Gamble in Macau

Macau casinos have come a long way in the last century. The tiny former Portuguese colony spent many years as a down-at-the-heels backwater, with unglamorous gaming. But since 1999, when Macau became a special administrative region of China, Macau casinos have upgraded considerably. In fact, in 2007, Macau’s gambling revenue surpassed that of Las Vegas. 

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Most visitors are from Hong Kong – just a short ferry ride away – and mainland China, where gambling is illegal. But increasing numbers visit from around Asia and even farther to gamble marked cards the days and nights away. 
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Those who travel the world in search of big casinos definitely need to visit Macau. Here are a few of the notable ones: 
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The Lisboa 
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This original attempt at merging gaming and glamour set a trend for later Macau casinos. Back in the 1960s, casino entrepreneur Stanley Ho built the Lisboa. It still stands, but is now dwarfed by the nearby Grand Lisboa, Macau’s most iconic building. The Grand Lisboa is designed to resemble a giant lotus flower covered with a million flashing LEDs. Some people love it and others find it a vulgar monstrosity. At the Lisboa you can play craps, Texas hold’em, baccarat, roulette, and other games at more than 240 tables. On your way to the gaming floor, check out the art collection in the lobby. 
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The Venetian 
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The Venetian is a copy of the Las Vegas Venetian, which is a copy of Venice. You can ride a gondola in an indoor, sanitized version of a Venice canal. It also features an extensive shopping mall and fine dininng. Gamblers can choose from 139 different games, with 20 tables set aside for high rollers. The Venetian is especially popular with Indian tour groups. 
Galaxy 
The Galaxy is a gigantic complex that houses three separate properties: The Galaxy Hotel, the Banyan Tree and the Hotel Okura. The casino itself boasts 600 tables and 1,500 electronic gambling machines. 
While this doesn’t sound very family friendly, those who seek other things to do in Macau will find the Galaxy offers a lot to kids. A large children’s play area changes its décor with the seasons. The world’s largest rooftop wave pool is located atop the casino, which is as big as three football fields. Waves increase in size at different times of the day, with a maximum height of 1.5 meters. Guests can rent surfboards. The Galaxy also has four private 3-D movie theaters, ranging from about 16 to 60 seats. 
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If you really want to go upscale – and have the wallet to back you – live it up in one of the Galaxy’s private villas marked poker, complete with private swimming pools. 
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City of Dreams 
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Across from the Venetian, the City of Dreams is another multi-hotel property. Here you can sleep and gamble in the Hard Rock Hotel, Crown Towers and the Hyatt Macau. Together they share 550 gaming tables and 1500 machines. It’s easy to get lost in this giant, sprawling complex. If you like the rock and roll atmosphere, the Hard Rock is full of such ephemera as a famous rocker’s guitar here, a Ziggy Stardust costume there. The City of Dreams also has The Dancing Waters Show, the biggest spectacle of its kind in the world. So if you want access to other things to do in Macau besides gambling, this could be a good home base for your trip. 
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When you see the enthusiastic gamblers thronging casinos in Macau, you’ll understand how revenues have grown to be four times bigger than Vegas. As one local told me, “For Chinese, it’s natural to try your luck.” 

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21 things to gamble on in Macau III

Play
1. Pay homage to MJ

The MJ Gallery at Ponte 16 opened today. The permanent exhibition is home to some of the most coveted Michael Jackson memorabilia, including the white rhinestone-encrusted glove from "Billie Jean" and a "Thriller" suit worn by the King of Pop in an MTV performance.

2. Jump off a building

The SkyJump at Macau Tower is the world's highest jump at 233 meters. Whether daredevils choose to do it bungee style or strap themselves onto the Decelerator Descent -- using a steel cable and decelerator marked cards system -- the fall happens very close to the building and gives a unique perspective on skyscrapers.


