Sunday, November 9, 2014

The Poker Scene in Macau – Guest Post by VegasDWP

(Longtime reader VegasDWP sent me this report on his first visit to Macau to play some poker, and I'm thrilled to present this guest post.  Thanks, and take it away, VegasDWP....)


Hello everyone – first of all, many thanks to Rob for allowing me to guest blog.  I’ve been reading Rob’s blog for quite some time, and I’m a big fan.  I’ve only had the pleasure of meeting Rob once, in Las Vegas, and although it was a great pleasure to meet him, we did not get the chance to play together.  I believe I met him on his ill-fated trip when he was having so many Internet connection problems in the place he was staying.
Anyway, a bit about me before I get started (if you couldn’t give a toss, feel free to skip to the poker content).  I’m originally from California, grew up in Silicon Valley and lived in San Francisco for many years.  In my early 30’s, I wanted a change of pace and moved to Sydney, Australia – was there for 8 years.  After I got bored there, I moved to London – I’ve been living in London for about 9 years and am currently in the process of permanently relocating to Hong Kong.  I essentially live there now, but in a temporary serviced apartment – I’ll get my own place at the end of the year, and then my wife will come out to join me.  I’m a Marketing Director for an international technology company (we develop mobile apps) and I run marketing in Asia for the company.  I also own a condo in Vegas, and get out there as much as humanly possible.
So after being in Hong Kong for about a month, and after reading a particularly good edition of Rob’s blog, I was missing some live poker so thought I’d check out the scene in Macau.  I spent last weekend there, and following is a blow-by-blow account of my trip.
Woke up early on Saturday morning, packed a small overnight bag, and took the MTR from Wan Chai (where I’m living) to Sheung Wan (a quick 3 stops) to catch the Cotai WaterJet across to Macau.  I should have bought tickets in advance online, but I only had to wait in a short line to pay my HK$344 (about US$45) round-trip ticket.  The WaterJet only takes 60 minutes to travel across, and it was quite a pleasant trip.
Upon arrival at the Taipa pier, there was a Venetian coach waiting to whisk passengers directly off to the Venetian where I had booked a room.  And what an amazing room it was – it was only a standard, basic room (e.g., the cheapest one) but was 3x the size of the place I’m living in Hong Kong.  I almost didn’t want to leave.


But eager as I was to play poker, I dropped my bag and headed straight down to the poker room.  Or at least I tried to … wandering all over the casino, looking for the damn place … nobody knew where to direct me … then finally (totally by accident) came across this:


Pay-dirt!  After following the arrow, through the High Limit gaming area, I finally arrive at the poker room.  It’s nothing like the poker room in the Vegas Venetian … although the REST of the Venetian Macau is virtually a carbon-copy of the one in Vegas.  There were only a few tables, the lowest limit was HK$25/50 NLHE (equivalent to about $3/6) … but the wait was an hour!  There were a whole bunch of people sitting around waiting to play – but the 3 or 4 empty tables remained empty.  Poker is not a big priority in Macau (more on this later).
OK, so I told the kids running the room (they looked about 20) I was going for lunch and I’d be back in 45 minutes – they put my name on the list, and off I went to find some lunch.  About 40 minutes later, I come back … and don’t see my name on the list.  I ask one of the kids … he says, “Oh, maybe your name has been called…” and I reminded him that he told me ONE HOUR and I’d only been gone 40 minutes.  After some time, my name magically appeared back on the list: “See, your name still here … no problem!”  OK, right – whatever.  So I sit down in one of the comfy sofas at the front of the poker room and start waiting …. and waiting … and waiting.  One hour goes by.  I ask the kid if I’m still on the list. “Oh, yes … still on list!”  Two hours go by … I ask again.  Same answer.  After 2 ½ hours I’m about to totally lose my shit … so I ask again.  I’m number 14 on the list.  You gotta be shittin’ me.
At this point I’m tired, pissed off, and in no mood to play.  So I figure a couple hours in the spa, a nice hot stone massage, and I’ll be feeling better.  Maybe I’ll play tonight.  So after the spa, I’m in the mood for some dinner – Pete P. Peters style.  So I find a nice restaurant in the casino, and settle in to a Bombay Sapphire martini (straight up, 2 olives) … an appetizer of grilled lobster sausage with roasted artichokes (very nice … who knew you could make sausage with lobster?) … prime 12-oz NY strip steak (Tuscan style), topped off with a New Zealand Marlborough pinot noir.


