Macau’s premium-mass segment showed stronger-than-expected momentum in November, with the average wager per player rising to HK$26,754 ($3,430)—2 percent higher than levels recorded during the Chinese New Year 2025 holiday—despite the absence of major weekend events, according to a new proprietary table survey conducted by Citigroup.
The bank noted that November is typically the slowest month of the fourth quarter, making the latest figures a ‘positive surprise.’ Citigroup recorded HK$14.4 million ($1.85 million) in total premium-mass wagers during its November survey, up 19 percent year-on-year, while the number of premium-mass players rose 5 percent to 540. This reflects a 13 percent year-on-year increase in average wager per player, compared with HK$23,706 ($3,040) during the same period last year.
Analysts highlighted that the rise in betting volume occurred on a normal Friday without any special tourism drivers, reinforcing confidence in Citigroup’s November GGR estimate of MOP20.5 billion ($2.56 billion), up 11 percent from a year earlier.
It is worth noting that the fourth quarter has started strongly, with October GGR reaching the highest level since the start of the pandemic, climbing to MOP24.09 billion ($3.01 billion)—a 15.9 percent year-on-year increase.
The investment bank also viewed the average baccarat minimum bet of HK$2,112 ($271)—a 5 percent year-on-year rise—as another indicator of sustained recovery in the grind-mass segment.
High rollers
High-stakes play also picked up. Citigroup observed 31 ‘whales’ in November, up from 21 in the same month last year. Although the average wager among whales slipped to HK$216,000 ($27,690) from HK$268,000 ($34,360) a year earlier—largely due to the absence of an exceptionally large HK$2.2 million ($282,000) whale recorded in November 2024—removing the Player of the Month from both data sets shows underlying whale betting rising 7 percent year-on-year, averaging HK$183,000 ($23,460).
Citigroup identified the Player of the Month at Wynn Palace’s Chairman’s Club. Despite drilling noises from expansion works, the player ‘looked unbothered’ and wagered HK$1.2 million ($153,800). Other notable observations included an HK$800,000 ($102,560) whale at MGM Cotai and a HK$500,000 ($64,100) whale at The Venetian.
Galaxy leads market share
Galaxy Entertainment maintained its lead in premium-mass share, capturing 27 percent of total wagers observed—up from 21 percent a year earlier. The eight whales seen across its two properties represented the highest count among all six operators surveyed.
MGM China moved into second place with a 23 percent share, a significant increase from 13 percent in November 2024. Analysts recorded seven whales across MGM Cotai and MGM Macau, underscoring the operator’s increasingly competitive position in high-end play.
