Table Limits at Macau?

I might go to Macau in this autumn. I have never been able to find any information on table limits in that city.

I do know that they denominate their chips in HK dollars (actually Macanese currency but it is pegged to HK$) and they would not advertise the fact, but I do know that Chinese gamblers wager for higher stakes than North American ones.

What are the typical table limits in the larger casinos of Macau? are they larger than the typical $10-$10,000 in larger LV casinos, or $5-$5,000 in smaller LV casinos?

Quote: wizardofmacau.com

While most casinos in Macau have HK$ 100 table game minimums, the minimums start at HK$ 50 at the President.

Link here

$1 USD = $7.76 HKD.

I understand. What I primarily want to know is the table maximums, at least for the areas where the mortals play.

Macau is exploding past the Last Vegas strip in overall gaming. They made more in the first quarter of 2010 then the Las Vegas strip made in all of CY2009. However 89% is Baccarat. Blackjack earns about 1/3 as much in Macau as the Las Vegas Strip.

In Vegasthe following casinos will take a $10K bet on blackjack.
(1) Aria; Bellagio ; MGM Grand; Mirage
(2) Harrahs; Paris ; Planet Hollywood; Rio;
(3) Treasure Island
(4) Venetian; Palazzo
(5) Wynn; Encore
(6) Golden Nugget permits bets up to US$15K (a subtle distinction from US$10K which seems to be only for bragging rights)
(7) Ceasars has three tables that permit bets up to US$50K .

From the tourist guide below, blackjack is treated as a minor game in Macau and they don't want you to gamble more than US$100-$400 maximum. I am rather surprised by this low number. Even the casinos on Fremont street (except those that make less than $1million per month) will take bets as high as US$1000.

Macau is more fond of Cussec (a variation on Sic-Bo Boule) then they are of blackjack.

Baccarat is divided between normal baccarat and VIP baccarat. I assume that by mortal you mean regular baccarat.

From the tourist guide below , I would guess that regular baccarat would limit you to something like HK$10,000.

I found this blurb in a Macau tourist guide . Presumably the dollar amounts are Macau dollars.

# Blackjack
The casinos operate several kinds of Blackjack tables - some with minimum bets of $20 and others with minimum bets of $100. The maximum bet on any game is $1,000 or $3,000 depending on the table.

# Roulette
The roulette tables in Macau are similar to those found in casinos elsewhere in the world. The wheels in Macau carry only one zero.

The minimum bet on any roulette number is $1 and $5. Bets of a minimum of $20 may also be placed on quarter divisions of the wheel, with the exception of zero, which is held by the bank on such bets. Players are provided with a chart bearing a reproduction of the wheel, showing the sequence of the numbers, the colors and the quarter divisions. The chart also lists winning numbers from the last several games at the table.

# Baccarat
The minimum bet on baccarat is $100. Maximum bets on baccarat are depending on the table. Maximum payout on any game of baccarat is $60,000 for the table.

I don't know how to interpret this final statement, but I assume that per player is limited to HK$10,000 . I am not sure why you would limit the payout for the table. I've never heard of anything like that in Vegas. Maybe the dealer will tell you otherwise.

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My own thoughts:
The last number I saw was that Macau was making close to $60 million per day in 2010. The Las Vegas strip made an average of $15.2 million per day in 2009. I am sure that you can find someone that can handle any size bet that any single human being is willing to play. I assume that the tourist guide does not apply to VIP baccarat. I also assume that people gambling at that level have pre-approved markers and are not using cash.

@pacomartin

Was Edgar a son of King Lear? Since the inept Albany is childless and Edgar is practically the Prime Minister, he would probably become King once Albany passes on... Unless Albany sevens out (remarrying and having a child at that old age).

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I think that maximum is lower than what I thought. Even $60k in HK$ is only about $8,000 US$, which per table is not big. Perhaps the bigger stakes are reserved for the 'immortals'...

I have been to vegas quite a few times, and while BJ max is $10k in most high-end casinos except Caesars, Baccarat and Pai gow (not PGP) limits are usually $20k...