So, NOW I’m ready for the pokerz!!  But after my experience with the Our Gang kids running the Venetian poker room, I’m in no mood for any more bullshit so I figure I’ll jump in a taxi and head over to the Wynn to play instead.  I arrive, find the poker room quite easily (there were actually SIGNS directing me there!) and find it’s only a 1-hour wait.  The lowest game they had going, though, was HK$50/100 (roughly US$5/10) … that’s higher than I usually play, but I figured what the hell.

So I get into a game, and the first thing I notice is that poker in Macau is the No Fun League.  No table chatter, no polite conversations … virtually no one spoke at all.  Not even any discussion about boobs!  And forget about a slut parade … nothing doing.  The play was pretty tight, and I was card dead the whole night.  Hand after hand …. 2-4 offsuit;  7-4 suited;  A-2 offsuit; on and on and on.  When I finally did get a playable hand, I missed the flop completely.  As far as poker sessions go, it was awful. I kept waiting for things to turn around, but they never did.  At about 2am, I was pretty tired and decided to call it a night after being stuck HK$4,000 (about $500) – so I headed back to the Venetian and my luxurious room for a night of rest.
The next morning (Sunday) I planned a virtually all-day poker session before heading back to Hong Kong on the 7pm sailing.  But, NO … work had other plans.  I woke up to an email that said I had to be at an important client meeting on Monday morning in Taipei, and give them a brand presentation that I hadn’t even STARTED working on yet.  Shit.

So I spent all morning, and part of the early afternoon working in my room to get it finished.  By the time I was done, it was lunchtime so I headed off to find something to eat.  After lunch, I only had a few hours before I had to catch my ferry back to Hong Kong … and given the waiting times for a game in Macau, I decided to go shopping instead.  The shopping in Macau is awesome … it was SO GOOD, that I found the perfect outfit for Rob in the Versace boutique:


Quite the perfect ensemble for a night of poker, or an afternoon BBQ at Alysia Chang’s.  (I bought it for you, Rob … hope I got the right size … you can pay me later.) 
I wandered around the casino for a bit, looking for a BlackJack table … which is like looking for a bar in Riyadh.  The Chinese prefer Baccarat, and other weird games I’ve never seen in a casino.  While looking for a BlackJack table, though, I found THIS and thought of TBC:

Don’t ask me if it was one of ‘dem good machines, though … everything was in Chinese.  And it was Baccarat, not BlackJack.  I did finally find a BlackJack table, and won back ½ of what I lost the previous night playing poker.
So at this point, I have maybe 90 minutes to kill so I thought I’d head across the street to check out City of Dreams which houses the PokerStars facility.  When I got there, there was a big tournament in progress – I later realized I was in town during the Asia Championship of Poker (part of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour) being held right here in Macau … so I decided to rail it for a little while:




It didn’t take me long to realize that I should have come here in the first place!!  Even during the tournament, there were several cash games going, and the waiting lists were only 5 or 6 deep.  From my experience, this is the place to play in Macau (unless you like waiting 2 or 3 hours for a game).
So after hanging around here for a couple of hours, it was time to head over to the ferry pier and catch the WaterJet back to Hong Kong.  It was an interesting trip, and the first time I’d been in Macau since 1997.  I learned a few very important lessons for the next trip:

  • Macau is a serious gambling destination, and the vibe is so different than Vegas.  Vegas is lots of fun, and Macau is … well … very Chinese.

  • The place is MOBBED … so many mainland Chinese are coming here, that China actually had to limit the number of times they allow their citizens to travel to Macau.  Gaming revenue in Macau is now 10x of Vegas.  Unreal.

  •  I don’t play many pit games, but the table minimums in Macau are high.  It’s tough to find a table with a minimum bet of less than US$100.

