Venetian Macau Poker Room - REVIEW

Venetian Macau is home to the Poker King Club. Winfred Yu is instrumental in bringing the big names of poker like Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan, etc to Macau. It started at the Starworld Casino and now has moved to the Venetian. Poker King can also be credited in helping the poker boom in Macau, with the Poker King movie and early tournaments etc. My friend, fellow Penangnite Sam Nee is also now a Poker King Pro, so there is a tendency for me to support this room as well.

First of all the casino is beautiful, although for me it is weirdly designed, but the interiors are nicely done. I hate that perfume that they blast throughout the casino though. The casino is typical of the Sands group layout. Pretty clumped and tight with some walkways in the middle. So it can get crowded and noisy. Thankfully the poker room is in one corner where there is ample space. 

Games range from 25/50 (typically only one table) to 300/600. The staff there are reasonably okay but the dealers can be quite bad. Some of them don't speak English at all, and if you understand Cantonese or Mandarin, they sometimes make comments about foreign players. The buy in is weird too. They only give you 1000 chips and try not to give small denominations so the game is often delayed for changing chips, breaking big chips etc. The game is slower than the other rooms. 

There are plenty of passer bys though. You will see many players sneaking by to get a peek of the action. Some of them eventually venture onto the tables. However since there is only one 25/50, it is hard to get many brave souls to play. Free drinks are limited and not good. Service staff are scarce and I have a feeling that all of the staff are paid less compared to other casinos because it seems like they really hate their jobs. 

Worst thing of the poker room is the rake. On the 50/100 game, the rake is capped at 500 compared to 200 at other games. (Galaxy is offering a opening special, capped at 100) Some players justify this by saying it drives the grinders away so the game is softer. I still see plenty of grinders, but only when Wynn is full. Yes newbies don't care about the rake, but in my last session alone I think I was raked at least HKD 2000-3000 personally. 

The casino is crowded, the room is noisy. You will hear the sounds of the slot machines, lucky wheel, etc. Chips are heavy and nice to hold, the 1000 chips must be at least 17.5g or heavier. I wouldn't go to this room unless I can't get a good game elsewhere.