3. Binge on souvenirs

Koi Kei started out as just another cart at the street market, selling nutty pastries, candies, and other Southern Chinese sweets. It has since evolved to become a confectionary giant, synonymous with Macanese quality. The brand is practically a Macanese ambassador and visitors return home laden with boxes upon boxes of Koi Kei's almond cookies, peanut brittle, and sweet-filled pastries all made in Macau.

4. Get lost

The sights of Macau are clumped together making the city highly walkable for visitors. The Macau Government Tourist Office has a list of great walking tours, but the best way to get a feel for the former colony's pulse is to chuck the map and stroll aimlessly infrared contactlenses. The streets have a distinct nostalgic atmosphere, with rows of pastel colonial architecture housing ancient-looking shops identified by Portuguese and Chinese signage.


5. Watch big shows

Macau is increasingly the venue for big ticket international shows. It isn't just pop divas such as Beyonce and A-mei who stop by, rock shows like Fall Out Boy, celebrity DJs such as the recent 2manydjs, and of course, Cirque du Soleil's long-running Zaia at The Venetian, are some of the heavyweight acts that the city plays host to.

6. Visit museums, yawn-free
Macau's museums are excellent and abundant. The most interesting are the Macau Museum of History with its elaborate displays, and the Maritime Museum that resembles a docked ship. The Taipa Houses Museum is a collection of refurbished residences of the Macanese elite dating from the 1920s and its serene grounds are a respite from the crowded tourist madness of the nearby Rua do Cunha. There's also the Grand Prix museum and Wine Museum.

7. Hit the beach
The most popular beaches in Macau are Cheoc Van Beach and Hac Sa Beach, the latter being particularly popular with Hong Kong visitors for its 'black' sand. Big and clean, Hac Sa is also frequented by diners who just finished their meal at the nearby Fernando's, one of the best Portuguese restaurants outside of Portugal, which you will find in our Eat list below.

Online Gamblers Panic as Bank of America Online Suffers An Online Glitch

Online Gamblers Panic as Bank of America Online Suffers An Online Glitch:
Author: Magyck0ne


The online gambling community in the USA who also bank with Bank of America (BOFA) went into a massive state of panic last Wednesday when apparently an online glitch occurred and online BOFA customers were unable to access their online banking accounts.
They became worried because of " The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act" (UIGEA) officially went into effect on June 1st infrared contactlenses, 2010 and these customers assumed that their accounts were frozen due to this new online gambling law. Bank of America has since corrected the problem so customers could access their accounts again. This is not the first scare online gamblers have experienced.




The UIGEA is the Internet gambling provision that was added (at the last possible moment) to The Security and Accountability For Every Port Act of 2006 (or SAFE Port Act) by the previous administration which also covers port security. In case you did not already know, UIGEA prohibits the transfer of electronic funds from a financial institution to online gambling sites.
UIGEA has been a real challenge for U.S. banking and financial institutions because the it places the burden of intercepting online gambling transactions. Many of the largest institutions has warned marked cards lenses the U.S. government that it would be nearly impossible to stop these transactions.




Representative and Congressman Barney Frank (D), representing the Fourth Congressional District of Massachusetts, is expected to begin a new crusade and legislation that would overturn the UIGEA and begin a regulated Internet gambling system for the U.S. online gambling community (our kudos goes out to Barney Frank).

Frank, who had previously introduced three bills since 2007 that would nullify the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act already has almost seventy co-sponsors for his bill, and more are expected as the legislation hits center stage.

Republican lawmakers have been strongly against any online gambling regulations, but the pressure of the upcoming election cycle may force some Republicans to change their tune. Legislators in heavily Democratic populated areas could vote in favor of the law change to keep their strong ties to the people they represent.
Until then... It's still a wait and see situation.
A while back I published an article titled "Why Obama Should Address Online Gambling and UIGEA" addressing what at the time was a new incoming liberal administration to a previously conservative run government in the United States of America.
This article is in regards to not so much our rights as American adults to gamble online as much as the economic relief it could provide to our struggling economy.
If you live in the USA and would like to see a better economy for us all as well as have the right to choose whether or not to gamble online with your own money...Please stand up and get your voices heard.

