The new Grand Lisboa and the old Casino Lisboa in the night
The new Grand Lisboa and the old Casino Lisboa in the night
A lot of stuff in a Macau casino is free or cheap even if you have no intention of gambling and just want to hang out in an air-conditioned room and observe the casino culture. The following is based on a brief visit to the casinos: Grand Lisboa, Sands, and The Venetian.
The Macau casinos (at least their lower floors) are open to the public provided that one is older than 18. There is no dress code, one can walk in in shorts and T-shirt. Only a casual security check is done at the door. You cannot completely behave as a tourist though, e.g. while on a gambling floor you are not allowed to take photos.
To reach a casino you can take a free shuttle bus from a ferry terminal (or the Chinese land border?). Also, e.g. The Venetian and Sands (which are owned by the same company?) have a free shuttle connection operating between them, leaving every 5 minutes. One can use the latter service to travel between the Macau and Taipa islands for free.
Indoor Venice complete with canals and gondolas at The Venetian.
The fake sky is mesmerizing...
Some casinos feel like supermarkets with shops and food courts, especially The Venetian has lots of public space with half a Venice replicated (houses, canals, gondolas, singing gondoliers) in the building. (You have to pay for the gondola ride though). The food court at The Venetian is large, offering a variety of cheap dishes ranging from hamburgers, to Vietnamese noodle soup, to Indian food, etc.
Beer is reasonably priced at ~30 MOP, and comes with nuts.
Some food and drinks are completely free, e.g. on the gambling floor there are ladies who offer free water, coffee, sometimes even cake.
On some of the gambling floors by the bar on the stage a continuous entertainment program is going on, including half-naked Western dance girls.
There is an art exhibition on the ground floor of Grand Lisboa, displaying Stanley Ho's private collection of Chinese art.
Cafe Deco at The Venetian has unblocked wifi and powerpoints, provided that you buy e.g. 1/2 pint of Erdinger (you get another glass for free if you come at happy hour).
Food court at The Venetian
Grand Lisboa offers free Texas Hold'em courses. The dealer (teacher) doesn't speak much English tough and you only get 1 hour at the table. Still this is a good opportunity to interact with the Chinese casino visitors.
If you decide to play for real money, note that the chance of winning in roulette red/black is p = 18/37 = 0.486 and the chance of winning in dice game's small/big (where the sum of 3 dice must be 2–9 (small) or 10–17 (big)) is p = 8/18 = 0.444. I.e. the house is more likely to win than you!
The minimum bets are quite high. It is possible to find a traditional (human-powered) roulette table where the minimum bet is 20 HKD, but at most tables it is higher. At fully automated tables (i.e. no human dealer) the minimum bet is as low as 1 HKD.
One can play slot machines for as little as 0.05 HKD per game, but the games are relatively boring, e.g. there are no poker machines.
Note that even though you are in Macau, MOP is not accepted in the casinos, neither at roulette tables nor slot machines. The local currency can be used at the bars and restaurants though.