Macau’s concessionaires could be attempting to lure former satellite players to their casinos by offering lower betting limits at their integrated resorts than previously, according to investment bank Citigroup.
The commentary formed part of Citi’s monthly Macau Table Survey via which analysts visit the gaming floors of all six concessionaires to evaluate latest initiatives as well as betting volume on their premium mass tables.
Despite the bank’s latest visit coming during the ongoing October Golden Week holiday, analysts George Choi and Timothy Chau observed new gaming areas with lower minimum bet tables at both Galaxy’s StarWorld – where 16 tables were priced between HK$300 and HK$1,000 (US$39 and US$128) – and Melco’s City of Dreams where 15 tables were priced at HK$500 to HK$1,000 (US$64 to US$128).
“We believe these are their attempts to garner business from satellite casinos,” the analysts said, referencing the impending closure of all 11 Macau satellites by year’s end. Notably, both Melco via Casino Grand Dragon and Galaxy via Waldo Casino are impacted by the satellite closure directive albeit not to the extent of SJM Resorts which oversees the other nine.
In regard to SJM, Citi also revealed that the company’s brief foray into offering a dedicated foreigner-only gaming zone – a government-suggested initiative that failed to gain significant traction – appears to have come to an end.
“At SJM’s Grand Lisboa Palace (in Cotai), Phoenix Palace has recently been converted into a Premium Slot area,” it said. “A new Dragon Pavilion room has been opened where its foreigner player gaming zone used to be and it is now Grand Lisboa Palace’s new premium mass room offering 12 tables with min bets of HK$3,000 to HK$5,000 (US$386 to US$643).”
Citi said it remains confident that Macau will enjoy a solid Golden Week, despite Choi and Chau noting that they observed 15% fewer premium mass players year-on-year and 14% lower total wager on the day they visited.
“We suspect the fall is due to this year’s eight-day National Day Golden Week being one more day versus last year, leading to some dilution in daily average visitation,” they wrote.
“The average wager per player encouragingly held up, growing 1% year-on-year to HK$28,466 (US$3,658). This is amongst some of the highest on our record, largely par to Labor Day 2025 at HK$28,654 (US$3,682) and National Day Golden Week last year at HK$28,150 (US$3,617).
“We believe these trends bode well for a solid Golden Week.”
