600+.

This whole year only went once to play, more like socialize with old friends. Mentioned my experience few months ago, was exactly as I expected. Can't give a more balanced detailed answer though, since gotta be physically present for at least a week to observe.

One thing can say for sure is that if the poker recovery is going well and the games are nice. There will be exactly 0 people telling us all about it on this forum.

#Nordling89 Can you be more specific what's so drastically different at 300/600+?

I didn't get the last part, you mean games are getting better and bigger? You don't think anyone who plays from time to time is on this forum?

Yes, can be more specific. Needa open some wine though first. If you got a list of any questions in particular can write them. Will answer one by one, otherwise will just give a general reply to your question. Even though not completely sure what value my answer will provide for you apart from general idea.

It's one thing to know something, another to understand it, and completely another to actually apply the knowledge.

I believe it's common knowledge that poker in general is a very competitive environment filled with people that hold self-interest and their "edge" to themselves. If somehow I found out about an insane game where can print money daily in Zambia for example. Would I be here "sharing it with the world"? The reason why I put "myself" as an example is because to a large extent I've moved on in life for a while already. And having minimal bias regarding what happens pokerwise anywhere. And had to ask myself, what would I do in this situation. Hence I came up with the answer that I would still not share, that means absolutely 0 people would unless they play for charity from some ChristianFreeMoneyPoker.com foundation.

#Nordling89 Ye i get that, but very few people have the skill and bankroll to even try those games, and most won't even take the chance to travel to the other side of the world even if they are sure games are good since they can make good money from the comfort of theyr home with minimum expenses. My question was simple whats the difference lets say between 50/100 and 300/600.

Can i DM you if i have more questions? Don't want to flood the forum since it's more about my personal interest rather then general discussion.

Problem with posting Alpha here is that it’s mostly a one-way street. Most are leechers and quite rude too tbh lol. Don’t give back.
I’m in Macau 8 months of the year, grind here everyday when in town.

Years ago, would meet fellow 2p2ers and have actual conversations to share ideas, strat etc…
Kinda not worth nowadays imo.

I beat 1/200 in Macau but I'm b/e at 25z. Something wrong with that?

Stay away please
And u wont have a great winrate anyway theese days.

just back from a weekend break. Played at MGM Cotai 50/100. Was buzzing around 5-6 tables. Not much of a wait list. There is renovations to expand the room. Nice and friendly table.

Reg chats is that Grand Lisboa (cotai) is also trying to get a room up and running.

I would say poker is truly alive and looking good.


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Lisboa Palace Poker room has already opened for weeks but of course traffic is meh as location isn’t ideal.

MGM will do well as long as they keep up with the good service and nice perks. Free fresh juice and food is real nice. Able to phone in for a seat is nice too, hope other rooms copy.

Agree the MGM room is much more recs friendly feel. Might come back for more poker cash game at this rate.


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Hey, can someone give me more information on the new MGM room?

MGM macau and MGM cotai have at the moment a running poker room and spreading every day 50-100hkd?

What is the rake in those new rooms?

Thank you in advance everyone!