The average premium mass-market live-baccarat table bet observed in Macau for Citigroup’s August betting survey was up 10 percent year-on-year, to HKD21,543 (US$2,744), the institution said in a Sunday note.
“We are pleasantly surprised,” wrote analysts George Choi and Timothy Chau, adding that concerts by Hong Kong singer Eason Chan had probably helped Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd in particular during the period.
Citi stated that while August is “seasonally the strongest month” in terms of visitor volume, “it is also usually the month where we see dilution in average wager/player, given most incremental visitors are casual players”.
From Citi’s observations, the average mass baccarat minimum bet rose 6 percent year-on-year and 4 percent month-on-month, to HKD2,191, which the institution said made August “the third-strongest month this year, only behind February with Chinese New Year, and May with the Labour Day holidays”.
The institution stated this was “likely suggesting a recovery” of consumer demand, “even in grind mass”.
The analysts suggested that concerts by Eason Chan – six have been held at Galaxy Arena at the Galaxy Macau casino resort on Cotai from August 1 to 3 inclusive and from August 8 to 10 – had helped Galaxy Entertainment Group’s gaming business, which based on Citi’s August survey, “remains the leader in premium mass”.
Macau casino resorts are staging more than 30, mostly arena-based shows this month indicate checks by GGRAsia. A number of investment analysts has suggested that some artists seem to have the power to bring incremental gambling business to the Macau market.
The Citi analysts stated: “On our count, Galaxy [Entertainment Group] maintained its pole position in our survey with a circa 34 percent share In total premium mass wager observed.”
The market-wide total of that segment’s wager observed in August amounted to HKD13.4 million, or 5 percent up year-on-year.
Referring to a luxury hotel, Capella at Galaxy Macau, that is already available for premium customers of the firm and will offer bookings to the general public from September – and to high-value players known as ‘whales’ – the institution stated: “Galaxy’s performance was likely reflecting Capella’s success and Eason Chan’s concert series in appealing to whales: Galaxy Macau accounted for nine of the 32 whales we saw.”
The institution defines ‘whales’ as players that have a bet size of HKD100,000 or more.
Sands China Ltd ranked “number two again in our survey with a circa 23 percent share” of observed premium mass bets.
Whales also at City of Dreams
Citi counted 32 whales this month versus 25 in August last year. The institution’s ‘Player of the Month’ was seen at the Horizon Room of Galaxy Macau, with a HKD450,000 bet.
The institution added that “honourable mentions” went to a HKD260,000 whale at The Londoner Macao, a Sands China property, and a HKD240,000 whale at the Apex Room of Sands China’s Plaza Casino across the road.
Citi further noted: “It Is worth highlighting that we saw six whales at City of Dreams,” a Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd property on Cotai, which was “a lot more than usual”.
The analysts added: “We think it can be attributed to the recent opening of a new ‘clubhouse’ at its Signature Club, where we saw some Interesting non-gaming amenities (e.g., golf simulator, F1 simulator, barber shop, ping pong table) and unique collectibles (worn jerseys by NBA all-star players including Yao Ming),” referring to one of China’s most famous basketball players.
The banking group also gave some commentary on the continued role of house-edge-boosting side bets in the Macau market. Last month GGRAsia reported that Sands China had added a progressive jackpot to its baccarat table games offer.
Citi stated in its August survey that it saw Wynn Macau Ltd, MGM China Holdings Ltd and Melco Resorts “implementing a ‘less is more’ strategy – removing both the conventional Lucky 6 and Lucky 7 [side bets] from the tables but adding the Big/Small 7 to the mix and keeping Big/Small 6 and Super Lucky 7.”
The Citi analysts added: “We saw Sands and Galaxy doing an ‘all-in’ – making all side bets available to players.”
“We expect both strategies to work well in the long run, much like what the Singapore casinos experienced,” stated Mr Choi and Mr Chau.
