Macau - Day 2 - Casinos

Day 2 was casino day. Macau's economy changed dramatically in the last couple of years as dozen of new casinos were built. Macau SAR is a bit of an anomaly in Asia. The government here is willing to grant casino licenses. Before, there was only one casino: the Hotel Lisboa. Since the handover back to China, the government granted dozens of new licenses. GDP growth reached upwards of 50%.

I wanted to see them. So I spent most of the day pretending to be gambling addict with money to burn.

I have to say: security is lax. Most of the guards seems uncertain as to what to search for. The Toronto Metro Reference Library has tougher guards. They only care whether I was carrying a gun or not. They just took a cursory look at my bag; they didn't even look at all the compartments. This was generally true in all the casinos I was at. I understand that they have cameras in every part of the casino, but they are more for spotting cheaters. I wonder how long it will be when somebody rob one of these casinos.

I was at the Sands, Wynn, StarWorld, Lisboa, Ventian. The Lisboa (both the original and the new Grand Lisboa) seem to have the most experience workforce. They also seem more geared towards separating the visitors from all the earthly belongings. Gambling is intensely done. Counters to buy chips with VISA cards is right near the tables. Pawn shops are right inside.

I understand that the Ventian and Sands are more geared towards "family" orientated entertainment. They have higher traffic flow, but the visitors seem to take a more relaxed view with Lady Luck.

All the casinos follow a basic employment pattern: a watcher for every two dealer, a pit boss for every two watcher, and a manager to to every six to eight active tables. I assume the floor manager is around somewhere. And of course, the Eye in the Sky. Cameras in the ceiling about 1-2 meters apart.

There is a sort of racial order here. Portugese security guards and dolled up greeters. Mecanese dealers and floor staff. Cleaners are mostly mainlanders. Australians are generally guys in real suits. One of the Directors of Gaming at the Wynn sounds Aussie from his accent. I didn't really find any Americans. But they have, I think, Russians and Japanese girls as exotic dancers. The gamblers are 95% mainlanders from tour groups. I didn't get to see the High Stakes area. I was told that this is the quietest time because people are busy at work until Chinese New Year.

I had been huddling at the Starbucks here. I can only find two so far in all of Macau: one at the Ventian and the other at the Wynn. The lai cha in Macau is cheap and much better in Toronto, but I find that it kind of low on the caffine scale. I am living on Double Espressos at the from the great Seattle giant.

This whole Starbucks thing is kinda funny. I feel like a gwalo. But I get these massive headache that won't go away until I have a Espressos. It's far more expensive than anything else in Macau. Lai cha at the coffee shop down the road from my place only cost 7 Pataca; Starbucks is charging me 18. That is about the price of a breakfast here. But that is still only $2.50 CAD, so I find it acceptable.