Quote: Jaywall

@pacomartin
Was Edgar a son of King Lear? Since the inept Albany is childless and Edgar is practically the Prime Minister, he would probably become King once Albany passes on... Unless Albany sevens out (remarrying and having a child at that old age).

Edgar is the legitimate son of Gloucester (fine word, l-e-git-i-mate). He likes dice and wine, but his bastard brother deceives him out of his birthright and his father's love.

There is a general observation about Asia that extreme wealth is kept behind closed doors as much as possible. But more specifically since Macau has a little more than half the number of visitors as Las Vegas, and still manages to take in what is approaching four times the gaming revenue, you would think the limits would be very high. Until you asked the question I never looked into it. But it seems that the high limits are reserved for VIP baccarat which generates 2/3 of the Macau income.

But still the games outside of the VIP baccarat area are taking in as much as the Las Vegas strip, so even the ordinary visitor must be more interested in gaming than in Las Vegas. Maybe a big part of their success is forcing everyone to play at smaller stakes for longer periods of time.

I have read this account from a non-English site. It didn't mention the Casino's name, but apparently it was not a casino owned by an American.

In a casino in Macau, a Chinese guy was playing baccarat for hours and was mostly winning. He bet everything he had, HK$1 million (actually probably patacas, but doesn't matter) at tie.

The dealer and the managers stopped him, because the limit at tie was HK$600,000 (about US$80,000).

So he bet that HK$600K, and lo and behold, a tie came forth.

The managers walked him out, with HK$400K plus the HK$5.4 million he just won, for a total of HK$5.8 million (about US$770,000).

--

It was probably a high-limit area, and since the limit for tie was HK$600K, the limit for banker/player was probably around HK$5 million (about US$620,000).

Absolutely no Casino in Macau accepts the local currency, they all exclusively take Hong Kong dollars (however you can easily change the local currency to HKD). In the regular high limit area in the Venetian the limit on blackjack is 20,000 HKD a hand ($3,000) and the maximum win in Baccarat is HK$200,000-HK$300,000 in both high limit and normal areas. I believe the limits at the Wynn and the Sands are similar. The limits in private rooms can be much higher but you need to gamble a lot before being accepted in those. I went with someone that cached in nearly a million HKD and he had to play in the high limit area for a while before being accepted into the private rooms at the Venetian.

I know this is an old thread but in case someone is still interested, here are the numbers I saw at the different places I went to (all amounts are in HKD, all for baccarat):

Sands: Most regular tables have a minimum of either $300 or $500 and a maximum of $200,000. Most tables in the high limit area have a minimum of $1000-$5000 with a maximum of $300,000. Tables in the Playboy Club have a minimum of $10,000 and I believe the maximum was around $300,000-$500,000. There are also special areas for ruby card holders and diamond card holders, and I imagine the limits there must be much higher. Playing $500 baccarat for around 5 hour got me 25 points and you need 888 points for the ruby card and 8,888 points for the diamond card.

Venetian: Pretty much the same as Sands. I saw a blackjack table in the high limit area that had a $1,000 minimum and a $20,000 maximum if that interests you. The Sands also operates many private rooms with higher limits.

Wynn: $200 minimum on many tables, but I believe most have a $300-$500 minimum and all have a $200,000 maximum. High limit tables typically have a $3,000 minimum and a $300,000 maximum and some have limits of $5,000-$500,000. The Wynn also has many private rooms with higher limits.

Grand Lisboa: Minimums are around $300-$500 and maximums in regular playing areas are $200,000-$300,000. I haven't checked their high limit areas. This Casino also seems to have a lot more blackjack/roulette/craps/poker tables than the other casinos if that interests you.

Wow. Things must have changed a lot since my last trip in July 09. At that time $100 games were easy to find anywhere, and some SJM casinos had $50 games. This was for blackjack, but I would think the baccarat minimums would be similar.

Speaking of Macau, I'd really like to go in the spring. Hopefully I can find some kind of specific reason to hang the trip on.

