I first went to Hong Kong in 1989. We had a free day and I decided to go to Macao to gamble and to collect chips. Macao at that time was a Portuguese colony, so gambling was allowed. I took the hydrofoil and when I arrived, I found that there were 5 or 6 casinos, but all owned by the same man, so the chips were identical. I walked into the casino and the first floor was mobbed. People were standing in back of the blackjack players and placing bets for themselves on the player's spot. I finally was able to sit down to play and people were standing in back of me, throwing money over my shoulder on my spot. They were very happy when I won, but commiserated with me when I lost. After a while, I stopped playing and decided to walk to the upper levels. I found out that the minimum bets increased as you went upstairs. When I got to the top level, there were only 2 men playing Baccarat. They were betting 5 to 10,000 dollars a hand. After losing a few hands in a row, one of them would tear up his cards. They immediately brought out fresh decks and play continued. All in all, it was a very interesting experience, quite different than what I hear how Macao is now.