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The Scene | The Games | The Casinos

In February 2006 Macau surpassed Las Vegas in gambling revenue. By June 2008 Macau’s casinos were turning over 2.6 times the revenue of their Vegas Strip counterparts. Small wonder that international casino groups have swarmed the region, and they continue to drive Macau’s explosive double-digit growth.

From the late 1960s until 2001, Macau native Dr. Stanley Ho—Macau’s biggest taipan (Chinese for “big boss”)—owned all the casinos, becoming one of the world’s wealthiest people. One of the first steps the Chinese government took after the 1999 handover was to break up Dr. Ho’s monopoly and award casino licenses to several consortiums from Las Vegas. The grand plan to transform Macau from a quiet town that offered gambling into one of the world’s top gaming destinations has become a reality.

THE SCENE

Gambling is lightly regulated, so there are only a few things to remember. No one under age 18 is allowed into casinos. Most casinos use Hong Kong dollars in their gaming and not Macau patacas, but you can easily exchange currencies at cashiers. High- and no-limit VIP rooms are available on request, where minimum bets range from HK$50,000 to HK$100,000 per hand. You can get cash from credit cards and ATMs 24 hours a day, and every casino has a program to extend additional credit to frequent visitors. Although most casinos don’t have strict dress codes outside of their VIP rooms, men are better off not wearing shorts or sleeveless shirts. Minimum bets for most tables are higher than those in Las Vegas, but there are lower limits for slots and video gambling.

The players here may not look sophisticated: don’t be fooled. Many of Macau’s gamblers are truly hard-core. Average bets are in the hundreds per hand, and many people gamble until they’re completely exhausted or completely broke, usually the latter.

Macau is also famous for gambling’s sister industries of pawnshops, loan sharks, seedy saunas, and prostitution. This underbelly is hidden, though. You won’t encounter such things unless you seek them out.

THE GAMES

Macau’s casinos are geared to Asian gamblers, so most tables are dedicated to baccarat and Asian dice games. In the past there were few poker or roulette tables, though newer casinos such as the Galaxy, Venetian Macao, MGM Macau, and Wynn Macau are introducing more of these western games to the market. Similarly, slot machines, though rising in number, remain much less frequented than baccarat, the king of the Macau gambling scene.

Baccarat is by far the most popular game for Asian gamblers, so most casinos devote the majority of their floors to baccarat tables. Many Chinese gamblers believe that this is the fairest game, so they tend to make larger bets on it. You can bet on four items: the player’s hand, the banker’s hand, tie hand, and pair. Macau rules stipulate that you can’t take the house, and there are maximum payouts; still, the biggest crowds and loudest stirrings come from the baccarat tables.

Big and Small (Dai-Siu) is a game based on guessing values of three dice under a covered glass canister. You can bet on values, number combinations, and most commonly, “big” value or “small” value. Hear the collective groan when three-of-a-kind turns up, and the house takes all.

Fan-tan is an ancient Chinese game largely unknown in the West. The croupier (counter) plunges an inverted silver cup into a pile of porcelain buttons on the table. He then moves the cup containing a number of buttons to one side. The trick is to guess correctly how many buttons will be left, once they are counted off in groups of four. Cash bets are placed on the table on the numerals one, two, three, or four; odds or evens; or divisions between numbers (called “corners”). This game is less popular, though the Hotel Lisboa and Sands Macao still have a few tables.

Pacapio is basically a Chinese version of keno. Tickets are printed with 80 Chinese characters, and you select 10 characters to bet on from a computerized draw of 20 characters. The most popular location for Pacapio betting is the Lisboa Betting Centre.

Pai Kao has been a popular Chinese game since the 19th century. It’s played with dominoes and a revolving banker system, where one player assumes the role of the house, while the casino gets a percentage of all bets. The rules are relatively complicated, and the game is only offered at the Hotel Lisboa and a few other casinos.

Roulette is played using the European wheel with a single “0,” giving you a slightly better chance of winning over the American wheel with both a “0” and a “00” slot. Some casinos even offer a simplified picture version, with relatively better odds. In general, roulette isn’t as popular as the dice and card games, but you can still find a few live tables plus a handful of electronic tables in the larger casinos.

