This has always been the issue due to table cap issues. Also some poker rooms in the past have been ran by junkets. So the casino's interest is to keep the poker tables away from the baccarat tables, so they can maximize profits .

Its often get more shorthanded then 8 max
And they wont decrease the rake ever, plus its the place with most shortstacks 5 k.
Horrible staff/dealers.
Very good chairs and food options is very good, also the poker room is really nice.

So is 25/50 the lowest stake offered? Does it run every day?

I'll be in SEA in February and am trying to figure out if I should add a stop in Macau. I was there once years ago, but it was before the smoking ban so I didn't stay long. Every table had 4+ chain smokers.

i can't speak for anything post pandemic

but the only place i knew that ran 25/50 was the crystal palace which had 2 tables and i've heard no longer exists


imo the games get a lot better once you go up one stake above the min because the wait lines are much longer for the min stakes and thus would not attract recs who just want to get in on the game and not be on call for the next 45 minutes

there's no smoking at tables now - but i could see a world where they brought that back post pandemic due to trying to be unique and attract people

That is not correct IIRC, pretty much every place had 25/50 until like 2017/18ish, CoD, Wynn (Palace), Galaxy, not sure about Venetian, but the waitlists got increasingly unsustainable and it was phased out. I think the Wynn started and every other casino did the same within a short time IIRC, or closed their poker room altogether like Galaxy or Wynn Palace.
So the rumor is MGM has a 25/50 now, but I can't confirm, I still haven't been since Covid despite my proximity. But there are no news on the smoking ban, I probably would have heard of that, so Macau is probably your best bet for a (relatively) non-smoking environment, on the table at least. Pretty much every place in SEA that I know of is worse in that regard, smoking is usually allowed either directly on the table or in close proximity and yes, there are enough guys who make use of this to make it less enjoyable. Maybe Singapore is non-smoking, I could see that, but I've never been to that casino, only heard stories of crazy rake.

is it possible that crystal palace offered 10/25?

it's been ages and there's mandela effect etc but i 100% recall crystal palace having lowest stakes than anywhere else and i thought it was 25/50

i was such a tightass that I would go there to play when i was hungry because they had free sandwiches and then after i finished eating i'd switch back to the wynn

I'm almost certain I played 10/25 when I was there in 2010-ish. No idea what room it was, but I recall there being one pointless non-smoking table in the center.

I'm an occasional rec player these days, I just enjoy seeing how things are done differently in different places. I'm not going to play bigger than 25/50, so if that isn't a thing then I'll skip this stop.

That is possible. That was before my time, I came to HK in 2016, I think at that time already there was nothing going on there. Could be wrong, I had other things to do also and it took some time to explore Macau. But I'm pretty sure all those places had 25/50, I played it at all these places. Later I played the 50/100 which was the biggest game I had played thus far, I had a lot of respect for it at that time. Not so much now, haha.
But I came too late anyway, as discussed ITT sufficiently, the games sucked most of the time. There is the issue of peeps keeping things to themselves as mentioned by Nordling, but I'll tell you very honestly, that's how it was. On rare occasions you got a good table, mainly when there were tourneys at CoD or at places that were not poker hotspots, like Wynn palace or Galaxy, that would get more random foot traffic. The Wynn was always a nitfest as long as I remember and had been around, and don't recall ever been at a really good table there. Maybe better at 100/200+ dunno, never played that.

early wynn was good

late wynn was 5 nit englishmen/swedes/russians, 3 colluding japanese, you, & 1 tourist

it was awful

and the few times I found a good table the floor always picked me for the seat change to the **** table and some euro would get seated there

it could not have been a coincidence - it was literally always me who got moved - the one pro who didn't know the floor well enough to grease them was my running theory

it certainly could not have been coincidence and there's no way they wanted me gone because I was very good for the table, fluent in both languages, talkative, straddling, loosening it up a bit preflop etc - i was orders of magnitude more fun to play with to the point that when once when i was told i had to move the whale said "no keep him here he's the only one who is fun"

late wynn also was horribly managed, did nothing about repeat angle shooters and colluders

once I made a cbet on the flop, villian who was a mainlander went into the tank so i looked down at my cards, i hear the dealer gathering all the chips together (the chips from preflop were still scattered) and I don't see villians cards so I assume he folded and dealer is gathering the pot to ship to me - i slide my cards slightly towards the middle and to the side so the dealer can push me the pot and won't need to stand up to reach the cards - I had not mucked, just slid a few inches to the side - dealer sees this and instantly grabs them, puts them in the muck and then hands the pot to the other guy who was hiding his cards behind his chips

i ask the dealer why he did that - he said he thought i gave up - floor ruled my hand was dead and I had folded because he called my cbet - i told floor my hand (top two pair) and said if you look at the cards you'll see i'd never in a million years give up - floor retrieves the cards, sees they are indeed top two, still rules against me

i lost every single floor ruling when it was against a mainlander - this was the biggest one

management at the wynn every time i went circa 2014-2017 was a disaster - nice room though and nice comped beverage list - was nice to get stuff like orange juice

