Whilst in Hong Kong, I went with a friend of mine to 澳门 (Macau). We went to the Sands and Venetian casinos. They had 二十一点(blackjack), 百家乐(baccarat), roulette, and others. I stuck to 二十一点 while my friend played the 老虎机（slots）. I changed 500 港币 (hong kong dollars) into 筹码(chips) and hit the table. The lowest bet was 200, so it was very much a sink-or-swim situation. I played by the rules of the house (stand on 17 or higher, hit on 16 or lower) and before I knew it I was holding 1200 in chips. I took 500 in chips and went to 换现金 (convert to cash) so that I’d only be gambling with my earnings. The 700 quickly became 100, so I had to 掏腰包 again and drop another 500HKD. Playing by the same strategy, I got up to 1950HKD and called it a night. I liked winning, and continuing to play just kept the joy alive.  Alas, all good things must come to an end and by the end of the night me and my friend were back in HK.

vocab-

澳门Ao4men2 – macau
二十一点er4shi2yi1dian3 – blackjack
百家乐bai2jia1le4- baccarat
老虎机 lao3(2)hu3ji1 – slot machines
筹码chou2ma3 – gambling chips
港币gang3bi4 – HKD
换huan4 – to change/exchange
现金xian4jin1 – cash
掏腰包tao1yao1bao1 – to pay (colloquial exp.)