THE CASINOS

Gone are the days of Macau’s dark and dingy underground gaming parlors. Over the past few years American-style casinos have been mushrooming like mad, primarily in Macau’s NAPE (zona Nova de Aterros do Porto Exterior), or New Reclamation Area, in the Outer Harbour district between the main ferry terminal and the historic center. The foreign exports are most likely to please both casual tourists and serious players for their variety of gaming and other entertainment, relatively clean and well-lit atmosphere, free 24/7 accessibility, and overall glamour-resort experience.

DOWNTOWN

Casino Lisboa.
Opened in 1970 by Dr. Stanley Ho, this iconic Macau gaming den is replete with ancient jade ships in the halls, gilded staircases, and more baccarat tables than you can shake a craps stick at. It’s great for a few rounds of dai-siu—dice bets over cups of iced green tea. Most of the gamblers are from neighboring Guangdong province, and Cantonese is the lingua franca. Other popular pastimes at this storied casino revolve around international fine-dining venues and colorful coffee shops, if you care to wander around a maze of marbled floors and low ceilings. | Av. de Lisboa, Downtown | 853/2888–3888 |www.hotelisboa.com.

Galaxy StarWorld.
As you enter the StarWorld empire you’re greeted by tall girls in high heels, while a mariachi band serenades you from across the lobby. The gaming floors are small and have a couple of Chinese-style diners if you get peckish, but the cool Whisky Bar on the 16th floor of the adjacent hotel is an atmospheric place to either begin or end your evening. The neon-blue building is just across from the Wynn Macau and down the block from the MGM Macau. Live lobby entertainment and local holiday attractions add a kitschy, friendly feel. | Av. da Amizade, Downtown | 853/2838–3838 |www.starworldmacau.com.

Grand Lisboa.
The main gaming floor, notable for its glowing egg statue, features more than 430 tables, about 800 slot machines, and a sexy Paris cabaret show that runs every 15 minutes. The second floor has additional gambling opportunities as well as a great bar. The Grand Lisboa has a variety of dining choices, too. Options range from the baroque Don Alfonso 1890 to the Round-the-Clock Coffee Shop. If the slots have been kind, celebrate by having a divine dinner on-site at Robuchon au Dôme or The Eight: both have earned three Michelin stars. | 2–4 Av. de Lisboa, Downtown | 853/2838–2828 |www.grandlisboa.com.

MGM Macau.
A stylish part of Macau’s gambling scene offers lavish lounges, Dale Chihuly glass sculptures, Portuguese-inspired architecture, and fine dining. The gambling floor itself is popular with high rollers from Hong Kong, including business tycoons who are just in for a few days. One of the owners, Pansy Ho, is the daughter of Macau’s “gambling godfather,” Dr. Stanley Ho; she is a high-octane business professional in her own right and a woman’s classy touch shows up in this place’s glitz-and-glam energy and high-society appeal. | Av. Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, Downtown | 853/8802–8888 | www.mgmmacau.com.

Fodor’s Choice | Wynn Macau.
Listen for theme songs such as “Diamonds are Forever,” “Luck Be a Lady,” or “Money, Money” as Wynn’s outdoor Performance Lake dazzles you with flames and fountain jets of whipping water every 15 minutes from 11 am to midnight. Inside the “open hand” structure of Steve Wynn’s Macau resort, the indoor Rotunda Tree of Prosperity also wows guests with feng shui glitz. Wynn’s expansive, brightly lit gaming floor, fine dining, buffet meals, luxury shops, deluxe spa, and trendy suites make this one of the swisher resorts in Macau. | Rua Cidade de Sintra, Downtown | 853/2888–9966 |www.wynnmacau.com.

MACAU OUTER HARBOUR

Fodor’s Choice | Sands Macao.
This was the largest casino on earth until its sibling, the Venetian, stole the spotlight. It’s also the first casino you’ll see on the peninsula even before disembarking from the ferry. Past the sparkling 50-ton chandelier over the entrance, the grand gaming floor is anchored by a live cabaret stage above an open bar and under a giant screen. Several tiers are tastefully linked with escalators leading to the high-stakes tables upstairs. The friendly atmosphere and handy location, just across from Fisherman’s Wharf and near the bar street in NAPE, make this a good place to warm-up for your big night out. | 203 Largo de Monte Carlo, Outer Harbour | 853/2888–3330 | www.sands.com.mo.

