Available Macau casino tables are busy behind CNY Hall
Some Macau casinos visited by GGRASIA on Thursday had tables that were actually closed despite strong consumer demand during China’s Lunar New Year (CNY).
It was unclear why some tables were closed, but Macau’s labor group recently told GGRAcia it was difficult for the industry to re-upload its workforce capacity under three years of sluggish demand and related travel restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, with some game floor workers deployed to other departments.
However, most of the tables open at the properties visited, or most of the inventory, are at least HK$500 (about $64) for the Baccarat Games, and many table minimums are at least HK$1,000.
GGRAcia’s first observation was a visit to Grand Lisboa, Wynn Macau, MGM Macau and Starworld hotels in the downtown casino district of the Macau Peninsula on Thursday morning. 온라인경마
The mass floor was crowded, but less play areas with higher caps. Although Grand Lisboa had a HK$100 food botable, most baccarat games played on the mass floor of the venue cost at least HK$500 or HK$1,000 per day. Star World had a baccarat table for HK$300. In the Lakeside Casino section of Win Macau, most bets were HK$2,000 to HK$3,000, some as high as HK$10,000, but tables were not full. Slot occupancy was normal. MGM Macau’s main floor was moderately crowded, with minimums mainly between HK$2,000 and HK$3,000. Slots and electronic game tables were also crowded.
On Thursday afternoon, an observation of Kotai Resorts Galaxy Macau, Venice Macau and the City of Dreams found strong player traffic with bulk floor lows, mostly in the range of HK$1,000 to HK$2,000. The high restricted area seen from the main floor was less crowded.
In Galaxy Macau, the bulk floor baccarat limit was HK$500 to HK$3,000, but most tables were set at HK$1,000 or HK$2,000, with the latter range having strong traffic. The upper limit area seen on the main floor was HK$3,000 to HK$5,000, and was moderately crowded. The occupancy of the slot area was moderate.
Most of the main floors in Macau, Venice, were crowded, and most of the baccarat games cost between HK$1,000 and HK$3,000, but most of the customs were concentrated on the HK$1,000 and HK$2,000 tables. There were many food tables of 100 HKDs, and they were crowded.
The dream city across the street was less busy than Venice Macau or Galaxy Macau, and some tables were not used. The minimum bet for the main baccarat was between HK$1,000 and HK$5,000 and was the most played on the HK$1,000 and HK$2,000 tables. A number of SIC BO and crab tables with lower bounds are also well populated.
‘Strong momentum’: Sands boss
The recent Spring Festival holiday was Macau’s first festive break following the easing of most travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Robert Goldstein, chairman and chief executive officer of Las Vegas Sands Corporation, the parent company of Venetian Macau operator Sands China, said in the group’s fourth-quarter earnings report on Wednesday that the company sees “strong” momentum in Macau operations over the holiday season with high customer volumes.
Table games, like slot and electronic table games, were running at “95% to 100% capacity,” Goldstein said.
Macau received a total of about 387,300 visitors in the first six days of the Lunar New Year holiday. According to official data, about 58 percent of that tally, or 225,903 visitors, came from mainland China. Another 37 percent, or 141,610 visitors, came from Hong Kong.
In a note on Wednesday, brokerage JP Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) warned that visitor arrivals alone did not “exactly” represent past casino gross game revenue (GGR) levels, while noting that the majority of Chinese New Year’s game trading previously occurred in 4-6 days during the holiday.
In the same note, JPMorgan cited industry checks indicating that bulk game sales recovered “over 50%” compared to the 2019 Chinese New Year period.
China’s State Council has designated the latest vacation period for mainland residents from Jan. 21 on Saturday to Jan. 27 on Friday. The festival period in Hong Kong, another important source market for Macau tourists, has been designated to run from Jan. 23 to Jan. 25.