“Poo-Kah?” asked the puzzled Chinese floorman, clearly struggling with the English language. “Yes, no-limit Texas hold’em” I implored. The floorman pondered the words for a few moments and then issued his response. “Sorry. We have not that game.”

I was flabbergasted. No poker at the Venetian Macau, the sister casino of my favorite place to play in Las Vegas? There were seas of baccarat tables in the casino, but not a single poker table.

I had to come to Hong Kong on business and jumped at the chance to spend a weekend in Macau. The rates at the Venetian were cheaper than the Intercontinental in Hong Kong, where I originally planned to spend my time. I could satiate my wanderlust, get in some poker AND save my employer some money on my hotel bill. But now I was wondering if I was going to find any poker at all. If the Venetian didn’t spread poker, who would?

I did a bit of internet research before I left the United States to try and find out which casinos spread poker, what games were spread and at what limits. The casino web sites were useless. I found no references to poker... Located Southwest of Hong Kong on the South China Sea, Macau was under Portuguese rule for several hundred years until it was handed over to the Chinese in 1999. Today it is a “special administrative region” of the People’s Republic of China and as such enjoys a high degree of legal autonomy along with retaining much of its’ Portuguese heritage.

I pondered my plight while waiting for a table at the Venetian’s fantastic dim sum restaurant. During the wait, I chatted with a couple from Hong Kong. Although not poker aficionados, my new acquaintances had played Texas Hold’em once in Macau – at the Grand Lisboa, a casino owned by Stanley Ho and his families’ Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau. They didn’t really enjoy the game, and several of the players seemed to know one another. Uh, oh I thought. Semi-pro grinders from Hong Kong? Still I needed to take a look.

A quick cab ride deposited me in front of the Grand Lisboa. It is located in a group of hotels, making it a convenient starting point for sightseeing or game hopping. I immediately found a floor person who had in fact heard of the game of poker and directed me to the 2nd floor. There, on one end of the casino, I found about 30 tables set up as the PokerStars Asian Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Macau event was in full swing. They were midway through Day 1 of the $10,000HK (US $1,400) event and attracting a bit of a crowd. I wandered over to the brush, who filled me in on poker at Grand Lisboa and gave me a glimpse at the rest of the poker scene.

The Grand Lisboa is regularly home to 12 cash-game poker tables. They spread NLHE ranging from $10/$20HK (US $1.30/$2.60) with a $1000HK minimum buy-in, up to $250/$500HK. No limit or pot-limit, and nothing other than Hold’em. The game is identical to that played in the US, except the dealer button is rectangular rather than round. I am a recreational player with a modest bankroll, so I was primarily interested in the $10/$20 game. Unfortunately, the list was 36 people deep. I put my name on it but realized that it would be many hours before my name got called.

A common stereotypical view of Asian players is that they tend to be loose, aggressive and more than willing to gamble it up. That was not the case here, at least on the tables I observed. I found the play to be a bit on the passive side, especially preflop, but even at the $10/$20 games I saw lots of very solid post-flop play. Very few, if any players drink alcohol at the table, preferring instead to drink tea with milk – a happenstance not conducive to wild play. Based on my dim sum-eating friends’ information, I expected primarily ex-pats from Hong Kong to be playing. But there was an eclectic mixture of mainland Chinese along with Hong Kong, European and Australian players. While I observed one or two weaker players, even the lowest-limit games were made up primarily of solid, tight nits. No one was given their money away, at least not this evening.

After observing the tables for 30 minutes and having my name move up only 1 spot, I continued my discussion with the brush. Most of the poker played in Macau takes place in 3 casinos – The Grand Lisboa, the Wynn and Star World. While a few other casinos occasionally have a table or two running, these are the only casinos with regular games. Confident that I could explore the surrounding area and not miss being called for a game, I headed off in search of the Wynn and Star World. Luckily these casinos are in very close proximity, so I didn’t have to bear the sweltering heat and humidity of Macau in August for too long.

The Wynn in Las Vegas is also one of my favorite places to play, and its sister casino in Macau does not disappoint. Considering the architectural and decorating details of the property, there is no doubt that this is the Wynn – from the combination fire and fountain show in the man-made lake outside the casino to the impressively appointed interior, this casino is the definition of opulence.

After a short walk from the main entrance I found the poker area. Like the Grand Lisboa the Wynn has 12 tables, but four are reserved for VIP players – higher limits and by invitation only. Poker at Wynn is a bit pricier than that at the Grand Lisboa – they spread from $25/$50HK (US $3.25/$6.50) no-limit hold’em up to $400/$800HK (US $52/$104) regularly and will occasionally spread a $2000/$4000HK game. At the highest limit table I counted one player’s stack with about $40k US in it. There were several players in the VIP section dressed in online poker-site garb - taking the day off from the APPT scheduled events at the Grand Lisboa to focus on cash games.

Next I headed north to the Galaxy Entertainment Group’s premier property, the Star World casino. With plenty of APPT signage in the lobby I expected this room to be in full gear. Strangely this was not the case. I found two separate areas on the 2nd floor with six tables each but all of them were unoccupied. When I inquired about the state of their poker room, the floor person directed me to the 12th floor where a VIP game would be starting soon.

Star World casino hosts some of the biggest table games in Macau, but all high-end gaming takes place in VIP salons well above the main casino floor. As I stepped off the elevator I was presented with 3 lounges. I took a quick tour of each and here high denominational rectangular checks replace the common round chips found on the main casino floor. While the high-limit poker game had yet to attract any players, there was plenty of high-limit baccarat action going on. Plenty of $10,000HK ($1300 US) and $100,000HK ($13,000US) checks were in play.

If you are looking for nearly endless soft low-limit games and lots of tournament options then you will likely be disappointed with Macau. But if you are looking for an exotic locale and high-end gaming against quality competition in an environment that rivals anything Las Vegas has to offer, this glimmering jewel of the east beckons. It is accessible via ferry from Shenzhen and Hong Kong and air from several major cities including Shanghai, Taipei and Seoul.