Macau has twenty-eight casinos, of which the biggest is the The Venetian Macau. They all operate under a government franchise and under a common set of rules.
Many forms of gambling are legal there, such as blackjack, baccarat, roulette, boule, Sic bo, Fan-Tan, keno and slot machines. The most popular game by far is baccarat with VIP high-roller baccarat generating more than 70% of total gaming revenue in 2004.
Poker was introduced only in August 2007, in an electronic table format at Galaxy Starworld casino. The first live poker tournament was the Asia Pacific Poker Tour Macau event in November 2007. Shortly thereafter, in January 2008, the government of Macau published the official rules for Texas hold 'em poker games in Macau. In February 2008, Grand Lisboa Casino added the first live-dealer cash game tables in Macau. In May 2008, 'PokerStars Macau' opened at Grand Waldo Casino. In November 2008, Texas Holdem' Poker opened at Wynn Macau and the "Learn to Play" table is available. Today, only Wynn Macau, Grand Lisboa and Grand Waldo Casinos offer live-dealer cash game poker tables, and only Grand Waldo Casino has live poker tournaments every weekend.
Gambling has been legal in Macau for a long time beginning in 1851 where there was a licensing system for gambling houses until 1863. Beginning in 1934, casinos' ownership and operation was centralized where through private negotiations, some franchises monopolized the operation right of all casinos. The casino industry has been controlled by the STDM monopoly for 39 years but, this changed in 2001 when casino licenses were offered to other casino operators, including American companies such as Las Vegas Sands (Sheldon Adelson) and Wynn Resorts (Steve Wynn) and then later on May 18, 2004, the Sands Macau casino opened near the Macau Ferry Terminal.
| Name | Size | Special Features |
| Casino Lisboa | 107 slots and 146 table games (190,000 sq ft) | Hotel with 1,000 rooms and 6 restaurants |
| Casa Real Casino | 123 slots and 53 table games (36,000 sq ft) | Hotel with 381 rooms and 2 restaurants |
| Grandview Casino | 51 table games | Hotel with 407 rooms and 2 restaurants |
| Casino Macau Palace | 51 slots and 12 table games (11,120 sq ft) | None |
| Crown Macau | 550 slots and 220 table games | Hotel with 216 VIP rooms |
| Jai Alai Casino | 208 slots and 61+ table games, 4 VIP rooms (67,075 sq ft) | None |
| Kam Pek Casino | 71 slots and 24 table games; 4 VIP rooms (34,320 sq ft) | None |
| Kingsway Hotel & Casino | 20 slots and 8 table games (11,755 sq ft) | Hotel with 410 rooms |
| Mandarin Oriental Casino | 59 slots and 11 table games (12,140 sq ft) | Hotel with 437 rooms and 6 restaurants |
| Mocha Clubs | 1000 slots (number of tables unknown) | None |
| New Century Hotel & Casino | 19 table games | Hotel with 554 rooms |
| The Legend Club | 108 slots and 12 table games; 1 VIP room (15,000 sq ft) | None |
| Sands Macao | 405 slots and 270 gaming tables (165,000 sq ft) | 51 suite VIP hotel |
| Golden Dragon Casino | 137 slots, 123 gaming machines and 85 gaming tables, 15 VIP rooms | 483 deluxe guest rooms including 84 harbour view rooms and 45 signature suites |
| Greek Mythology Casino | 228 tables (to be upgraded to 500), 100 slot machines (160,000 sq ft) | 554 rooms at the New Century Hotel |
| MGM Grand Macau | 345 gaming tables and 1035 slot machines | Opening 2007 with 600 room hotel |
| Wynn Macau | 375 slot machines and 212 gaming tables (246,000 sq ft) | Integrated resort with 600 rooms and restaurants |
| The Venetian Macao, Cotai strip | 3400 slot machines and 800 gaming tables (550,000 square feet of casino space) | Integrated resort with 3000 suites, convention and retail space |
| Babylon Casino - Fisherman's Wharf | ||
| Casino Crystal Palace at Hotel Lisboa | 36 slots (14,100 sq ft) | |
| Diamond Casino at Holiday Inn | 6 + 1 VIP Room, 32 slot machines (6,900 sq ft) | |
| Emperor Palace Casino | 64 gaming table on 3 floors of casino concourse & 8 VIP Halls, 365 slot machines | |
| Fortuna Casino | 35 gaming tables | |
| Galaxy Rio Casino | 80 tables, 150 slots, 4 VIP rooms | 450 rooms, 65 suites |
| Galaxy Starworld | 300 tables, 371 slots | StarWorld Hotel |
| Galaxy Waldo Hotel and Casino | 63 tables, 8 VIP rooms, 100 slots | 161 rooms |
| Pharaoh's Palace Casino | 109 tables 5 VIP rooms, 383 slots (9000 sq ft) | 3 Presidential suites, 448 Rooms and Suites at the The Landmark |
| Ponte 16 - u/c, opening 1 February 2008 | 150 tables, 5 VIP halls and 20 rooms | |
| Casino Marina at Tapia | 20 tables, 4 VIP rooms, 37 slots 45,900 | 312 rooms and suites at Marina Hotel |
| Crown Casino , Taipa - u/c | 220 (80 VIP), 183,000 sq ft (17,000 m2) gaming space 500 slots | |
| MJC Casino, Taipa | 19 tables, 2 VIP rooms, 15,800 sq ft (1,470 m2) | 3 Deluxe Rooms and 22 Junior Suites and 1 Presidential Suite and 352 Standard Rooms and 26 Suites |
| City of Dreams, Cotai u/c open 2009 | 420,000-square-foot (39,000 m2) gming floor and 85,000 square feet (7,900 m2) of retail space; opening September 2009 Theatre of Dreams (1,700 seaters): Q1 of 2009 | 366 room Hard Rock Hotel and 295 suites Crown Towers Hotel, Cotai. Grand Hyatt Macau (1,005 rooms) |
| Galaxy Cotai Mega Resort, Cotai u/c open 2008 | 348 tables, 1000 slot | 2000 hotel rooms |
| Galaxy Grand Waldo, Cotai | 168 tables, 25 machines, 350 slots (120000 sq ft), dedicated Poker Room: 'PokerStars Macau' | |
| Macau Studio City - planned, Cotai | 500,000 square feet (46,000 m2) of gaming facilities comprising more than 400 gaming tables |
References
- ^ a b Chan, S. S. (2000). The Macau Economy. Macau: Publications Centre, University of Macau. ISBN 99937-26-03-6.
- ^ Macau Yearbook 2007. Government Information Bureau of the Macau SAR. 2007. ISBN 978-99937-56-09-5.
- ^ Bloomberg, Macau Casinos Top Las Vegas as Adelson, Wynn, Battle Stanley Ho, 1/03/2007
This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.
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