Quote: Wizard

Speaking of Macau, I'd really like to go in the spring. Hopefully I can find some kind of specific reason to hang the trip on.

Do you fly United from San Francisco to Hong Kong, or Cathay Pacific from LAX to Hong Kong?

Quote: pacomartin

Do you fly United from San Francisco to Hong Kong, or Cathay Pacific from LAX to Hong Kong?

United from SFO to HK. Do you know of any hot deals?

Sometimes airlines offer excellent introductory prices for a new long distance flight.

Cathay Pacific is starting a service from Chicago to Hong Kong (nonstop 7793 miles) in September 2011 to compete with United. It's about 880 miles longer than the SFO to HKG.

Humor the rest of us. What kind of prices are we talking here?

Quote: DeMango

Humor the rest of us. What kind of prices are we talking here?

Cathay Pacific round trip economy including taxes to Hong Kong non stop (Sep 2011)
San Francisco $941.36
Los Angeles $941.36
Chicago $1,022.36

But Cathay Pacific offers a "deal of the month". Since the Chicago non-stop is a new service (Sep 2011), they will be anxious for it to fly with full planes so that it looks good for the press. They may undercut the current deal which is slightly higher than San Francisco. I was suggesting to the Wizard that he keep on eye on the price.

Hong Kong is not the most expensive place to fly to, but it's expensive to be there. Government fare is $595 each way from LAX.

However Business Class Fare across the Pacific is much higher than business class across the Atlantic. Many contractors require a business class seat for over 14 hours, so the airlines can charge a lot more for crossing the Pacific.

But if you have the time, the Cathay Pacific All Asia pass is one of the best ways to see eastern Asia.

Many Thanks! So looking at the Asia map, I'm always wondering what the pronunciation of "Phuket" Thailand is?

Quote: DeMango

Many Thanks! So looking at the Asia map, I'm always wondering what the pronunciation of "Phuket" Thailand is?

Something between "Poo-KET" and "Poo-KIT" with the accent on the second syllable.

The All-Asia pass of $1,599.00 price is for Monday - Wednesday mid-week long-haul travel only. Price does not include U.S. taxes, fees and security charges of approximately up to $60 per person or foreign taxes and fees of approximately up to $120 per person per foreign airport departure.

You get the main trip to Hong Kong and as many as four additional cities in 21 days. You could go to large cities like Beijing, Tokyo, Shanghai and Jakarta or you can go to exotic places like
• Hanoi (1:50 to 2:05)
• Hangzhou (2:10 to 2:20) [one of the oldest cities in the world]
• Phuket (3:20 to 3:40)
• Bali (4:45)
• Sapporo (4:30 to 5:40)

That is about US$100 per flight segment.

Although Hanoi is not a vacation spot, it would be an interesting diversion to spend a few days there.

I am just back from Macau. I flew from Phuket, Thailand to Hong Kong on AirAsia (3-1/2 hr flight). I then got the fastcat ferry direct to Macau that runs every hour from Hong Kong airport. This saves having to go into Hong Kong itself, and the trip across to Macau was less than 1 hour. Cost HK$220. Its a good tip as it saves a lot of time as I did not have to go through immgration in Hong Kong, but only in Macau.

On baccarat in any casino any player can ask for a maximum of HK$2m. I have heard of higher maximums, but never seen them.

On Blackjack it differs slightly.
In Sands China (Sands, Venetian, etc) ordinary is HK$2k-HK$50k (Seen special approval tables of HK$300k)
MGM HK$1k-HK$20k (Seen special approval of HK$300k)
Galaxy HK$2k-HK$40k
Lisboa HK$500-HK$20k
Wynn HK$2k-HK$40k
City of Dreams HK$2k-HK$40k

In many casinos in Macau they have been lowering the no. of blackjack tables dramatically I am even suspicious of Sands having increased their betting spreads in order to accommodate more guests on less (blackjack) tables.

Most important of all is that if you do put on a maximum bet in Macau not one single person at the table will show any sign of nervousness, while in the USA you have the "black action" comments all over.