Our destination today was Macau, the province not far from Hong Kong, which is considered the Las Vegas of China. Like Hong Kong, this city is a Special Administrative Region and has all the trappings: its own international airport, its own visa, and its own currency. However, the currency is rarely used – the Hong Kong dollar has roughly the same value and is widely accepted.
Since Macau is only about 60 km from Hong Kong, we opted for the ferry instead of flying. There are connections from several points in Hong Kong, and prices range from €15 to €20, depending on the operator and pier. The whole process is quite professional; you're even assigned seats, and a safety briefing is shown on the monitors. Afterward, even with calm seas, we embarked on an hour-long, rocking journey through the South China Sea. However, in rougher seas, the catamaran trip could quickly become much less comfortable.
Arriving at Taipa Pier in Macau, we had to go through the usual immigration procedures again – filling out entry forms, queuing, and getting our passports stamped. Finally out of the terminal building, dozens of buses were already waiting, offering free transport to all sorts of hotels and casinos on the island – but apparently, our hotel didn't have a shuttle service. Since we didn't want to walk the 5 km, we quickly checked Google Maps and hopped on the shuttle bus for the Venetian, a large casino nearby. Apparently, nobody really cared, and within a few minutes, we were at the entrance of the attached 5-star hotel. Here, we quickly realized that the buses were only for hotel guests, as we had to defend our suitcases against several bellhops. Having overcome the first hurdle, we were then guided unerringly by the stream of visitors and the doormen towards the reception – it was high time to get out of there. Luckily, the lobby was so busy that we were able to slip out unnoticed through a side door – another stroke of luck.
We ended up having to walk the last two kilometers, which gave us a little time to look around. The Venetian, which I mentioned earlier, is a huge replica of Venice, complete with several smaller houses surrounded by moats and gondoliers. The entire complex was easily 1 square kilometer in size and still very new. In our part of the island, there was also the Galaxy, City of Dreams, and several smaller resorts. The large complexes are all modeled after their counterparts in Las Vegas, but according to Chris, they are just as impressive in size and appearance. The Chinese certainly know a thing or two about monumental architecture! After a few minutes' walk, we reached our "Grandview" hotel and were delighted to discover that it also had its own little casino. We quickly checked in and were happy to finally have a proper room with large beds after the last two days spent in what felt like a closet. The only unusual feature was a very peculiar shower. Although the bathroom was separated from the lockable one by an opaque shower curtain, it was open to the bedroom with a large picture window. Luckily, after a few minutes we found a roller blind to restore our privacy.
Casinos of Macau
So, off to the casino! To get ourselves in the mood, we tried our luck at the slot machines in the casino's own casino. The one-armed bandits are actually quite easy to use, but since everything was labeled in Chinese, we had to say goodbye to half our stake (luckily only €2) after the very first press of a button. After a few more attempts and a few more losses, we finally figured it out and developed our first strategies. The machines differ in the number of symbol rows and the possible winning combinations. In my opinion, the simpler machines are the better ones, since you can win less, but consequently, you can also lose less. After 1.5 hours and quite a bit of up and down on our winnings slip, we had lost €3 and had had enough of the machines. It's fun at first, but I don't understand how some people can spend entire evenings playing them. For us, it was now time to turn our attention to the "big" games.
In Macau, various games are offered at the tables. The most popular is Baccarat. I have no idea how it works, but the Chinese seem to have a blast. You constantly see them jumping on their chairs, hear them shouting, and throwing cards onto the table. Besides that, there's Poker, Roulette, Casino War, Craps, and various other games we'd never seen before. However, our game for the evening was to be the king of casino games, Blackjack. From movies like 21, I remembered that there was supposed to be a good strategy that gave you at least a certain chance of winning. So I tried my luck with Google and was very surprised to find the corresponding Wikipedia article with the strategy on the first hit. I memorized the just over 20 rules as best I could and was ready for the table.
Galaxy
Before we could plunge into the fray, we had to figure out how much starting capital (and therefore also how much potential loss) we were willing to invest. A stake of €20 per person seemed reasonable. Our casino of choice was the Galaxy: one of the gigantic, magnificent buildings, which was now beautifully illuminated from the outside. Despite our more or less elegant attire (I was wearing a polo shirt and hiking pants), getting in wasn't a problem. Inside, an overwhelming sight of hundreds of tables and thousands of Chinese gamblers awaited us. We fought our way through the throng and, after some searching, finally found the blackjack tables. That's when we were shocked! (figuratively speaking) A single blackjack game cost €20 at the cheapest table with the minimum bet. The limit was €6,000 – that was simply too much for us!
Venetian
Okay, our first attempt was a bust – so we tried again at another casino. Free shuttle buses are available everywhere for traveling between casinos. However, when we arrived at the Venetian, we discovered that the prices were just as high.
At City of Dreams, the minimum bet started at €30. We found it completely incomprehensible how an average Chinese person could afford that, and what was worse, most of them looked perfectly ordinary. Suits were rare, and ostentatious status symbols like Louis Vuitton bags or Rolex watches were practically nonexistent. A little dejected, we headed back towards the hotel to return to the slot machines. However, just before reaching our hotel, we saw another, smaller casino flashing its lights up the road and decided to give it another try. It wasn't quite as luxurious or new as the others, but the stakes at the first few tables were only a quarter of what they were. After a short search, we finally found a blackjack table with a starting bet of €5.
Blackjack
Chris still thought this was too high, especially since he'd never played blackjack before. So we pooled our bets and added another €10 to ensure at least 10 games, and I decided to try my luck. The first few games went well, and I'd already won €10 in just a few minutes. Chris was already making plans for how best to spend the money when I suddenly started losing more often. After a few more games, I was down to just €25, and Chris was starting to sweat. But then the laws of probability kicked in, and things started looking up again. Wikipedia claimed that with an optimal (my) strategy, you can make a profit of 11% after an hour of playing. To my great surprise, it was true! After an hour, I'd settled at around €65. At €75, I gave Chris our initial stake so we'd definitely go home without a loss. From then on, he could relax and watch. After about 4 hours of playing, I had won €72.50 and we ended the evening.
I have to mention again that I never expected to actually win money at a casino. For me, the sporting challenge was simply to last as long as possible without going bust. So I was all the more surprised to discover that you can apparently win money simply by following the Wikipedia strategy. We wondered why more people didn't do it this way. In the end, the evening was a success, and we recouped the cost of the ferry and part of the meal.
With this experience, I bid farewell to our Asia trip, taking with me many unique impressions and exciting experiences. To everyone who has persevered this far with this mammoth post, I say “Thank you for reading!” and I hope you enjoyed it.
Bodo
