Also, Ive never been on a tour type thing, since Id usually be with people I know from the areas Ive been.

There is some site called couchsurfer.com, Id suggest checking it out. People who seem down to earth and **** and would enjoy showing you around.

Ive lived over in China for about a year now, and have been to many places but still not Beijing, so I dont really have any other info about it.

is it crazy i am pretty sure i will buy a condo in macau sometime this year after only a 4 day trip? jsut scheduled a trip for next month to look around more. the best thing about hk and macau is the are tied to the usd! no 35% loss yet!

Hey man,

As far as buyin a condo there, I'd recommend it. Granted, the nightlife is NOTHING like Vegas, but you can still have a blast in those shady, half inside, half outside type bars outside the casino area.

I recommend it because I think you should look at it as an investment. My Dad bought his home outside Guangzhou, about 5 years ago, and if he sold it today, he'd get back much more then double of what he paid for it.

Yes, China will prob have some type of housing down crash like the US did, but I dont think it will be nearly as bad. Also Macau, even though it is part of China, it isn't, if you know what I mean. I feel Macau's real estate will continue to go up like Vegas did be4 the crash.

You prob already know, but Macau makes more $ then Vegas now.

If your income is poker, it would also be a great place since most of the people think they know hold em, but they really dont, so I think there is alot of money to be made, once things get rollin better with the dealers and such.

*Also on the mainland if you sell your home before you have lived there for 5 years, you will be taxed pretty heavily. Prob not the same in Macau, but you should look into that.

And yes, I agree, Chinese girls are great

btw
You might want to compare Macau with Atlantic City. I think that is more comparable.

http://shanghaiist.com/2008/04/17/no...-visa-runs.php
that's a pretty F*ing big issue...
I guess I won't go back to China before at least october....

Basically you can only get 1 month tourist visa right now?!? That *may* (at the discretion of the PSB) be extended twice 1 month.....Oh, and you might have to go back to your home coutry to apply for it?!?

Aren't there, like, A LOT of ppl who are on F Visa in China who are going to be really really screwed?

also, is it true that you can't access Pokerstars in China anymore? (blocked China-side, not PS fault)

Im lucky to say I got my new visa for this year in HK just a few days before this took into affect. Whats bull**** is they only gave me a 30 day entry at a time. I have my normal multiple but its a pain to leave every 30 days, when i had 90 days previously.

What I dont get is, if I had my visa done in the USA, I would have gotten 90 days...

Weird...I ve had like 6 different Chinese visas, and my little brother just got his first one a few weeks ago, and he got a multiple entry with 90 days! but he did it in the USA....

Weird...

do you guys use a VPN in china for the internet? if so whats a good provider. also, i hear the internet connection is pretty slow there, is this true or only in some areas?

I dont use a vpn....I use China Telecom (I think)...

And my internet for daily browsing is fine. Granted You Tube and other video feeds from the internet are VERY SLOW, this may be because of the firewall, not sure.

Online poker works fine, with a few exceptions. I'd say if I was to play for 4 hours straight, I would have 1 or 2 disconnections. Some days are better then others, so it is tough to say.

Some days there are no disconnections and other days maybe Id have 1 every hour.

I was in Macau in late January for some nights and going back there in beginning of May for 1 month stay. I am not going for poker or night life, instead I go there for the reason nearly all Chinese go there, Baccarat and Baccarat and Baccarat...

I might try out poker aswell if I run too terrible at the Baccarat tables. If you see a Swede by the poker tables in May, it might be a big chance it's me.

Regarding room rate for poker I think it could be hard due to the fact that poker is so marginal. I did manage to get a long stay rate which cut the hotel costs considerable in a 3-4 star place. So I think that is the way to go. Just contact sales manager at the hotel you which to stay at, and negotiate.

Where's a good hotel that I can stay? I'm looking in the mid-low price range. Venetian is a little too balla but I'm not looking to stay in a hostel or anything like that. We've been looking around and the Lisboa seems okay but I always have trouble connecting to the actual website.

Thanks for any tips.

There are so many hotels. Here is a list to choose from.

http://www.macautouristguide.com/en/hotelstar.html

Think about this. If you want to have short walk (I highly recommend that!) to nearly all big casinos, stay central in the area around Lisboa, Wynn, MGM, Starworld and then you can walk to all spots within 5-10 minutes and take free shuttle over to Venetian (from Sands) and so on when you feel for it.

Was in Macau a couple of times, tried different hotels. Think my best experience was the Best Western (Bei Bei Sun if I remember correctly). It's not located in the casino area but since Macau is pretty small, you'll be there in 5-10 taximinutes.

The Lisboa is typical chinese, which means it's basic. Next to this, the thing I found really annoying in Lisboa is that it's so smokey...everyone is smoking, everywhere.

