Oceanus

Maven Meter: Oceanus Casino

(Last updated: May 22, 2020)

OCEANUS CASINO INTRODUCTION

Commencing operations in December 2009, Oceanus is an outlier for Macau, given that it’s strictly a casino, with no hotel accommodation anywhere on the premises.

Like many casinos in town, it used to be far better a few years ago when it first opened. Nowadays there’s no VIP presence while a lot of games and promotions have been cut back.

Oceanus Casino Photo Gallery

OCEANUS CASINO

I used to think that SJM deserved major props for what they were doing at Oceanus. 10 years ago it was a full fledged casino, with game variety as good as anything you’d get at the Grand Lisboa or MGM. And the kicker was it was all low stakes, with most games only $100 or $200.

Fast forward a decade later and while the low limits are still kind of there, the games are not, with Caribbean Stud Poker, Pai Gow, Video Poker and Roulette all discontinued. It’s doesn’t seem to have hurt business though, as Oceanus remains as busy as ever, with customer traffic trailing only the Sands in this part of town.

As the name suggests Oceanus is based on a marine motif and the walls are decorated with pictures of fish and aquatic scenes along with curious columns of blue circles, meant to signify floating bubbles. The gaming floor is pretty run of the mill except for the rows of thick glowing pillars, with each level a different color: blue on the ground floor, purple on the first and red on the second.

All of the casino’s tables are found on the ground and first floors, with numbers 121 and 85 respectively. Slots consist of around 375 machines with minimums of 5 and 10 cents, while Electronic Gaming consists of Baccarat ($10), Roulette ($10) and Sic Bo ($20).

The second floor used to provide a lot more tables and slots, but it’s completely vacant now, save for two restaurants and one bar.

OCEANUS CASINO GAMES

From 2012 to 2016, it seemed that Oceanus would lose one game a year. As such, Pai Gow, Roulette, Video Poker, and Caribbean Stud Poker are no longer available.

Baccarat – Minimum bet of $200. However, most tables are $500 plus.

Commission Free Baccarat – $300 minimums.

Blackjack – Minimum bet is $200.

Fan Tan – Minimum bets for Fan, Nim and Kwok are $200, Nga Tan $400 and Sheh Sam Hong $600.

Sic Bo – 7 different bets are available. $100 Big/Small minimums.

Slot machines – Around 375 slots spread over two floors, with most minimums 5 cents and 10 cents. Electronic versions of Roulette ($10), Sic Bo ($20) and Baccarat ($10) are also available.

Three Card Baccarat – Minimum bet of $200.

OCEANUS CASINO PROMOTIONS

The promotions at Oceanus are a shell of their former selves, basically only offering rewards tied to daily point accumulation.

Given that Oceanus no longer offers any VIP gaming, their promotional chip program has obviously been discontinued.

OCEANUS CASINO DINING

Oceanus has a newly opened Gem Kitchen.

Gem Kitchen – This restaurant is Oceanus’s high end eatery, with many specialty Cantonese dishes available. Set meals go from $228 to $608 while abalone, bird’s nest and shark’s fin are available for $168 to $1868. Other things on the menu include rice and noodles ($38 to $118), soup ($58 to $98), specialties ($68 to $348) and vegetables ($48 to $88). There’s also Shanghai fare for $58 to $148 and Sichuan fare for $48 to $148. Gem Kitchen is located on the second floor beside Casa de Massa.

Treasure House – A lot of rice and meat combos are on the go at Treasure House, with Cantonese BBQ $48 to $75 and most other choices ranging from $33 to $42. Noodles in Soup are also heavily featured and cost $30 for 3 ingredients while each additional ingredient is $10.

Treasure House is located on the first floor.

Casa de Massa – Serving inexpensive Chinese fare, Casa de Massa offers fried rice for $45 to $58 with main meat dishes $48 to $72. If you’re in the mood for something else, soup is $58, dim sum $22 to $42, and noodles $35 to $48. One set meal, finally, runs $48.

OCEANUS CASINO SPA

Oceanus has a Joint Leisure Centre on the 3rd floor that’s home to a small spa. The door pass costs $380 and is good for 4 hours, allowing access to a relaxation room and shower. If you’d like a massage along with that, the rate gets kicked up to $530. The last thing available is a 90 minute body massage for $700.

Please note that guests staying at Jai Alai can get a 50 minute massage for $160.

Although I’m not 100% sure, I’d guess the Joint Leisure Centre stays open 24 hours.

OCEANUS CASINO BARS

Oceanus has two bars which have the same menu and offer the same deals.

Good Luck Corner (GF) and Bar O Chefe (2F) – Appetizers and salad are $35 to $45 while sandwiches run between $35 and $45. There are also fast food set meals for $32.

Alcoholic beverages are reasonably priced, with beer $21 to $27 and most hard stuff $30 to $40. Glasses of wine finally are between $50 and $100.

Both bars open at 2 pm.

OCEANUS CASINO ENTERTAINMENT

Oceanus has a tiny entertainment stage located behind the Good Luck Corner Bar that holds singing and dancing shows on Fridays and Saturdays from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm.

Although that doesn’t sound like much, it actually counts for quite a lot in Macau.

THE LAST WORD

Oceanus used to be one of the better casinos in Macau, offering gamers low limits, nice comps and benefits, as well as a player card that they can actually make something of. Now that player card and comps have taken a serious hit, I don’t see any reason for anyone to gamble there.

I mean, if the Baccarat and Blackjack were $100 apiece then I could definitely see it, but why go all the way to the Macau Ferry Terminal to play at $200 tables if you don’t have to?