Craps in Macau, anyone with experience/info?

Hello from Bangkok. Planning a long weekend in Macau but I only play craps.

Good current information is not easily found on the "web" or elsewhere. The game isn't Asian and not much in the way of information. The casino's in Cambodia don't have craps.

I'd like to simply confirm there is at least five times odds on the pass/don't pass line and that the place bets are at fair(Las Vegas) odds i.e. place $30.usd on the six, get $35 if you win.

We are staying in a nice hotel (Lisboa) but I have no idea about the Las Vegas style of comps, especially food buffets, anyone have experience with this?

Thanks in advance, I don't see a forum on Macau itself, only some dated information. Nok

Everything I have to say about craps in Macau is found here.

Quote: NokTang

Hello from Bangkok.

Bangkok. Do you ever really get used to the humidity there? Everytime
I see a movie made there, everybody is always sweating all the time.

Quote: EvenBob

Bangkok. Do you ever really get used to the humidity there? Everytime
I see a movie made there, everybody is always sweating all the time.

You get used to taking a shower every time you get home. It's not as bad as it looks since we have AC. I'm not Thai, I come from Atlanta. I'd honestly say the heat in central Georgia or central Florida is worse in the summers. The British are what takes getting used to as they don't shower. Nok

Quote: Wizard

Everything I have to say about craps in Macau is found here.

I saw that prior to posting, thanks. A friend told me the newish Wynn had one or two games. I'm sure the pass line is okay with single or double odds but don't know about the place bets on the numbers. The chairs shown in the photo are a nice touch, no reason to stand up when you can sit in a nice chair I suppose. Off topic, I read that the Horseshoe downtown LV doesn't have rooms? What's the deal with that and is the steakhouse still open and the craps still 100times on a $1.usd wager in Binions? Thanks. Nok

Quote: NokTang

Quote: Wizard

Everything I have to say about craps in Macau is found here.

Off topic, I read that the Horseshoe downtown LV doesn't have rooms? What's the deal with that and is the steakhouse still open and the craps still 100times on a $1.usd wager in Binions? Thanks. Nok

You read correctly. You can't stay there, but the joint is now owned by the same guy that runs the Four Queens across the street, so they are encouraging folks to stay there.

The steakhouse is still open (and still serving a killer lobster bisque).

Craps dropped the 100x odds/$1 min. many years ago. Last time I played there, it was 10x/$5 min.

Have fun in Macau. Take some snaps, and write up a report on your visit.

Hope I'm not posing this too late, as it's past midnight Saturday there.

I visited Macau last November. I played craps at every casino where I could find a craps table. This included the Sands, MGM, Wynn, the new Lisboa and the smaller place across the street from Wynn/MGM (forget the name). Several larger casinos, such as the old Lisboa and the property closest to (and across the street from) the ferry terminal do not have craps. The casinos that do have craps only have one or two tables, often tucked away (Lisboa).

The mechanics of the game are generally the same as in the US. Everything is in English and dealers know and use all the usual jargon. Most places were 345x odds; although one place may have been 10x nothing was lower. Minimums are HKD$50-100, pretty reasonable considering what baccarat runs. It is common for Asian players to bet only when they or their friends are shooting.

As the Wizard wrote previously, everything in Macau runs on Hong Kong dollars, to the extent that many casinos refuse to deal in patacas. The USD/HKD rates at the cages are quite reasonable, or you can just use ATMs (which should dispense HKD by default), or if you want to exchange baht for HKD you can probably find good rates in Bangkok. What you want to avoid are (1) double exchanges (THB --> USD --> HKD), (2) booths at airports or the ferry pier and (3) ever holding a pataca.

Most of the bigger casinos run free shuttles to and from the ferry pier. You can get around by walking, though, and the strategy I fell into was to gradually go further away from the pier until I got to the Lisboa, then take their shuttle back. The upper level of the pier building has lockers which will hold large backpacks for $20/day as I recall.

Quote: NokTang

Off topic, I read that the Horseshoe downtown LV doesn't have rooms? What's the deal with that and is the steakhouse still open and the craps still 100times on a $1.usd wager in Binions? Thanks. Nok

The Horseshoe has not legally been allowed to use that name since 2004. It's just Binion's now. The hotel has been closed for well over a year, but as stated earlier you can stay at the Four Queens (same ownership now). Nobody has 100X with $1 minimum anymore. Sometimes Binions does 5X with $1 minimum at 3:00 AM, but even that is rare. The best bet downtown is 20X with $5 minimum at Main Street.

Quote: pacomartin

The Horseshoe has not legally been allowed to use that name since 2004. It's just Binion's now.

But the sign still says Horseshoe and has a tessealtion of H's, right?

Quote: 7outlineaway

But the sign still says Horseshoe and has a tessealtion of H's, right?

The last time I was there there was no "H," Horseshoe, or anything shoe or horse related. Just Binion's.

You do not want to run afoul of Caesars' trademark lawyers.

Quote: 7outlineaway

But the sign still says Horseshoe and has a tessealtion of H's, right?

The name and the tessellation are completely gone. Ceasars (then Harrahs) bought into the property to get the two brand names it wanted: Horshoe and World Series of Poker. They had as little to do with operating the property as they could legally get away with. It looks like they were correct as the brand names were worth far more than the property.




The sad thing is that Ceasars is using old pictures of Binion's from the 1950's to emphasize their brand. The advertising says Since 1951 Horseshoe Casinos have been home to the best odds, highest limits and biggest jackpots around. At Horseshoe we always "make it right for the gambler." In every market where we operate, the Horseshoe has been number one since day one.