Too smokey? ha, Chinas not the place for you. Fortunately Im a smoker, so it doesnt really bother me. But I would like to quit, and I dont see it happening when people almost force it on you as its a gift.

My little brother works in a western restaurant here, where its prob the only restaurant you cant smoke. Anyway, an Italian foreigner lit up a cig, so my brother told him there is no smoking here, see the sign? The guy flipped out and said this must be the only f**kin place in China that I cant smoke.

Abt smoking..

Many big casinos have decent working non-smoking areas; for example Wynn where I spend a lot of time in January. The pokerroom in Lisboa is reported to be a smoking zone.

Try Macau tower for a non smoking meal. Frommer's report that this is the only non smoking restaurant in Macau due to safety precautions..

If you have a decent class hotel the non smoking floor should work even in Macau.

Tripadvisor is useful place to check up hotels and reviews. Here is a link for Macau. I’m sure there are a some remarks in the reviews about smoking conditions in different hotels.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Search?q=macau&sub-search=Go

I was in HK/Macau last month, here some information I've gained. First of all Poker is still peanuts in Macau. Only Grand Lisboa offers poker at the 3rd floor. Normally around 2-3 tables, 2 tables 10/20hkd and 1 table 20/40HKD HENL. Peak Hrs 4-5 tables tops. The dealers are pretty bad, macau poker rules, when the button sits out, you skipped the BB. String bets all over the places. You can smoke everywhere, I mean Everywhere, which is good right. Starworld casino offers poker tables with computer device thingie, but no customers there (yet). The Starworld elevator girl was memorable tho. The competition is ultra soft, only average and above average players were some Swedish/Scandinian players. I've grind around +12k HKD in 3 days, I'm above average on these limits (6 hrs session). The local folks likes to talk about you (the foreigner) at the table in Cantonese/Mandarin. Nightlife sucks in Macau, but there are some great saunas. Heaven on Earth literally, must see (18 sauna was the name). The old Lisboa shopping center is also a must go spot. You can take the ferry from Macau to HK (Sheung Wan) for ~170hkd normal class or ~240hkd super class, free meal and exit first when the ferry arrives before the normal class. Travel time is about an hour. You can also take the chopper for ~2700hkd, which will cost you approx. 15 mins. Nightlife in HK is lovely. Lan Kwai Fong is the place to be, that's near Central. A lot of clubs and bars are settled here. Many expats and foreigners, only place where you can communicate in English. My favorite clubs are Club #9 and Beijing Club (Ladiesnight on Wednesday and Saturday). Volar and Fever (models! and famous ppl) are also clubs worth mentioning, but it's hard to get in. For younger crowed there are Sugar and Tribeca (Wan Chai). Food is awesome in HK, 24hrs food everywhere.

Thanks for the trip report.

Were you there on a weekday or weekend? Is it 2-3 tables on weekdays and 4-5 during weekends (peak hours?)?

I did a study abroad in China a couple of years ago. Nanjing is where I spent most of my time playing poker on-line at FTP. I used the local university's computer lab that we were studying at. Not sure that was a good move looking back since it's technically still legal there, but considering I saw every bootlegged piece of software I could ever want in that lab, I gambled it anyway. lol Also, I travelled through Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, and a few other smaller places and had no problem using the computers in the larger cities hotel rooms.

peak hours are ~9PM-3AM, weekdays and weekends. The "pokerroom", open area between huge bar/lounge and the roulette tables, only has 6 tables. BTW it was an understatement, the dealers are horrible. There is a chocolate-chip lipped flat-chested female dealer, dominant in some ways, really liked her attitude.

Iam going to macau tomorrow and iam looking for some livepoker. Anybody knowing something about this: http://www.pokerpages.com/directory/...rting-club.htm ?

Also does anyone know if I can find a bungolow or something to rent? Basiccly iam looking for a place with a kitchen where i can cook for myself.

thx so far

Toni

wae

lol nvmd i found it through googling " macau live poker "

in macau theres poker in grand hotel lisboa (only there now). like 6tables 24/7 and they play mostly nolimit 300$ and mby some 500$ and 1000$. the maxrake in 300$ is ~15$ and in 1000$ ~75 . Games are very soft and just limp calling.

edit: dealers are supercute but sometimes they dont know what they are doing so u have to help them

So what kinda blinds are there? I read that most tables there have HKD$10/HKD$20 blinds with max buy in HKD$2000, can you confirm this? Also would be nice to hear if there is room in the tables, or do you need to wait long time to get seat?

Im going to Macau this June and i would appriciate all kinda up to date information about the poker games there

i'm in guangzhou now!!

anyone know what the visa situation is like in macau for someone who buys a condo there but does not work or is not retirement status?