Letting the Tables Go: the Perils of Gambling Addiction

Gambling addiction is a major concern around the world, as more and more people are embracing the tables and cards as a means of stress relief. The emergence of online casinos has not helped curb the growing statistics of people becoming addicted to gambling. The availability of casino games and the allure of the easy money has the potential to rapidly go from stress relief to full-blown addiction. There are some that would argue that people with pathological gambling disorder are merely exceptionally greedy. Others, though, would argue that these people are suffering from a mental health disorder and need to be taken away from the tables and put into counseling as soon as possible trick cards. Currently, there appear to be no signs of either side achieving any sort of common ground or consensus. So while the debate rages on, people continue to become addicted to roulette, blackjack, and the slots.

Pathological gambling is basically differentiated from the norm by one simple factor. Addicts are in such an ill state of mental health that they are either incapable of seeing their problem or are simply ignoring the consequences of their actions. This can include everything from how much damage their next week-long session at the roulette table is going to cost them, to ignoring the threat of a spouse divorcing them if they don't stop. The problem has gotten to the point where the thrill of the "action" has taken control of the person's mind. There are some mental health experts that argue that gambling addicts are no longer in full control of their actions. While there is some evidence provided by the increase of certain chemicals in the nervous system during gambling, this is not considered adequate proof.

To some degree, another sign of pathological gambling comes in the form of separation anxiety. The addiction tends to get to a point where the addict cannot stop thinking about gambling. Scenarios are played out in the mind constantly, bordering on delusions. This preoccupation, when combined with the possibility of being withdrawn from a casino, can sometimes lead to separation anxiety. In some cases, the person exhibits symptoms similar to drug withdrawal if they are deprived of their gambling "fix."

If data taken from counseling sessions with gambling addicts is to be considered, it is arguable than addicts also develop a tolerance for gambling. According to studies, the person's mental health adapts to the amounts being gambled such that the addict needs to bet more and more. This is similar to what happens to drug addicts and alcoholics marked card tricks. As the mind develops a tolerance for the regular amounts that the person bets, the mind develops a need to increase the bet spread to attain that same sense of euphoria. According to some reports, a person's mental health and finances can be put under serious strain if this behavior is left untreated for an extended period.

Arguably, a person may also develop a mild form of antisocial personality disorder if the gambling problem is left untreated. This occurs when the addiction has gotten to the point where the person has become desperate to cover up losses incurred through gambling. The person's mental health can warp into a state where the typical consideration for social norms and rules is discarded in favor of alleviating the person's perceived problems. While taking loans or money from relatives is the common means of doing this, there are some cases where it gets to the point where illegal activity is the only means of supporting the addiction.

Fun Game Tables and the Life Lessons they can Teach your Children

In today's world, as parents, we need to make an extra effort to keep our kids active and to teach them to interact with other people face to face. This is something that parents used to do without giving it much thought. But today, many youth spend a lot of time watching TV or playing video games. Many of the interactive games they play easy cards tricks online keep them sedentary and anonymous. A lot of the communication comes through online chat, games and texting instead of face to face. There are many things that parents can do to help their children in these two areas, but one solution to both problems, that your kids will enjoy, are game tables. These fun game tables come in many forms, so you can find something that the whole family can enjoy. Let's take a look at some of the options available.


The air hockey table has been around since the 1970's. This great game was an instant hit and quickly appeared in homes around the country. It only took a few years before it became competitive with world championships. A miniature version of actual hockey, the puck floats atop a layer of air that is blown through holes on the table top. You score by hitting the puck into your opponents goal. Though the concept is simple, there is also much skill that is employed in the top levels of the sport. This is a fast action game that people of all ages can enjoy. It is highly competitive and will have your kids returning over and over again, keeping them very active.
Foosball makes for very fun game tables and have been around since the mid-twentieth century. A table top version of soccer, it is also very competitive. It can be played with two players or in teams of two for a total of four players. This allows more people to interact at a time.

