I have never really spent much time in Macau outside of a sauna (gotta have your priorities right!), but on this trip I am considering some non-sauna time.

So, I am looking for recommendations for poker rooms.  My ideal poker room has real dealers (no electronic poker tables, they suck), a variety of tables (in US terms, everything from non limit to a 1-2 or 2-4 limit tables at the other end), and preferably has breathable air.

What places meet the spec, which ones are recommended, and which ones are "fish catchers" that I should avoid?  Also, what is the local version of a 2-4 type table?

I am considering staying at grand waldo, the reviews seem reasonable and the price acceptable.  It also seems to be inconveniently located in the middle of nowhere.  Anyone got some suggestions otherwise?

Hey CanuckGuy....

Are you going to play Holdem? I think that's all they have in Macau..at least that was the case when I was still in HK/Macau...

The lowest stakes I've heard of are 10/20HKD...up too 2k/4k HKD(rare game)..there are always 25/50, 50/100, 100/200, and 200/400 games....and 500/1000 is often as well....

I like to play at the Wynn..but Lisboa is the best for 10/20...Starworld is also popular...

I like the Wynn..because I had money there...and they have the biggest games...so it depends what your looking for....

Yup, all holdem, all the time.  

In the US, I tend to play either smaller daily tournaments (done right, you can play about 4 per day in Vegas, moving casino to casino... but I tend to limit myself to one) or play cash game 2-4, which would be 14-28 in HK dollars.  So a 10/20 or 25/50 might be workable.  I usually play at the MGM in vegas, one of the nicest (high ceiling, open air) places to play.

I see that Lisboa certainly has a huge enough room, better than average.  I will have to go have a look at the Wynn too

don't know if it's allowed but http://forumserver.twoplustwo.co ... ar/poker-macau-488/  is a lot of info
sad thing is, there are 113 pages in a period of 3 years..
so im just going to give you the most current info....

imo Wyn is the place you should be playing NLHE,  they have 10/25 25/50  50/100 etc games, and they also have a "highstakes circle" for 300/600 500/1000 or above depends on what players want..
for 25/50 Wyn is the place to be...

in grand lisboa you can also play 10/20 and 25/50  but mostly they run 10/20 games there.. the dealers sucks ass the tables are ugly the game is TIGHT like SUPERTIGHT you will be suprised how nit the players are.. so i dont recommend grand lisboa. For tournament poker you shoudl go there tho.. cause afaik they are the only one providing tournaments....

Starworld, there used to be the high stakes games... but the game should be dead now... wyn and grand lisboa has the most players...

and in the cotai side,   in the venetian they have a new pokerroom...


my recommendation WYnn  if there are no seats you can try your luck at grand lisboa  its  like 10 minutes walking

and a funny note: the higher you play, the more fishes you will meet..   the 10/20 game is really NOT interesting

i once hear the chinese not good in poker. they go all in all the time.

What are you talking about ???

Never heard of Johnny chan or Chau Giang then?!

no offense to chinese pokerplayers, im chinese as well...
but johnny chan is a big fish   and chau giang is even a bigger fish!
winning back to back in a 152 entries  and a 167 entries tournament  with those circumstances (field was back then very soft) imo is not something huge...
especially with his performance from the last decade... mr. chan is just a tight abc pokerplayer

i was playing at grand lisboa poker room, and yea i noticed chinese are very very aggressive / wreckless with betting.

they will gamble on gutshots, and instacall your all-ins with mid pairs.

That's not true. I played at Grand Lisboa before and they dont do that. I mean sometimes you got a wild one but that's with other nationalities as well not just the Chinese. Sometimes they can be aggressive but that doenst mean that they all in every hand all the time. I like the Wynn and grand lisboa, very nice atmosphere to play.

Well, I booked myself into the Lan Kwai Fong, just to see what it is like.  Pretty much every review on agobe was excellent, and it sort of puts my in the middle of everything except maybe the cotai locations.  A couple of days there should give me time to check out the poker rooms and also to enjoy the saunas at later hours than the typical HK day tripper.

So who's in town 18th-20th?  ;)