Gaming volumes and hold rates for Macau casino operator Sands China Ltd “could increase” amid the firm launching a new progressive jackpot arrangement as part of its table baccarat operations, says Citigroup.
GGRAsia reported on Friday that Sands China had rolled out a two-tier jackpot for ‘6s’ and ‘7s’ table side bets in its Cotai properties.
Analysts George Choi and Timothy Chau observed in a note regarding a Friday check of the city’s gaming venues for Citi’s July table survey: “We found interesting… the new progressive jackpot that Sands introduced to most of its baccarat operations: the purpose of which is to incentivise players to wager more on the Lucky 6 and [Lucky] 7 side bets.”
They added: “The more side bet wagers Sands gets, the higher its market share could reach, given the significantly higher house advantage from side bets.”
The institution said that could be the case, “unless and until its competitors imitate” what Sands China is doing.
A number of industry experts has previously indicated that the advent in the Macau market of so-called ‘smart tables’ – with capabilities including ensuring rapid winning payouts and accurate rating of players – made the utilisation of side bets there an easier process.
Citi’s latest note also mentioned that based on the institution’s observations, “Grand Lisboa Palace has fully rolled out smart gaming tables at its mass baccarat operations”. The property is the Cotai resort of Macau operator SJM Holdings Ltd.
Weekend typhoon
In other commentary, Citi observed that although Macau had heavy rain on Friday, prior to the arrival on Sunday of Typhoon Wipha, “players’ passion for gaming did not seem to be impacted”.
The No. 8 Signal for Typhoon Wipha was raised in the early hours of Sunday morning, an event that triggers the suspension of public transport and a pause in the operation of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, thus stopping the flow of tourists to the city.
By 12:30pm on Sunday the typhoon had been declared a No.10 category storm as it came within circa 30 kilometres (18.6 miles) of the city, though wind speeds did not reach the level of another No.10 typhoon, Hato, which had led to widespread flooding and damage in August 2017.
The city’s Chief Executive, Sam Hou Fai, has discretionary powers to suspend casino operations in emergencies including typhoons, though that did not occur in the case of Typhoon Wipha.
The No. 3 signal – permitting the restarting of public transport – came into effect in Macau at 10:30pm on Sunday.
Citi stated in its latest table checks from Friday: “Our premium mass survey suggests that positive momentum continues and, for the fourth straight month, we ran into a HKD1 million whale.” That was a reference to a high-value player betting the equivalent of US$127,400 on a single hand, and that was observed at the Pavilion North gaming area of Galaxy Macau, the Cotai resort of Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd.
Citi said it saw 35 whales market-wide in Macau as part of its July table survey, versus 23 such players in its July 2024 survey.
The institution also commented on the possible role of Capella at Galaxy Macau – a new ultra-luxury hotel at Galaxy Macau – in attracting high value gamblers to the resort.
Citi estimated Galaxy Entertainment had a circa 35 percent share of total premium mass wager observed, “likely reflecting Capella’s success in appealing to whales: Galaxy Macau accounted for 12 of the 35 whales we saw”.
Citi added that Sands China ranked second in its survey with a circa 25 percent share in premium mass wagers observed, “likely attributable to the Sandy Lam concert at the Venetian Arena” on July 19. That was a reference to a popular Hong Kong singer performing at The Venetian Macao’s main event venue. She was also due to perform on July 20, but that show was cancelled due to Typhoon Wipha. She is due to perform at The Venetian Macao on three more evenings this month.
The banking institution said that market-wide, the observed premium mass wagers totalled HKD16 million, up circa 32 percent year-on-year.
The tally of premium mass players seen was 681, or 18 percent up from July last year.
“This implies that average wager per player grew 11 percent year-on-year to HKD23,536 (versus HKD21,193 in July 2024). In our view, these are solid statistics,” stated the Citi analysts.
