Citigroup said it observed a “record breaking” volume of bets in Macau’s premium mass betting segment in an October table survey conducted within mainland China’s October Golden Week holiday. The holiday break this year runs from October 1 to October 7 inclusive.
The October survey’s total wager amount observed was a “record high HKD27.2 million” (US$3.5 million), wrote analysts George Choi and Timothy Chau.
That was up 81 percent on the bank’s October 2023 survey, and up 18 percent on the survey in the most recent Chinese New Year period, a festivity that fell in February this time.
For the latest survey, premium mass “table utilisation” observed was approximately “52 percent, which the institution said was “the highest” in its records since the easing of Covid-19 related restrictions in January 2023.
The number of premium mass players observed was “also a record high” of 966, or 90 percent more than the October 2023 survey.
“Despite the significantly higher player count, [average] wager [per] player fell only 5 percent year-on-year, to HKD28,150,” which Citigroup said was the “third highest level” in its records, and “only 5 percent lower versus both October 2023 and Chinese New Year 2024”.
The analysts further noted: “Data from our previous surveys showed that premium mass demand has always been resilient despite the weak Chinese discretionary spending trends year-to-date.”
Citigroup said its view was that economic stimulus measures recently announced by China’s central government had “further enhanced players’ appetite for gaming”.
Nearly 86 percent of Macau’s visitors in the first five days of October Golden Week were from the Chinese mainland, according to data from the city’s tourism office.
Citigroup’s update stated – referring second to an industry term for high-value gamblers – “the number of premium mass players and whales we ran into were also highs” during the October survey.
A total of 62 “whales” was seen in the Macau market. There were 15 at Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd’s Cotai flagship resort, Galaxy Macau, where Citigroup’s “player of the month” had a single bet of HKD420,000.
The bank saw 12 big players at Wynn Macau Ltd’s Cotai property Wynn Palace. There, five of them were wagering HKD1.1 million in aggregate. At Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd’s City of Dreams, nine whales were seen, betting between HKD100,000 and HKD400,000. Five big players wagering in the same range of amounts were observed at The Plaza casino of Sands China Ltd on Cotai.
In a Friday memo, brokerage CLSA Ltd said regarding an October Golden Week visit it made to Macau on October 2: “Minimum bets remain consistent with past visits, at a range from US$62 to US$624 (MOP500 to MOP5,000); with notable popularity of new Lucky Seven baccarat bet (pays 6 times to 100 times on win with seven) at City of Dreams and The Venetian [Macao],” the latter a Sands China property.
CLSA analysts Jeffrey Kiang and Leo Pan added: “We saw heavy promotion for each casino’s rewards programmes, including casino staff directly offering membership cards to patrons on the gaming floor.”
Though they also stated: ‘Despite heavy foot traffic in [casino resort] malls, we noticed there was only one luxury store with a line of queue outside, during our visit.”
CLSA forecast that for October as a whole, Macau’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) would grow 6 percent year-on-year, to MOP20.65 billion, which the institution said chimed with market consensus.