I don't think it was specifically bcos it was you against a mainlander, mainlanders are actually not that popular in Macau. Not as bad as in HK, but still. But they could surely be better connected than you, that could be, certainly
Many horrific dealers in Macau too. I recall one that constantly fell asleep on the table. But by Macau rules it is almost impossible to fire these peeps. That is if any floor had cared about this in the first place...

yeah i can't believe that was pure incompetence though, like the villain had called so the action was over and it was time to deal the turn - absolutely nobody in their right mind - especially someone who is obviously playing for a living is just going to fold because someone called a cbet on the flop

Hello everyone! I am going to Macau in a few days and would like to find some info about the low-stakes games available there. I found out that 25/50HKD is usually the lowest, but does anyone know if I could find 10/20 anywhere? I am staying just next to Casino Lisboa, where I heard they have one of the lowest stakes in Macau, but I am unable to find any updated info about this.

I was planning to visit Casino Lisboa, Wynn, Venetian, and Galaxy, but maybe somebody has been recently and has some other recommendations (not only for poker but in general).

Thanks in advance!

eat soup dumpling and the pork sandwiches and also go to club militar restaurant once - its a pretty surreal experience eating at an old colonial club

have fun and stay out of ladyboy alley

First suggestion, read the thread, that should answer most of your questions. There is no public casino game lower than 25/50 and even 25/50 is only (reportedly) at MGM. I am not aware of any poker games currently running in Casino Lisboa or Galaxy, but maybe I'm not fully up to date. Please report back if you find something. Second suggestion learn some Chinese, if you have not already done so. Cantonese or Mandarin, both are helpful. English is not widely spoken in Macau.

Hello, how to get money out of Macau to Europe? Anyone tried Western union or something like that? Would be nice to change cash for wire transfer, does casinos make that?

At least the Wynn offered wire transfers, not sure others. No problem to HK, but maybe limited list of countries and may take some juice. WU will take a lot of juice. Macau is free-flow of capital like HK, so you can take out and declare, but maybe find a reliable person for crypto transfers, you just need to search the web a lil bit. Or ask some banks in Macau, they will take some juice but get the job done to all common countries. Or banks in HK, they speak better English. Some bureaucracy involved ofc.

MGM Macau, right next to your hotel (6 tables, 8 handed), MGM Cotai (8 tables, 8 handed), Grand Lisboa Palace (haven't bothered to go) offer 25/50. In terms of MGM waiting lists are acceptable. Perk of having a decent free meal worth 150HKD for 2 hours of play, twice per day is pretty good.

Beatable tables, rubbish boring action for the most part. Went for a couple days with my classmate while he was in town. Was more interested betting on football than playing to be honest.

For the first time in years saw a euro guy sat down with 3k that virtually didn't know the rules. Lasted around 40 minutes, but was curious to watch. In order to be more profitable need to put much more emphasis on 6-max strategy than FR.

If there were 10/20 tables, in order to keep them running the rake will be adjusted in a way to destroy any potential profit. Regardless if you gonna be on triple A game or just casual clicking.

Everywhere else 50/100 is min. Played 50/100 first day, saw a gigantic whale but only 1. Got stacked in a limped pot for ~250bb.

All in all. Meh..

wow so amped grand lisboa is spreading poker again, i just may fly back out for the nostalgia factor alone

Not the actual old school Grand Lisboa. The new property in Cotai.

ah shucks, that blows

grand lisboa was quite the experience

How likely my money would get confiscated by Macau/Hong Kong if I travel with 40k usd with no proof?
I won this money at poker, but casino venetian even can’t write verifying letter for this winnings. Also I am bad at google, Can’t find info.

The chances that you will find somebody here who has done this often enough to have a statistically significant number for you are (just about, if you use student's t for example) zero. You have been given some pointers, just use your brains. If you have some brains you might also find that your destination is prolly going to be the biggest problem on this plan...

Change to Euros, "hand carry". Places like HZMB for example now has an x-ray machine for luggage and carry ons, not sure abt ferry terminal since didn't take one for ages. Look like a casual sightseeing masturbator. If you're not on any "suspicious ****er" internal lists will never have a problem in your lifetime.

10 years ago had fingerprints taken by Macau Immigration when was still using passport. Been carrying all kinds of stacks back n forth for years. Never had a single issue.

Thanks for reply. Are you declaring it?

Absolutely not. If you're a simple average guy that doesn't launder money by suitcases or funds terrorism noone ever is going to care in places where there's no corruption in tourism sector.