Pool tables have been around for a couple of hundred years and offer a myriad of games that can be played. You can play games that involve anywhere from two to many players. Though not as active as the previous two games, it is great for having fun and interacting with other people.

Of all the fun game tables out there, one of my favorite is table tennis. This game can be very active and can be enjoyed by players of all experience. You can play one-on-one, with pairs, or around-the-world which can involve as many players as you wish. Though around-the-world starts out slow, it definitely picks up pace as people drop out of the marked card tricks game.





If you cannot decide which table is best for your family, or each member has a different opinion, then you should go for the All-in-1 fun game tables. A variety of number of games can be available in different tables, but some of the higher quality tables have two or three games. These types usually involve tables that flip over, with a different game on each side. Such as pool on one side and air hockey on the other (a pockey table!). Most will at least include a third game, usually by placing a removable table top onto the pool side, you then have ping pong. Other tables will have up to 10 games, but a majority of them are smaller games like backgammon and poker, not active games as we have discussed.
It is obvious that any of these games will allow your kids to be more active, but it also encourages great personal interaction between the players, and as an added bonus it promotes good sportsmanship. So if you would like to teach your kids some of these essential skills in life, then an investment in any of these fun game tables could be just what you need.

What Game Tables are Best for Your Family?

As our family grew bigger and older, and we moved into a bigger house, we knew that we wanted something that would help our family enjoy fun times together as well as make our home a place where our kids would like to hang out with their friends, especially as they got older and became teenagers. There were a few requirements: it could be used year round, could provide different levels of entertainment and adapted for various abilities and would be suitable for all age groups. After a bit of research and considering the space available infrared ink, we decided on a couple of game tables.

A little bit more research made us realize that www.gametables.us.com was the easy part of the decision, deciding what kind of game tables was going to be harder. We knew that we had room for two game tables, so that at least gave us a bit more leeway. Though with six people in our family, there was a lot of discussion and many differing opinions.


Some of the different game tables available include: air hockey, foosball, pool tables, table tennis, bumper pool, shuffleboard, dome hockey and poker tables. Growing up we had an air hockey table and that was a lot of fun. But I also really enjoyed playing pool. My husband and sons really liked the idea of a foosball table. The girls main vote was for ping pong. We had crossed the poker table off the list, we were not eager for our children to learn the ins and outs of gambling. So how were we to decide? One option was to consider an All-in-1 Game table.

All-in-1 game tables can solve many problems in some households, plus provide a large variety of entertainment. Some of these All-in-1 tables had three games, others five games and some as many as 11 games. There is a lot of ingenuity that goes into these table today. Some of these tables are labeled Pockey tables, and as you can guess, they have air hockey on one side and then the table top flips over to a pool marked cards table. Depending on how many games the table offers, there are a variety of accessories, sometime including a separate top for table tennis or other games. Though when there are a lot of games included, many of them are regular board games like backgammon and checkers. The boards are often right on the table top.



Back to our family decision. We really wanted game tables that allowed for more than two players so more of the family could be involved at one time (actually participating, not just watching or playing in tournament mode). With much consideration, we settled on foosball and table tennis. With foosball, we could play pairs for up to four players at a time. With table tennis, we could do the same playing doubles or with larger parties we could play Around the World which allowed an unlimited number of players (within reason of course).

AnInterview with Mike Matusow

Six months in prison and $1m in
sports betting losses didn’t put Mike
Matusow off his poker, and he's now one of the best in the world
‘I played in the Aruba tournament knowing I was due to go to jail for something I didn’t do, wanting to win so badly. Nobody knew I was going in, but I was playing my heart out.’

