GGRAsia – Best whale since Macau monthly survey began in 2017: Citi

Best whale since Macau monthly survey began in 2017: Citi

Nov 18, 2024 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

Citigroup said it observed in its November survey of Macau casino table play “the largest whale ever” since it began conducting such monthly reviews in 2017. That was during a “supposedly slow month,” stated analysts George Choi and Timothy Chau.

The so-called “player of the month” had wagered HKD2.2 million (US$282,607) at the Signature Club in the Epic Tower at Studio City, a property majority-owned by Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd.

The amount seen was about 18.0 percent of the total value of bets observed in the latest survey, at HKD12.2 million. The particular player’s outlay included “HKD200,000 on ‘Lucky 7,” a side bet option.

The player was “the largest whale we have ever witnessed,” added the Citigroup analysts. The institution defines “whales” as players that have a bet size of HKD100,000 or more.

The bank also suggested Melco Resorts was “gaining share in premium mass” in Macau. At the time of the casino company’s third-quarter earnings a fortnight ago, a number of analysts had mentioned erosion of market share during the reporting period.

The aggregate of market-wide wagers observed in the November survey was up 29 percent year-on-year, to HKD12.2 million, driven by “player quality and quantity improvements,” stated Citigroup.

Players termed “premium mass” amounted to 514, up 21 percent on the November 2023 survey, said the bank.

“This implies that wager/player, a gauge of player quality, improved 7 percent year-on-year, to HKD23,706,” wrote its analysts.

The number of whales seen rose to 21 in the November survey, from 18 in the prior-year observation period.

“More importantly average wager per whale of HKD268,381 was 73 percent higher versus November 2023,” said the memo.

Though the analysts also observed that the number of players in the market and their aggregate gambling budget, were “not the only… drivers” of casino gross gaming revenue (GGR).

In the Macau market, other factors included deployment of so-called ‘smart tables’, “which will increase game speed velocity,” and “introduction and promotion of new side bets, which will increase hold rates,” added the analysts.

Citigroup said all mass-market baccarat tables it observed at Galaxy Macau’s Horizon gaming area were now ‘smart’ as were all such tables seen at Melco Resorts’ Studio City, and Sands China Ltd’s Venetian Macao, and Plaza, as well as the Diamond Club at Wynn Macau Ltd’s Wynn Palace, and that firm’s Wynn Encore downtown at the Wynn Macau property.

MGM China Holdings Ltd was one of the earliest exponents of smart tables in the Macau market.

For the November Citigroup survey, “we also saw smart tables” at “grind mass areas,” stated the bank’s analysts, mentioning “24 at Wynn Macau, 40 at Wynn Palace, and 133 at Galaxy Macau,” the latter the flagship Cotai property of Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd.

Craig Billings, chief executive of Wynn Macau Ltd’s parent, Wynn Resorts Ltd, said on the group’s third-quarter earnings call, that rollout of smart tables in its Macau business would be completed by Chinese New Year, which is at the end of January 2025.

Regarding side bets, Citigroup stated its November survey noted “side bet expert tables” at the Venetian Macao, offering bets on respectively ‘6s’-based and ‘7s’-based, side bet games.

“We believe this latest creative move by Sands China will lure players to wager more on side bets,” the analysts stated.