Right now they are using the brand in 7 places, but they may re-brand Imperial Palace as a Horshoe casino.

• Horseshoe Southern Indiana
• Horseshoe Casino Hammond
• Horseshoe Council Bluffs
• Horseshoe Casino Bossier City
• Horseshoe Casino Tunica
• Horseshoe Cleveland
• Horseshoe Cincinnati


Their dominant brand is still Harrah's. Although there is some lip service to the Horshoe brand being more oriented towards gamblers, there seems to be little actual differences between the locations.

• Harrah's Phoenix Ak-Chin Casino
• Harrah's Rincon Casino
• Harrah's Joliet Casino
• Harrah's Metropolis Casino
• Harrah's Council Bluffs Casino
• Harrah's Louisiana Downs
• Harrah's New Orleans Casino
• Harrah's Tunica
• Harrah's North Kansas City Casino
• Harrah's St. Louis Casino
• Harrah's Lake Tahoe Casino
• Harrah's Las Vegas Casino
• Harrah's Laughlin Casino
• Harrah's Reno Casino
• Harrah's Resort Atlantic City
• Harrah's Cherokee Casino
• Harrah's Chester

Well, I'll be. I just associate the name with the sign outside and those H's that I didn't notice it had changed when I was there a couple months back.

Quote: pacomartin

Their dominant brand is still Harrah's. Although there is some lip service to the Horshoe brand being more oriented towards gamblers, there seems to be little actual differences between the locations.

It's not all lip service. They do have some differences like 100x odds on craps in all locations, and sort of better rules on table games. It's also easier to get a discretionary comp at the Horseshoe than the Harrah's.

Quote: 7outlineaway

Hope I'm not posing this too late, as it's past midnight Saturday there.
.

Not too late and thanks! Not gone yet.

I'm a little confused on the exchange options you outlined. I have US Dollars. When I win can I expect a very low vig to change back to USD from Hong Kong and get that reasonable exchange at most casino cages?

FYI, in Poi Pet Cambodia you can exchange dollars to Baht and they will give it back to you in dollars at the same rate if done in the same day, with receipt I assume.(I was told this by the cage but ended up just playing in Baht)

Cheers and thanks again. Nok

Quote: teddys

It's not all lip service. They do have some differences like 100x odds on craps in all locations, and kind of better rules on table games. It's also easier to get a discretionary comp at the Horseshoe than the Harrah's.

Curious if you mean 100x on $1.usd? Thanks. Nok

Quote: pacomartin

Right now they are using the brand in 7 places, but they may re-brand Imperial Palace as a Horshoe casino.

Please excuse the stupid question, but what is going on with the Imperial Palace? It was never a favorite of mine but you have perked my interest when you indicated Harrahs bought the Horseshoe name etc.. Thanks. Nok

Quote: NokTang

Please excuse the stupid question, but what is going on with the Imperial Palace? It was never a favorite of mine but you have perked my interest when you indicated Harrahs bought the Horseshoe name etc.. Thanks. Nok

It's being renovated, somewhat, as aprt of a bigger project for a pedestrian mall at the Strip, behind the Flamingo.

Quote: NokTang

I'm a little confused on the exchange options you outlined. I have US Dollars. When I win can I expect a very low vig to change back to USD from Hong Kong and get that reasonable exchange at most casino cages?

The exchange rates at cages are pretty competitive both ways. (The casinos don't need to make their money here.) You may still want to shop around a bit, and check out a few independent places on the street.

Another option is to exchange in Hong Kong if you will be in the city away from the airport. (There are plenty of places to exchange at the airport, but the banks know they have a captive audience there.) Dealers in Tsim Sha Sui in particular are very competitive. In any case, amounts well into the USD thousands should be no big deal.

BTW, if you are coming back to the US expect to be asked about your trip to Macau, including how much cash you are carrying. Customs agents know there's only one reason anyone goes there.

Here's an update from a fellow internationally travelling craps degenerate, I made my first trip to Macau yesterday. I did a lot of googling before to try and get the lay of the land and it was readily apparent that craps isn't so popular in Macau. I found one site that listed a few casinos with craps tables, including L'Arc. I went there but couldn't find one anywhere and none of the staff said they had a table. So I wandered over to the Wynn where they had one table rolling.

Chatting with a few people they told me there are only 4 tables in Macau (yeah, 4 - this is the place that generates 10x the revenue that Vegas does!). They said there's one at the Wynn, one at the Galaxy, and 2 at the Venetian. I played at the Wynn the whole time and had a lot of fun; very friendly players and dealers, even with the language barrier, although the dealers understood pretty much everything I was asking for. Note, they don't use the concept of 'units' when pressing. When you say press, they assume it's all the way. I couldn't get them to figure out one unit, two units, etc. so I just went with the flow. Table minimum was $100 HKD (about $13), with 3x4x5 odds.

Drink service is good if you can flag down a waitress - there aren't many of them around and it didn't appear the Asian players cared so much about drinks. I tipped the waitresses, but when I asked if people tip dealers the guy next to me said they'd accept it, but it all goes to the house so they don't really care if you do it or not.

When cashing out at the cage I asked for USD but they wouldn't do it, not sure if this is new or not. I wanted to exchange about $8k HKD into $1k USD; ended up doing it at the airport where they got me for 5%. Didn't really have a choice due to timing.

Overall the craps experience in Macau was fun - it's worth a day trip from HK if you're there.