As a resident of the Bay Area in California, we frequent Las Vegas on the weekends. The clanging of the slot machines, the scantily clad cocktail waitresses, and long buffet lines were not to be found anywhere here in Macau. Over the past two years, Macau has changed quite drastically since the lifting of the monopoly on the casinos and allowing foreign investors to build their own. The Sands and the Wynn have been the newest foreign addition. The Venetian is set to open in late 2007.
We took a stroll through the Wynn hotel, a smaller version of the Las Vegas with its own dancing fountains out front featuring a miniature show similar to the Bellagio in Vegas. In the casinos in Macau, the gambling section is separated from the rest of the hotel by security checkpoints. They aren't as sensitive as the ones in the airport so there is no need to remove shoes, belts, and empty pockets. A quick bag check will suffice. There are no slot machines that make the typical noises that fill the air of Vegas casinos. The well endowed Vegas cocktail waitresses ready to take your drink order are replaced with older fully clothed and covered women pushing carts with free bottled water, ice tea, and milk tea. Asian people don't really drink much. They are there just to do business: Gamble. The flavor of games is also quite different. They have single zero roulette. Baccarat is also very popular. A dice game called Sic-Bo involving three dice is also quite the draw. As hard as we looked, there was no Texas Hold'em Poker to be found. . . anywhere.
They clearly don't have ESPN. Some games have a virtual dealer with several computer stations where each gambler can sit and bet at their leisure. Both Hong Kong and Macau have also made a conscious effort to make public places non-smoking. In some casinos, they have a non-smoking gambling area. Half a dozen new casinos are planned to be built in the next two years near the new fishermans' wharf area. The buffet craze hasn't caught on either. Some casinos have a semi-buffet which include a salad bar, a selection of a main entrée from three choices and a dessert. The Wynn has a toned down version of their Vegas buffet in Café Esplanada.