  • There are very few places to play poker in Macau.  The only places I know of are Venetian, Wynn, and PokerStars at City of Dreams.  Next time I’ll stay at the Hard Rock and play in the PokerStars room.

  • Everything I ate in Macau was excellent – the restaurants rival the best that Vegas can offer.  Prices were very reasonable (compared to Vegas).

  • Oh, and TBC would love this:  NO TIPPING!  Not even the poker dealers – it’s not allowed.

That’s it!  Thanks again to Rob for letting me guest blog, and I hope your readers found at least some of this interesting.  Any questions – hit me up in the comments.
Oh, Rob:  please send me your address to I can post your new Versace outfit.  I know you’ll be wanting to wear that on your next Vegas trip.

38 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for this report, DWP, I really appeciate it, and I'm sure all the readers will enjoy your insight into Macau.

    What about the language barrier? Was it ok to speak English at the table? Or was that the language use? Any issues there?

    I think that outfit would be more appropriate for TBC, so please forward it to him!

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    1. Hi Rob, there wasn't any language barrier - all of the hotel staff, taxi drivers, dealers, etc. spoke English. English (along with Cantonese) is one of the official languages of Hong Kong where I'm living ... not sure about Macau, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's the same.

      At the poker table, though, most people were speaking Chinese and some (including a couple Brits I was chatting with) were speaking English. I guess this could be an issue - I don't know if there are any table language rules in Macau. But as I said, there wasn't much talking!

      Oh, and I'm really disappointed you don't like the outfit ... I put a lot of thought into it. You hurt my feelings...

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    2. Interest about the language. So no "Chinese only at the table rule?"

      Sorry about the outfit. I'm just really hard to buy clothes for, that's why I usually do it myself. :)

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  2. That would be a great outfit for Rob to wear in December for the Lightning36 Chicken Fried Steak Dinner Event!!

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    1. I'm thinking that you or TBC--who are so similar in your styles--would be perfect for that outfit.

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  3. I really enjoyed that post. I feel like I have just visited Macau. Thanks. Woody

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    1. Thanks, Woody. I think you should go to Macau instead of Vegas for your next vacation.

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  4. Nice post and thanks for the photos.

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    1. Agree, MOJO, DWP gave us some fine photos.

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  5. Uh oh James Bond... :) Well done.

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    1. James Bond? Isn't that PPP?

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    2. Yes Rob, that why I said "uh oh" - this guy even goes to different countries...

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  6. no boobie pics????????????? did u c if there was a motel 6 there??? fried twinkies/oreos?????? weed?????? taco bell????

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    1. Anger, from what little I know about you (e.g., what I can gather from your comments on Rob's blog and others) - you would HATE it in Macau. I didn't see a Motel 6, fried twinkies, oreos or weed. Definitely no Taco Bell.

      And I figured it wouldn't be polite - as a guest blogger - so steal Rob's schtick - so no boobie picks.

      However - and I forgot to include this in the post - there were some "working girl" sightings. This wasn't even on my radar, and I didn't notice until the 2nd day (Sunday) when I was casually walking around the casino. I saw a few very pretty, elegantly dressed Chinese girls who ... shall we say ... showed a special interest in me. This was basically restricted to staring at me and smiling as I walked by - none of them approached me, but it was pretty clear what they were up to. I guess they have to be discreet.

      Not sure what the prostitution laws are in Macau - from memory, I think it's legal - but probably not allowed inside the casinos.

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    2. I considered adding a few boobie pics of my own but didn't want to distract from your fine post, DWP.

      Interesting about the working girls.

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    3. Prostitution is legal in Macau. The 'elegantly dressed Chinese girls' don't approach foreigner as most only speak Cantonese/Mandarin. They assume foreigner speaks English and do not know Cantonese/Mandarin.

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    4. Thanks, dkh...but isn't there sort of a universal language they can speak?

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    5. Universal language? haha.. I have no idea. Perhaps $? But, i can't see people waving $ at the 'elegantly dressed Chinese girls' and not get into some sort of trouble. Maybe someone that read this blog can enlighten us..