MACAU INNER HARBOUR

Ponte 16.
In the swinging seaside days of the 1950s, Macau’s western port, or Ponte 16, is where all the action was. When the eastern port opened in the mid-1960s, the area fell into decay, but with the 2008 opening of Ponte 16, this legendary Latin Quarter has seen new momentum. The resort-casino has attracted Hong Kong and Taiwanese pop stars, mainland mass-market gamblers, and VIPs from Beijing and Shanghai. Probably because of the relatively isolated location, the atmosphere tends to be casual, and you can expect a winning combination of gorgeous views of the Inner Harbour as well as 109 gaming tables and 300-plus slot machines. | 4th fl., Rua do Visconde Paço de Arcos, Inner Harbour | 853/8861–8888 | www.ponte16.com.mo.

TAIPA

Fodor’s Choice | Mocha at The Altira Macau.
Touting itself as Macau’s first “six-star” integrated resort, the Altira Macau is indeed stellar, and its casino—Mocha—is the only classy one on Taipa. Facing the glow of casinos to the north on the peninsula, it offers swank, ’70s-style gaming floors decked out in browns and taupes with mod chandeliers. The selection of game play is abundant, from baccarat to straight-up slots to posh VIP gaming rooms. The VIP resort suites, fine-dining, and elegantly discreet 38 Lounge on the roof add to the overall ambience. | Av. de Kwong Tung, Taipa | 853/2886–8888 | www.altiramacau.com.

COTAI STRIP

City of Dreams.
The water theme is immediately apparent here, thanks to giant screens flashing images of mermaids swimming to and fro. Cotai’s glitzy entertainment complex boasts a 39,020-square-meter (420,000-square-foot) casino with about 500 gaming tables and around 1,400 gaming machines, plus more than 20 cafés, restaurants, and bars. Kids will love the multimedia show “Dragon’s Treasure,” as well as the Kids’ City playground. “The House of Dancing Water,” an aquatic-based spectacle that cost HK$2 billion to mount, is the main event. Once you’re tired out, you can choose to stay at one of its three hotels: the Grand Hyatt, the Hard Rock, or the Crown Towers. | Estrada do Istmo, Cotai | 8868–6688 | www.cityofdreamsmacau.com.

Galaxy Macau Complex.
It’s impossible to miss the six 24-karat gold cupolas of the Galaxy complex towering over the northwestern end of the Cotai Strip. This 2,200-room palatial resort is home to three hotels—Banyan Tree Macau, Galaxy Hotel, and Hotel Okura Macau—as well as the world’s largest wave pool, a 10-screen cinema, and a huge foot reflexology center. Smack in the center is a brightly lit casino floor packed with gaming tables, surrounded by high-end shops and restaurants where you can actually hear yourself think. | Estrada da Baia de N. Senhora da Esperanca, Cotai | 853/2888–0888 |www.galaxymacau.com.

FAMILY | Sands Cotai Central.
This huge hotel, shopping, and casino complex opened across the street from the Venetian Macao in 2012: its jungle-themed shopping center is flanked by the Holiday Inn Macao, the Conrad Macao, and the Sheraton Macao Hotel. The whole thing is perhaps the most child-friendly of the resort complexes, with budget-friendly prices, children’s pools, and an array of colorful family suites. The enormous 3,863-room Sheraton—the largest in the world—even offers free popcorn and games near reception. | Estrada da Baía de N. Senhora da Esperança, Downtown | 853/2886–6888 | www.sandscotaicentral.com.

Fodor’s Choice | Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel.
Twice the size of its namesake in Las Vegas, the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel offers ample opportunities for gaming, shopping, eating, and sleeping. Expect faux-Renaissance decoration, built-in canals plied by crooning gondoliers, live carnival acts, plenty of sheer spectacle, and more than a touch of pretension. The 35,768 square-meter (385,000-square-foot) gaming floor has some 2,000 slot machines and more than 600 tables of casino favorites. The sprawling property also includes nearly 3,000 suites, plus performance venues like the 1,800-seat Venetian Theatre and 15,000-seat Cotai Arena. It’s no wonder the Venetian Macao is the must-see megacomplex that everyone’s talking about. | Estrada da Baía de N. Senhora da Esperança, Cotai |853/2882–8888 | www.venetianmacao.com.