GGRAsia – Qi Long room at Studio City has ‘solid debut’: analysts

Qi Long room at Studio City has ‘solid debut’: analysts

Jan 15, 2024 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

The new premium mass table games area branded Qi Long at the Studio City casino resort in Cotai, has had a “solid debut”, says Citigroup, as part of its findings from its January survey of Macau premium-table bets.

“Our survey suggests this new room is already appealing to a lot of the top players in the market,” wrote analysts George Choi and Ryan Cheung in a memo.

Kevin Benning, senior vice president and property general manager at Studio City, a venue majority-owned by Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd, had confirmed to GGRAsia that the Qi Long zone had launched in December at the property’s Phase 2 Epic Tower. He mentioned the gaming zone was “ramping up” business-wise.

Citigroup said from its observations, Studio City’s Qi Long zone was operating 12 tables, mostly “with an average minimum bet of approximately HKD6,000 [US$767.40],” but that among them were two HKD20,000 tables.

Mr Choi and Mr Cheung added: “When we were there, 11 tables were in play, and we saw a total of 17 players betting in aggregate “over HKD1 million… equivalent to an average wager of HKD61,294.”

They stated this was “good enough” for Qi Long at Studio City “to rank second in wager per player amongst major premium mass rooms” that the analysts surveyed.

The Citigroup team further observed “five of the 17 players” seen there “were whales, betting HKD100,000 to HKD270,000.”

The institution said there had been a 32.2 percent increase month-on-month in the number of premium mass players it observed in January, at 534, compared to 404 in December. It added the observed January tally was also “5 percent higher than what we saw in October 2023 National Day Golden Week”.

The total in wagers seen in the January survey was HKD11.5 million, up circa 26 percent sequentially. Though January’s average wager per player, at HKD21,581, was down 4.8 percent on December’s observed average of HKD22,677.

The January average was however still a 45.4-percent improvement on the HKD14,840 in January 2019.

The number of “whales” observed by Citigroup in its January survey – those with a bet size per hand of HKD100,000 or more – was up 35.0 percent month-on-month, at 27, versus December’s survey tally of 20.

The memo also mentioned that Citigroup had been “surprised” to see six baccarat tables at MGM Macau and six at MGM Cotai, the properties of MGM China Holdings Ltd, offering a so-called “insurance” bet for baccarat.

The institution stated: “If this insurance bet is perceived by players as an effective way to minimise [their] losses, and gains popularity… like the ‘Lucky Six’ bet” often associated with blackjack, “this will enhance house advantage, just like any other exotic bets in casino games.”

The analysts added, referring to a Malaysia-founded casino resort brand with an Asia Pacific presence in Malaysia and Singapore: “From what we understand, this insurance bet has long been available in high limit areas in Genting’s casinos,” having been advertised to premium players as a “privilege” for them, stated Citigroup.