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    6. so where is the blue collar/stoner version of Macau???? Thailand??

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    7. @dkh: You wouldn't have to wave the money, I was thinking holding up the number of fingers you're willing to pay accept.

      @anger: I think that's downtown Vegas.

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    8. exactly that is y i love america,baby

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    9. @Rob: Yeah. That would be interesting if it works. Even better would be after holding up the number of fingers you're willing to pay. Those that accept the bidding price would step forward for you to pick. Of course that is assuming they're flocked together. :)

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  7. -no tipping at Macau? Someone told me once that tipping is not allow because dealers get a commission base on how much casino earned during the hour s/he worked. I don't know if this is true. But, then again most of Asia and the world don't do tipping (except for bell boy/girl?) because of the inherent confusion and expectation.

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    1. I know whenever I play with Australians, or people who have played down under, I hear that they are not allowed to tip. In fact, I hear from some of my dealer pals that they often get stiffed when there's Australians at the table because they don't know they can (and should) tip. Hopefully they soon figure it out when they see the others tip.

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    2. Yeah, Australia is another country that tipping does not often happen. If there's expectation for tip, it's often included in the final bill(which is usually 20%). There are rare exception like tip for bell boy/girl at hotel which you literally hand the tip over after the luggage assistance to your room. For me, it makes more sense and less confusing than here in America.

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    3. In Australia - and pretty much all over Asia - there is a separate charge for "service". So for example, when you go out to dinner and get the bill, it will be itemized at the bottom ... there will be a line item called "Service Charge" which will be somewhere between 10-25%. On the menu it will tell you how much the service charge will be so you're not surprised when the bill comes. Personally, I think it's a much better system than in the US.

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  8. There is a literal "slut parade" in the ground floor of the Hotel Lisboa, right across the street from the Wynn. There is a shopping arcade their that has a walkway running through it in a basically circular pattern. Beautiful and beautifully dressed Chinese girls walk two by two for hours until a male approaches. I've been told many of these girls are from the mainland and come down for a few days to work. They apparently don't speak English and really won't go with foreigners. You can watch it from a decent Chinese(what else?) restaurant and it's quite entertaining!

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    1. That's right, Cool ... I've actually read about that. It's essentially a call-girl line up, and they walk around in circles until some guy picks them out. I walked past the Lisboa on my way to Wynn, but didn't go inside. I will check it out on the next trip and send Rob some photos...

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    2. Wow, that' very interest, Dave & DWP!!! And it's all above board, huh? At least I don't I wouldn't have worry about getting arrested for wanting to score a hooker story!

      Yes, pics please!

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    3. Yeah. The restaurant is right in the middle of the circular walk way. It's quite a show to behold... Although, I am not sure if they allow video or picture to be taken. It's been quite a while since I last visit Macau.

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  9. "At about 2am, after being stuck HK$4,000 (about $500) I headed all over Asia looking for a Dealer's Angel machine so that I could get unstuck for the night."

    fyp

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    1. Well, he did see the machine, but it was Baccarat machine, not BJ.]

      Does his infamous counting/Martingale system work for that game, too?

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    2. On my next trip, I'm gonna martingale that Baccarat b*tch till the sun comes up...

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  10. I have to assume TBC hasn't read this blog post yet, otherwise he would have landed in Macau by now. I'm sure the "no tipping" is more than he can resist...

    Of course, he'll have to severely adjust his blogging style. He can no longer say "...got raised by the Asian..." - that could be virtually anybody in Macau!

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    1. the no tipping is good BUT need a Walmart/McDs too. plus a group of women that like/love dudes that dont like to bath/brush teeth/change their pants till they smell their balls.then and only will the STUpid UNGER b on that flight,sir

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  11. I play on the only Black Jack table I could find in that Venetian and dropped about £200 in 10 mins. Playing the table min. Eeek.
    I think the main official language outside of Chinese will be Portuguese, as Macau was a Portuguese protectorate, much like HK used to be British.

    Did you know there are people in HK with British Passports, who cannot enter the UK without visas. Weird..

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    1. Thanks, Ben Guess its not a good place to go to get your Blackjack fix.

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