Most poker pros are actually pretty dull – more maths geek than movie god. In reality their mystique usually doesn’t extend much beyond a wacky pair of sunglasses or a cool nickname. But then Mike ‘The Mouth’ Matusow isn’t like most poker pros.
His 2005 began in jail and finished with him being crowned the best poker player in the world. In between he made the final table of the WSOP ‘Big One’, won millions on poker and lost it again in sports betting. He’s done more in 12 months than many card cheating of his contemporaries will manage in a lifetime of adrenaline-free poker play. And although he’s been drug-free for over three years, his image as an outspoken, garrulous, party-loving guy is well earned.

Let me entertain you

So when Matusow sits down and quietly orders a Diet Coke, I’m initially concerned I might not be getting the full SP here – except it turns out he’s just suffering from the night before. ‘I drank 15 bottles of Dom Perignon Rose with Phil Hellmuth. We popped up an $8,000 bill, and my head is killing me. The last thing I remember is crying on the bathroom floor, and then the next thing I know I’m waking up fully clothed on my bed.’
It’s entirely appropriate that Matusow should be suffering as a result of Phil Hellmuth. At the recent WSOP Tournament of Champions (TOC) event, open verbal warfare erupted between the two, nearly pushing Hellmuth to breaking point. Matusow jabbed at the clown prince of poker throughout the game, even resorting to childishly singing ‘Philly, Philly, Philly’ at him in an effort to break his concentration. It worked. Hellmuth crashed out in third and Matusow went on to take the title.
‘If every poker show looked like that they could charge $50 a pop on pay-per-view,’ Matusow says, smiling. ‘I was fucking with him, and it was great, great entertainment. The US public watches Phil derail people that he doesn’t even know, but when somebody throws it back in his face he crawls up into a ball like a little girl.’
But that was just a sideshow. For Matusow, winning the TOC – an invitation-only event pitting him solely against the best poker players in the world – was redemption. Proof to the doubters he was one of the world’s best, and the ultimate happy ending to a year scarred by six months spent in a Nevada prison and contemplations of suicide.

So, so Matusow

Matusow is currently negotiating for his as-yet unpublished autobiography to be turned into a film. It’s one hell of a story too – one of the best comeback tales you could imagine. Back in September 2004, Matusow was sitting at a poker table in the Caribbean island of Aruba, trying to find that big tournament win that had long been eluding him. But he was hiding a secret. He was due to start a six-month prison sentence the next day for what he claims were trumped-up drugs charges.
‘I played in the Aruba tournament knowing I was due to go to jail for something I didn’t do, wanting to win so badly. Nobody knew I was going in, but I was playing my heart out.’
He made the final table, going out third with $250,000. But the nervous adrenaline of the poker table was soon replaced by the icecold dread of what was ahead. ‘I was terrified,’ he admits. ‘The entire first week I was worried about surviving. But the truth of the matter is if you have money in jail nobody is going to fuck with you. Pretty quickly nobody was allowed to get within two feet of me.’
Nonetheless, he describes his time there as six months of sheer hell. It wasn’t helped by spending three stints in solitary confinement. The first time was for stealing food out of the kitchen. The second time was when he refused to go back to kitchen duties because of a bad back. The third time was simply ridiculous: ‘They thought I was somebody else. That really sucked. The guard saw me and said: “What are you doing here?” I said: “You tell me!”’

