Miss the good old days where Macau was the Asian poker hub. Nowadays due to dumb rules (yes you heard it here) by the gaming commission, foreign organizers are not allowed to host in Macau, and in house events are not allowed to be advertised. This is the same gaming commission that disallowed mobile phones on the table, as to hinder people gambling via live stream. Someone with half a brain would know that shouldn't apply to poker. How can you capture all the information needed to play a hand? And what about when you don't have a hand? Anyway, it is clear Macau tourist numbers are suffering and the gaming commission isn't helping.
This is technically the second time I have attended the MGM series. I joined their second series. The way it works is they have their main series, and it is longer, with more events (including a seniors event, and no, I don't qualify YET), and a bigger main event guarantee. In between they have smaller series, which were the ones I attended.
I didn't bother with the side events but I played in the main. The field wasn't as soft as I thought it would be, I guess the fishes didn't bother to wake up early to play the 12pm level 1. And because of the size of the venue, players who came late had to wait a long time for a seat. One guy on my table arrived for level 2 only having to wait a further 2 hours and finally got his seat on level 6. It also didn't help that the levels were 30 minutes long. On top of that the dealer I had was super slow and rude. The rule is to stand up if you want to use your phone. She went even as far as where the phone was pointing at. This is a general advice for everyone. Whenever enforcing a rule, always think of the purpose of the rule. The rule is there to stop people from live streaming gaming tables for other players to gamble remotely. How is my phone pointing at the table while I am standing, and without cards going to achieve that?
I counted at least 4 Malaysians attended this series. Not bad for an event that is not advertised. But in my opinion there is zero effort from the organizers to make it a good experience for foreigners. I don't put all the blame on them because it could be they are restricted by the gaming commission. However I am sure there are things that can be done. Until such upgrades are in place, I do not recommend it for visitors to travel just for the series. Furthermore the tournament rake is on the high side. If it is coupled with a holiday or grinding some cash games (which is what I did) then it might still be worth it. To be fair, MGM has come a long way since their first series which was a nightmare. I hope they will improve quickly to be on par or even better than other international brands.
The Macau cash game scene changes so often it is hard to keep track. So I will try to keep you all updated after my every visit. For now, the only rooms that are still in operation are the Venetian and MGM Cotai. As far as I know, Wynn and MGM Macau have ceased their poker operations. The two available rooms offer games from HKD 50/100 up to 1000/2000 by demand. MGM has a point system where you can easily grind for free meals. I don't think Venetian does that. But on the flip side, I felt that the field at Venetian was consistently softer. MGM offers better drinks and I feel that their poker room location is more welcoming of curious first timers. But I've had more encounters with complete newbies at the Venetian.
As for my personal result, I bricked the two bullets fired in the main, but won 4 out of 5 cash game sessions for a modest profit. I would definitely return more often but mainly to play cash games.
