Macau: Vegas Of The East
We arrived at Hong Kong's sparkling huge airport after a five-hour flight from Delhi. We headed straight from our gate to the transit area and booked a ferry direct to Macau. After a month in India, where nothing is done easily, it was strange to be able to arrange a transit to Macau with no fuss and in only a few minutes.
We had a couple hours to kill in the HK airport, where I had my first ice cream in two months, and where Michelle savored over a Chinese lunch. We made it to Macau without incident, caught the "Wynn" bus from the ferry terminal, and without delay found ourselves at the new, palatial Wynn Macau.
The Wynn Macau is said to be essentially a clone of Wynn Las Vegas, except for the casino floor. The rooms were large and luxurious, the restaurants were nice (and expensive), and the pool looked inviting (though rain kept us from giving it a go). The rap on the Wynn is that the service is poor, and there's some merit to this. Having knocked around China for nearly 20 years, we can say with some confidence that "service with a smile" is not something that comes naturally in China. In their defense, if we had grown up under rule of Mao we probably wouldn't get the concept either. Regardless, at the Wynn they tried very hard, and any time there were foul-ups they did a fine job of eventually getting things right.
Having lived up the coast in Hong Kong in the early 90's....and having a certain enthusiasm for gambling....we had been to Macau a number of times before. Back then, Macau was a sleepy town, and the casinos were outright dumps. The flagship casino at the time, the Lisboa, had "no spitting" signs on the walls (which were often ignored), featured surly dealers who helped themselves to tips out of your winnings, and were so thick with cigarette smoke that anything more than a few feet away was seen through a foggy haze.
Suffice to say that the town has changed. New casinos have sprouted-up all over town, and they are nice places! Macau's annual gambling revenues now exceed Las Vegas, and since the Chinese have a fascination with gambling, the potential is mind-boggling. The Chinese love of gambling was reflected when we wearily stumbled out of our hotel the first morning, and were nearly taken-down by a group of running Chinese who had just unloaded from a bus (which I assume was some sort of "casino express" for mainlanders). Getting caught between Chinese and a casino is a great way to find yourself trying to get those pesky footprint stains out of your shirt....
As we do in Vegas, we did a "casino crawl," walking from casino to casino and playing a little at each. Most of the tables are for baccarat or Chinese games such as "big/small," but there are always a few blackjack tables, so that was my game of choice. We started at the Sands, which looked surprisingly dark and dumpy. Despite the gloomy surroundings we left impressed, since I had won a few dollars! Our luck continued at The Galaxy, where I had a spectacular run at blackjack. "You very lucky man," said the dealer as I raked in the chips, "You should play more!" Perhaps she was right, but I took my winnings and ran, enabling me to pay for our entire stay in Macau with house money.
I'd generally play at tables where I was the only player, as a white guy joining a table of Chinese can be unsettling to the locals. At a bacarrat table a Chinese lady joined me, and was careful to be the opposite of what I bet. She got slammed, and I muffled my giggles. At another table a Chinese guy joined me, I bet the same as he, and we both went on a fantastic run! I assume that he's since been telling his friends at how you should be sure to play at a table with huge white guys as they bring good luck...
We had hoped to go out to the dog races one night, but a driving rainstorm interfered. No problem...the casino was still open!
If you like to gamble, then Macau is absolutely a place worth visiting. However, if you're not a gambler, then there's really no big reason to go there.
April, 2007
Bob's ratings:
- Macau: 7 (if you like to gamble)
- Wynn hotel: 9