So-called ‘smart’ gaming tables, that may involve the use of technology to monitor casino chips fitted with radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, could speed Macau baccarat play sufficiently to save five seconds per game and boost the economics of operations, irrespective of whether more customers come through the door of city’s casinos, says a Friday note from Citigroup.
“Every five seconds saved per game of baccarat could translate into a 5.9 percent organic growth in GGR [gross gaming revenue],” suggested analysts George Choi and Ryan Cheung. This was despite the fact that smart tables alone “cannot drive more foot traffic into casinos”.
Circa “10 percent of tables in Macau are now smart,” estimated Citgroup. If their use “becomes more widespread,” the institution would be even “more confident in the long-term growth prospects of the Macau gaming industry”.
The institution mentioned that such technology should also make it easier for casinos to rate the value of individual players to the house, and reward them accordingly, via so-called ‘comps’ – complimentary goods or services.
Citigroup said an example was being able to recognise players willing to make certain types of bet that – while offering higher odds to the customer – were generally more advantageous to the house.
“For example it makes sense for casinos to increase their comps on players who consistently spend 10 percent of their baccarat wagers on the Lucky 6 exotic bet, as these players are, on our estimates, worth 125.5 percent more than players who strictly do main bets,” wrote Mr Choi and Mr Cheung.
Other benefits of smart tables included being able “accurately” to capture “foreign player volumes, which could potentially reduce [for Macau casinos] the gaming tax rate by up to 5 percentage points”; and “improvements in AML [anti-money laundering] and responsible gaming measures, which the Macau government is likely to welcome.”
Last month Macau’s casino regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, said some of its senior officials had a meeting with the city’s Judiciary Police and the security teams of Macau’s six casino operators, to discuss issues including surveillance systems and “smart” gaming tables.
Several Macau operators have recently flagged plans to use RFID gaming tables.
On March 14, Bill Hornbuckle, chief executive and president of MGM Resorts International, majority owner of Macau casino concessionaire MGM China Holdings Ltd, had told an investment forum that RFID chips – used by the group’s Macau business for some years – were a good way of tracking play by foreign customers, as well as in general for monitoring the monetary integrity of games.
