Of course, lower limit games are available too, so you don’t have to risk your entire life savings to play a little Texas Hold’em while you’re in Macau. These games featured pots that were often over $10 million in Hong Kong Dollars they certainly aren’t for the faint of heart! A recent visit to the city by some of the world’s greatest professional players (including Tom Dwan and Phil Ivey) became big news on the Internet the pros made plenty of money, but not without some huge swings.

Oh, it’s still wild and crazy, but the players are at least competent, leading to some very tough play at the higher limits. While there are still games at limits that will make your head spin – some of which dwarf even the biggest cash games Las Vegas has to offer – the play has improved significantly.

Before too long, locals made sure that foreigners and professionals weren’t allowed in these games anymore, or at the very least, that their play was severely limited. When professional players got wind of this, they showed up and cleaned house against the wild, terrible players who frequented this game and were not afraid of chasing their losses. See, when the game was new, many rich Chinese patrons gave the game a try, and were willing to play at very high limits. If you’re a serious poker player, and you’ve heard a bit about the games in Macau, you probably believe that they’re extremely juicy. Since then, several new poker rooms have opened up, and there are now five casinos offering live-dealer cash games, along with the occasional tournament or two.

In fact, the first poker room in Macau wasn’t opened until the summer of 2007. Poker is not the longstanding pastime in Macau that it is in Las Vegas. Want to play poker online? Visit our Online Poker page for recommendations and guides.

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