GGRAsia – Mass market play 1Q in Macau down 9pct q-o-q: govt

Mass market play 1Q in Macau down 9pct q-o-q: govt

Apr 19, 2022 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

Mass-market games including slot machines provided nearly 72.8 percent of all Macau’s casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) in the first quarter of 2022, at nearly MOP12.94 billion (US$1.60 billion), according to data released on Tuesday by the city’s casino regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.

Mass-market revenue was however down 8.8 percent from the fourth quarter of 2021. In the final quarter of last year, mass revenue accounted for 74.3 percent of all casino GGR, a record quarterly high since the market-liberalisation era at the start of the current century.

VIP baccarat, which in 2019 represented nearly half of all Macau GGR, accounted for 27.2 percent of the city’s casino GGR in the three months to March 31, at just below MOP4.84 billion. Such amount was down 1.2 percent sequentially.

Mass-market baccarat alone made up 60.9 percent of all GGR for the first quarter of 2022, or MOP10.82 billion in money terms. Slot machines accounted for MOP1.10 billion, or 6.2 percent of GGR.

The number of live gaming tables in the Macau market stood at 6,025 at the end of the March quarter, down by 173 from the preceding quarter. The tally of slot machines as of March 31 was 11,615, versus 11,758 at the end of the fourth quarter last year.

The city’s Legislative Assembly is currently analysing an amendment draft law relating to the existing gaming framework legislation.

The legislature has scheduled for Wednesday (April 20) a first reading of a new consolidating bill relating to junket business and also satellite casinos.