I thought I'd shove in a Thread about Macau, to allow some searches for those thinking about going to Macau at some stage of their "playing career".

I'm going primarily to have a look at the Wynn Palace and the Sands Parisien Hotels that have just opened on Cotai.

For those that aren't familiar to Macau and the gaming scene there, here are some facts that I can recall, and this is ONLY my opinion and shouldn't be taken as 100% factual:

Macau has 3 islands, the Central Town, Taipa and Cotai. Central Town is the old town, with all the older casinos as well as the new USA owned casino hotels. Gone is the old feeling of gaming in this town, however you can still play at places that lack the glitz of the new American casinos. Taipa is a place that you kind of drive over in order to reach Cotai, but it does have a few places to gamble. Cotai is the main place that has been created for the new casinos, which is the re-creation of the Vegas strip in the making. Does it feel like Vegas? No way. Not even close. Does it look like Vegas? Yes in many ways, but there's nothing in between the hotels and none of the buzz. Well...none of the buzz that you see in Vegas anyway.

One notable difference in Macau to Vegas is the lack of block size car parks in the hotels. No one drives around unless you are a local. Even with the ridiculously long bridge being built over the sea to connect Hong Kong to Macau (nearly ready), and I say bridge...I mean highway over the sea...this will allow cars to go from Hong Kong into Juhai China and Macau. You'd need dual license plates to drive in both territories respectively and will no doubt cost a fortune. It does mean that there's another way to reach Macau from Hong Kong in the near future and will be a sure fascination trip for many who want to drive over the sea for miles to get to another country (well...another Special Administrative Region of China).

You've probably heard that the turnover for gaming in Macau is multiple times larger than Vegas. It's all true. Even with the major downturn in Macau gaming (for various reasons) It's still huge compared to Vegas. 7 times greater than Vegas gaming revenue? The table minimums in the US based casinos are much higher than Vegas, and those are on the public ground floor level. Baccarat is the game to play, and all casinos lean heavily on the availability of this game amongst all else. For example, on the gaming floor, there may be a hundred Baccarat tables, and you'll be trying to find one of the 3 or 4 blackjack tables. Craps? Well, craps is what I play. There really are very few tables. I'll go through that shortly.

The USA influence all started a few years ago with the building of the Sands Casino next to the Central Macau ferry terminal. I recall it taking a couple of years to build, and when it opened, it recouped it's entire cost within 6 months. Macau knew then that this would be massive, and it was. Recently the Government has been trying to switch the level of income across other areas of industry and less reliance on gaming. Good luck with that. I hear of stories still of local professionals leaving their teaching jobs or positions of responsibility necessary for a local community (which is still mostly separated away from the casino areas), to turn up working in a casino due to the pay being offered. I often wondered why the Ventian Casino had so many unmanned tables even on the weekend. I thought it was because of licensing or demand, but actually most of it was due to the number of staff available to work. I've actually watched a croupier burst into tears as she was made to continue working another shift.

Macau in itself is a wonderful old town, going back to the colonial Portuguese owners. I believe that many still speak Portuguese today in the community, but in the casino areas, Mandarin is the most spoken language along with Cantonese. English is kind of OK, depending where you are and what you are doing.

So...the new casinos. I'm going over as I said to visit the two new large palaces that have been built (with another 2 due for completion soon I think). The Parisien had been granted 100 tables license, but the Sands Group have taken another 300 tables from other casinos (as it's allowed to) which were under-utilised and put them into the Parisien to make 450 tables. The Wynn Palace has 100 tables going forward. I think the local Government have allowed for a 3% increase in tables being offered per annum, to control the amount of gaming allowed in the country. I'm sure slot machines are governed by rules and allowances as well but I haven't a clue really how many are going to be installed. Loads..obviously.

Casinos with Craps currently available:

Central:
MGM Casino - one craps table. HK$200 minimum (US$26). Open from the afternoon to about 3am.
MGM Casino - Bubble Craps. I just put that in because why not....

And...that's it. Wynn Casino gave up it's table a few years ago.

