The quality of Macau’s premium mass players remained strong through mid-November, with average wager per player considerably higher than in 2019 according to the latest player survey by Citi.
The survey was conducted last Friday during the annual Macau Grand Prix period, with analysts George Choi and Ryan Cheung observing premium mass rooms across the city.
Notably, total wager observed was 9% higher than in November 2019 despite 21% fewer players seen. This, said Choi and Cheung in a Monday note, translates to a 37% increase in average wager per player, “suggesting player quality remains high”.
Average minimum bets were 10% higher than pre-COVID at HK$2,025 (US$260).
Also positive for the market were the analysts’ observations of shoppers queuing at luxury retail outlets Chanel and Hermes, which the analysts said is “testament to the still resilient luxury spending behaviours by mainland Chinese visitors.”
By property, Galaxy Macau and Sands China’s Plaza continue to show the most strength in the premium market, with Galaxy holding 38% of the market share of those rooms Citi observed and boasting the highest average wager of any operator at HK$26,319 (US$3,375). Sands took around 20% of observed share with the Apex room Plaza boasting the highest average wager of any single room at HK$63,077 (US$8,090).
Conversely, Wynn has lost observed market share while SJM’s Grand Lisboa Palace had just a single player playing during the survey period, although peninsula property Grand Lisboa held its own.
Market-wide, “The strength observed in premium mass this month seems to be, once again, driven by whales,” wrote Choi and Cheung, referencing players betting HK$100,000 (US$12,830) per hand or more. “We saw 18 whales this mont, five more than in November 2019. Our player of the month showed up at the Pavilion Central of Galaxy Macau where he wagered HK$420,000 (US$53,885).
RelatedPosts
