The “ongoing Sino-U.S. trade conflicts so far appear not to be discouraging players from enjoying Macau’s gaming and non-gaming offerings,” says Citigroup.
The bank added that its “jaw-dropping” statistics for May included the first of its monthly surveys to record more than one high-value player or “whale” betting more than HKD1-million (about US$129,000) per hand on a single day. The bank defines whales as patrons with a bet size of HKD100,000 or more.
The observed bets “make us wonder if we witnessed some ‘revenge spending’ on the ground,” added analysts George Choi and Timothy Chau.
Citi’s analysis followed site visits to Macau casinos during the five-day mainland China holiday encompassing Labour Day on May 1.
The break, from May 1 to Monday (May 5) inclusive, saw 222,000 visitors to the city on May 2, “higher than the peak day” of 219,000 during the Chinese New Year holiday season at the turn of the year, stated the bank.
Macau’s authorities said the daily average for arrivals across the five days topped 170,000, with more than 850,000 arrivals recorded in the period.
Citi said its holiday survey – which doubled as its monthly table survey – revealed “jaw-dropping statistics” that show the “inelasticity of gaming demand”.
The results from this month’s survey “again highlight that players remain passionate about gaming,” despite the trade tariff row, stated the bank’s analysts in a Sunday memo.
“This is the first time we ran into multiple-million Hong Kong dollar whales on the same day,” observed the analysts.
The bank said that its observed “player of the month” wager of HKD2.9 million was “the highest in our records”.
The observed aggregate in wagers for table bets seen in the premium-mass segment was HKD27.2 million, up 54 percent year-on-year, and “also a record high,” tied with what it observed during “National Day Golden Week in 2024,” stated the institution. That was a reference to another mainland holiday period encompassing China’s National Day, marked on October 1 annually.
The number of premium-mass players seen in the latest survey “amounted to 949, 22-percent higher” than the comparable period a year earlier, said Citi.
‘Record high’ for total premium mass wagers
Citi said for the May holidays this time, the average wager by whales that it saw, at HKD281,000 per players, “was 79 percent greater year-on-year,” and the average observed minimum bet of HKD2,300, “though down 8 percent year-on-year,” was “3 percent higher versus Chinese New Year 2025 and is the highest in 2025”.
Citi stated that in terms of its ‘whale watch’, for “the second consecutive month, we ran into the Player of the Month at MGM Cotai Supreme room”, at the Cotai property of MGM China Holdings Ltd.
“This player had a HKD10 million chip stack in front of him and he wagered HKD2.9 million, the highest on our record,” stated the bank, adding that beat a “HKD1.2-million wagering whale that we saw at the Venetian [Macao] high limit area, who would normally be crowned Player of the Month in any other month”.
Citi added: “This is the first time we saw more than one [person as] million-dollar whale on the same day.”
It added: “Overall, we saw 49 whales this month (versus 37 in May 2024), and they wagered a total of HKD13.8 million or an average of HKD281,000 per whale (+79 percent year-on-year).”
In terms of market share among the city’s six operators regarding observed premium mass bets, “U.S.-based operators accounted for 63 percent of the total” this month “which is well within the historical range of the local-U.S. split,” stated the bank.
“This likely suggests that the ongoing Sino-U.S. trade conflicts are so far not impacting players’ preferences,” suggested Citi.
The bank added MGM China “leapt to number one with an approximately 30 percent share of premium mass wager observed, thanks to the HKD2.9 million whale.
“We also saw 14 HKD10,000 tables in its Supreme room (the most we have ever seen). We suspect this strength can be attributed to MGM Cotai hosting Chinese singer Han Hong for a concert that evening. This is yet another data point showing that the right non-gaming product offerings can drive gaming growth,” stated Citi. Total wager observed at MGM Cotai was HKD5.1 million, it added.
Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd, which runs its flagship Galaxy Macau resort in the Cotai district, was observed by the bank to be ranked second for its survey, with a circa 22 percent share of wagers seen.