Cotai:
Venetian Casino - one Craps table. HK$200 minimum during the week. HK$300 (US$40) minimum during the weekend.
Venetian Casino - Bubble Craps.
4 Seasons Hotel Casino - one Craps table. Open at the weekend (maybe Thursday onwards to Sunday). HK$200 minimum. In my opinion, the best table in Macau, and not busy at all as this casino has the same kind of feeling as the old school Vegas Desert Inn of yesteryear. No jacket required however. In fact, try and find someone in a suit who's not working the floor.
Holiday Inn (Himalaya) Casino - Part of the sands group. One Craps Table. HK$200 minimum. Tough table!
Holiday Inn - Bubble Craps.
City of Dreams Casino. One Craps Table. HK$100 minimum during the week. HK$200 minimum at the weekend. Busy table. Always. Used to have more cigarette ash on it than chips. However, smoking in the entire casino area is now banned, and banished to special smoking rooms akin to airport smoking coffin rooms.

And that's it !! That's all the tables there are!! 5 tables in Macau !!

There used to be one at the Galaxy Casino, a slightly smaller than standard craps table, which was closed down last year after a foreign guy was advised to me as having won HK$8m on the table and the casino took the table away after the roll finished. Good job too, as I've got shares in the Galaxy Entertainment company, which boasts 5 amazing hotel chains attached to the complex.

So, I'm wondering whether they have put in a craps table in the two new casinos. I hope so. They didn't put one in the new Studio City Casino, so I'm not holding my breath.

The funny thing about Craps in Macau is that not many people play (hence only 5 tables). So, every time I manage to go to Macau, I always see the same faces. (Same as my experience in Singapore - same faces every time I go there as well).

My expectations for this weekend is to WIN of course. The Sands group are happy to give me a free room now at the weekend, which can only mean that they are desperate for business. I'm a micro roller in this town, whereas I'm a Platinum grade player at MGM in Vegas which can recoup flights and other comps.

Taking HK$20,000 with me. Not sure how long that will last, because With the minimum bet of HK$200 should mean that I need to carry HK$200,000 with me.

Please, by all means ask questions regarding Macau if you were thinking of visiting. I'll try to answer them as best as I can.

 

Good luck Craps_Player! I'll be following along.

I visited Macau back in July. It was a once in a lifetime experience. Since I'm a BJ player, I didn't enjoy the gaming too much since it's European BJ (dealer draws their second (hole) card after the players are finished with their action) and the max limits were too low on the main floors for my style of progressive play. I did enjoy checking out all of the casinos and am glad I went. I just missed the opening of the Wynn Palace and the Parisian. I stayed at the Galaxy Hotel, which was nice.

I did watch a craps roll at the MGM and the craps table at the Venetian was empty when I was there.

 

Nice, nice! Good luck, what is going to be your opening betting strategy at craps ?

 

Thanks for the info. Although I will almost certainly never get there, it is interesting to know.

 

Hope you enjoyed the Macanese food however ! The Chinese Restaurants are also good there. If you ever go back, the GOLDEN FLOWER restaurant is a Michelin grade place at the Wynn Casino. 3 people will only cost US$120-150 for a full meal. Amazing food is served there. You may as well forget playing Blackjack in that town!! However, it's always fun to play with Auntie who stands on 13 against a dealers Ace.

 

Given that you've been to vegas so many times, it doesn't hurt to know what other gaming locations are up to. A Malaysian casino (Genting) which is big in the UK, is setting up a $2bn mecca in the Philippines right now. I'm trying to work out where their market will come from.

 

Staying alive! It's not a large bankroll and I'm not wanting to visit the cage to draw out more funds so close to Christmas. So, I'll play pass line and 2-3 numbers. Hope for rolls over 5-6 numbers. Don't press until all money on the table is covered, then full press and go for the win. Set an out for HK$40,000.

 

Good to see you posting again! Hope craps is good to you this time around.

 

Hey, long time no see! This year has really sucked for me and gaming in general. Very costly experience (for my personal level). If I could remember to walk after making a modest gain (but whopping % return), then I'd be OK. Even in Vegas in April earlier this year, I was thousands up over 4 days before dumping it in less than 8 hours at the New York New York, and then the entire bankroll at Monte Carlo.

 

Arrived Macau. Complimentary room at the Conrad hotel. Standard room but quite nice indeed. The casino downstairs was virtually empty....

Walking to the new Wynn Palace. A novel way of entering....on a gondola!!

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