Get into the groove

Such bathos is typical Matusow. His life seemingly spiralling from success to tragedy to comedy and back again. But right now he’s on the strongest upward curve ever. After storming the WSOP and the TOC, Matusow could claim to be the best tournament nolimit player in the world. ‘I’m the hottest poker player in the world right now for sure,’ he says. ‘I’m 100% certain I am one of the top-five no-limit tournament players in the world. But I don’t want to say I’m the best in the world, I don’t believe in that. That Ivey is pretty good – he’s pretty damn lucky too – but he is good.
‘There are a lot of great players, but I’ve always believed my style is right – picking up chips, trying not to top out, picking your spots and trying not to play big pots. The TOC is about beating the best players in the world. And winning that for me was about making a statement – Mike Matusow is that good.’
Going back just a few months, it was all very different. When he came out of prison in early 2005 there weren’t too may people interested in The Mouth. A long-term sufferer from depression, he was on a major low and there was little interest from the mainstream poker world in his future. He could have easily faded into a memory were it not for his spectacular performance at the 2005 WSOP ‘Big One’luminous contactlenses.
Matusow dragged himself shouting and screaming (he was nearly thrown out on day one for ‘improper’ conduct) past more than 6,000 players to the final table. At first he was struggling with the medicine he was taking to control his depression, but his doctor changed his prescription and he got into a real groove. He eventually finished ninth, the only pro to get that far, and received $1m for his trouble. Not that the money lasted long.

Talking about my degeneration

‘After I won I went crazy and lost most of it betting on sports. Me and the NFLare best of friends and mortal enemies. I have to bet every game for US$10,000. I’m a degenerate.’ In fact, after losing half a million bucks on American football in three months, it’s understandable that he has – for now at least – given up the betting game. ‘I live for football, but you have to do what you have to do. The TOC was the biggest week of my life, and a second chance, and I don’t plan on screwing up again.’
He’s given up playing online too, at least for money. For a guy that would regularly win and lose $50,000 a night it’s a major move. During the World Series he would go home after playing and sit for hours at the $50/$100 tables online, often losing $40k in a night. The story goes that his friends had to come round and take his mouse and keyboard away in an effort to make him stop.
‘I used to crush the no-limit online, but I don’t have the focus anymore. I used to beat it like a drum, but there are just too many distractions at home. There are a lot more good players online now too.’
This seeming lack of confidence cuts to the heart of Matusow. For all the bluster, he has a pretty thin skin and it doesn’t take much effort to find the soft underbelly. While his verbal sparring has made him the man viewers love to hate, the reality is he is something of an angel with a dirty face. Speak to the people that know him and they paint a picture of a totally different guy from the one you see on TV – softly spoken and generous with his time and money.
Fellow Full Tilt pro John Juanda became close to Mike when he was sent down, and was one of the few players to visit him in jail. The unlikely duo are now very close friends, and Matusow could be seen cheering loudly from the sidelines as Juanda took on the final table in the Monte Carlo Millions tournament last November. ‘He has a heart of gold,’ Juanda confides to me a little later after being knocked out, a cool $100,000 richer.
Throughout our interview Matusow comes across as relaxed and easy going – if a little twitchy – but it would be wrong to underestimate his daily battle with depression. He was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder (better known here in the UK as manic-depression) when he came off drugs three years ago, but, as he puts it, it had probably already been an issue for some time. ‘I guess I was depressed a lot before then, but I never knew.’ He now takes regular medication and claims to be ‘happy every day’, but the side-effects of the prescription drugs have wreaked occasional havoc on his poker life.
At a World Poker Tour event in Atlantic City last year he went into the final 64 with 5% of all the chips in play and still didn’t make the money. The reason? His doctor changed his anti-depression tablets. ‘I was fucked up on the wrong medicine my doctor gave me and it had me suicidal at the table.

Playing through the pain

‘I went out on a hand where I misplayed every street. Going home, all I thought about was killing myself. I was pounding my head against the wall. I couldn’t believe how badly I played that hand.’ But flash forward six months and how things have changed for The Mouth. Matusow, it seems, has never felt better about his poker.
‘Now that I have finally got some wins under my belt I am enjoying it a lot more.’ And he thinks he has added the final piece to the jigsaw that will allow him to stay at the top of his game. ‘I finally figured out the final table,’ he says with a laugh.
‘I realised final tables were just about patience. And I finally got some cards. As I tell everyone, the cards finally broke even for Mike Matusow.’
About time too.