Macau, China: Final Gambling Chapter Featuring MGM Grand and the Venetian

So after spending a day doing touristy stuff, I earned my right to continue on being Gamblor!  Hopefully I will do as well as I did on my first try, which you can read about here.

My plan is to play $100 HKD (just under $13 USD) in each of the five casinos I plan on visiting.

Where better to start than in my own hotel?  Lisboa’s casino was offering $20 HKD free play to new sign ups.  This is about $2.50 USD.  I also got a free cookie and a little change purse.

Lisboa casino swag

I lost my $20 free play and my allotted $100 (and an extra $100 for good measure.)  I went to cash out my last few cents and found out I had played enough to earn $50 HKD in free play.  Lost that too.  BUMMER.  When I went to collect my change, there were two women working the cashier’s cage.  One was obsessed with me and you could just tell she was dying for me to go to her window.  She looked SO EXCITED to see me walking up.  So I decided to get some good karma by obliging her.  No one has ever been happier to speak to me in my entire life.

Back over to Wynn.  Surely I will win here, since I did last night, right?  Maybe.  I lost my $100 in a Code Red slot machine and put in a second.  Because I said I was only going to play $100 and now I am playing $200.  This got me $1000.  That is about $129 USD.  This means I can put in another $100.  Cashed this one out at $900.

Over to MGM Grand.  Here I got a fish pin.  Oooooh!

MGM Grand Macau fish pinmgm  macau entrance

I played some stupid dolphin themed slot machine and never stopped losing until I stopped myself from playing.  I left down $400 HKD (again, because I was only supposed to play $100 here.)

This was the first place I found any video poker and I only found one bank.  I did not play it because my math told me each hand would be $10 USD.   No thank you.

After this, I retreated back to my room for a nap.  I stopped at a bakery inside my hotel for a croissant on my way up.  I was due $40 HKD in change and was given $20.  I point this out and the woman instantly hands me another $20 without even double checking I was telling the truth.  Either they are really into honesty here, or she was purposely trying to rip me off and knew she was caught.

I go back out later on, this time to the Venetian.   Macau is set up so every hotel/casino has free shuttles to and from the ferry terminal.  The way you are supposed to get around is to take a shuttle to the ferry terminal and hop on a free one to wherever it is you want to go.  Where I do not want to go is the ferry terminal.  It is hot, I am riding some winnings, I will splurge for a cab.

Let me tell you, the lines for cabs on a Monday in Macau are longer than lines for cabs in Las Vegas on a Saturday night fight night.  No joke.

The Macau Venetian is enormous.  ENORMOUS.  It was shocking and impressive.  It looks like the Vegas version, only on steroids.

Venetian Macau canalVenetian exterior Macau ChinaVenetian Tower Macau ChinaVenetian Rialto Bridge Macau ChinaVenetian Macau entranceVenetian ceiling art macauVenetian hallway MacauVenetian Canal Macao China

Signing up for a player’s card here got me a keychain.

Venetian key ring

I played some slots, but could not win at all.  I had originally planned to go across the street and try my luck at the casinos over there.

crown and hard rock macao

Crown Macau ChinaBut I could feel myself getting anxious for a win and I knew this might not end well.  So I actually managed to stop myself and get back in a cab back to my hotel.  I think I promised myself I could do a degenerate Atlantic City trip when I got back, in exchange for being anti-degenerate.  Spoiler alert:  I have since taken two degenerate Atlantic City trips.  Oops?

Back to Lisboa.  This place is so pretty.

casino lisboa macau china daytime

I tried to have dinner at their coffee shop. I am not sure what exactly I did wrong.  I walked in, got seated, got a menu and then nothing happened ever again.  There was a waitress who kept ignoring me.  She would keep walking by and never stop.  When I would say “excuse me” she would keep walking.  Mind you, there was only one other table in the whole place that had people sitting at it.  So after half an hour (literally, half an hour) I got up and went to my room and dined on a package of mixed nuts.  Not exactly the meal I had been hoping for, but it did help in keeping my Macau spending ridiculously low.

I was in bed pretty early to prepare for the next day: my first time ever stepping foot on mainland China.

2 thoughts on “Macau, China: Final Gambling Chapter Featuring MGM Grand and the Venetian

    1. jennifer Post author

      It is difficult to figure out with all the currencies and exchange rates involved.

      I arrived in Macau with $1575 HKD ($203 USD) and when I got to mainland China, I exchanged all my HKD for $4173 RMB ($676 USD)

      So I was up close to $500, after everything, not just gambling, I spent in Macau. Pretty cool!

      Reply

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