About This Site
The Maven of Macau came into being on May 1st, 2020, the culmination of a process that began in 2011, when I was hired by the Wizard of Odds to write casino reviews for his Macau website, the Wizard of Macau. Through that work I came to know Macau quite well and developed an affinity for the city, so much so that I spent the next two years making a Macau travel website of my own, but in Chinese, called Fei Chang Ao Men. (Or Very Macau, a site I’ve since lost because my designer can’t remember what server she put it on. Unbelievable….)
After completing the Chinese site, the Wizard and I partnered up to make sweeping changes to his Wizard of Macau website, work that never got completed after he sold all of his Wizard sites in 2014 for a staggering sum of 2.35 million dollars. Understanding that our little project couldn’t hold back a deal like that, I congratulated him on his sale and went through with the website on my own. I quit my job to focus entirely on the project, changed “Wizard“ to “Maven” (which sounds a lot better anyway), and spent the better part of the last 5 years??? hammering it out and getting it ready to launch.
My primary goal with this Maven website has always been to produce something of quality, and in doing so, create the best site on the net about Macau. The web is flush with articles about Macau written by people who might have been in the city for two days, and whose research originated from some haphazard and superficial online search that yielded ridiculous results. That sort of business does not happen with this site. I’ve assembled a crack team of knowledgeable contributors who know the city inside and out, and don’t just write things to fit a narrative or satisfy an agenda. We are not here to waste your time nor do we throw things against walls to see what sticks. Standards are high and we expect nothing but the best from ourselves whenever we put something on the site. Macau deserves something great. It’s not a responsibility that we take lightly.
About Gambling
Macau is a gambling city and as such, there is quite a bit of information related to casinos and gaming on this website. I would like to make one thing clear however – I do not endorse gambling nor wish to encourage it. The information I’ve provided is simply there to make you become a more informed gambler, which in turn hopefully helps you lose less money should you choose to gamble. Casinos are in business for one reason and one reason only – to take your money, and they are extremely proficient at doing so. Almost without exception, the odds are against you every time you place a bet; the math adds up and it’s all in the casino’s favour. Gambling should be done as a form of entertainment involving disposable income that you can afford to lose. And don’t just take my word for it, listen to a casino boss give you the straight goods himself.
John Groom was the President of Caesar’s Palace in the 1990’s when he received a letter from young Billy Geerhart, who was actually an adult masquerading as a 10 or 12 year old boy. Perhaps for his own amusement, Geerhart wrote a series of letters using the tone and handwriting of a child to many famous (and infamous) people asking them simple questions, just to see how they’d respond. The letters were eventually published in a book called Little Billy’s Letters in 2010. Here’s what he wrote to Mr Groom, and Mr Groom’s response.
Dear Mr Groom,
My parents said I can gamble when I get older. What is the best game to play to get enough money for a speedboat? Could I get some chips from you?
Thanks!
Billy
And this is how Mr Groom’s responded:
Dear Billy,
Thank you for your letter. You have asked me a very difficult question, because some people who gamble lose their money instead of buying a speedboat.
Gambling is a form of entertainment, like going to a movie.
The best way to get a speedboat is to do well in school, so that when you are grown up, you will be smart enough to earn money to buy your own boat.
And if you decide to gamble when you are old enough and can afford it, I recommend betting the pass line in the game of dice. Your money will last longer and hopefully you will have a lot of fun before the casino’s mathematical edge claims your last bet.
Hope this letter helps. Good luck to you at school.
Sincerely,
John Groom
And that, ladies and gentleman, is what gambling is all about!