According to a recent Labor Day edition of the Premium Mass table survey from Citigroup, Macau gaming operators Galaxy Entertainment and Sands China, with the largest hotel room inventory, ‘seem to benefit the most from the holiday crowd.’
After an on-site survey in various premium mass rooms across Macau casinos, Citigroup notes that casino operators with more hotel rooms typically get more business during holidays.
This is consistent with its recent Premium Mass survey results: Galaxy and Sands China rank number one and number two in the Premium Mass survey, with about 30 percent and 27 percent market shares out of the total wagers observed, respectively.
The survey finds that the total wager amount observed was HK$17.7 million ($2.3 million), up 144 percent during the Labor Day holiday compared to the same period last year, while the number of premium mass players seen amounted to 775, representing a 119 percent increase compared to April 2023 and largely on par with Chinese New Year (CNY) this year.
Regarding the wager per player calculation, analysts note that this implies that the quality of the premium mass players seen, measured in wager per player, improved by 11 percent to HK$22,777 ($2,915), compared to HK$20,461 ($2,618) recorded in April 2023. This is the second-highest tally this year, only behind that of Chinese New Year (HK$29,624).
The research team explains that to achieve a like-for-like year-over-year comparison, Citigroup compared its May 2024 survey results against that of the April 2023 survey, which was conducted on April 28th (the eve of the Labor Day Holidays in 2023).
First ever non-Chinese “Player of the Month”
Citigroup also noted that it had registered its first-ever non-Chinese “Player of the Month.”
‘The Player of the Month showed up at the Horizon Room at Galaxy Macau. He was a Korean player and was apparently taken care of by a Korean-speaking host.’
During the survey, the top three wagering players (betting between HK$250k-399k) the research team ran into were seen at the same table at Horizon. ‘We saw a total of nine whales there (the most at any single Premium Mass room).’
The number of whales observed was 37 compared to only 14 in April 2023, only four less than CNY this year’s 41. In this context, a ‘whale’ describes players whose bet size ranges from HK$100,000 to HK$500,000 ($12,800 – $64,000) per hand or more.
Citigroup also notes that the team saw whales at all six casino operators during the same survey.
New side bet gained popularity
The Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) in Macau has given its approval for a new baccarat side bet that offers odds as high as 50 times the stake.
According to the same memo, Citigroup notes that Small 6/Big 6 is currently only available at Galaxy and Sands casinos, and based on the observations, ‘it has already become a popular side bet among players because of its high payout (22-to-1 and 50-to-1, respectively)’.
Small 6/Big 6 is a variant of the popular side bet Lucky 6. Compared to the conventional Lucky 6 bet (bettors win if the winning Banker hand has a face value of six), Small 6/Big 6 is a lower probability event for the bettors, as this side bet requires the bettors to also make a correct call on how many cards this winning Banker hand with face value of six is composed of.
