A recently opened premium mass gaming room located in the Epic Tower of Melco Resorts’ Studio City Phase 2 development is already one of Macau’s top performing gaming spaces, according to financial services group Citi.
In their monthly survey, Citi analysts George Choi and Ryan Cheung said the new Qilong Club at Studio City ranked second in wager per player amongst the premium mass rooms it surveyed, with 17 players present at the time including five “whales” wagering between HK$100,000 and HK$270,000 (US$12,780 and US$34,530) per hand. Average wager per player between the 17 players was HK$61,294.
With 98 more premium mass baccarat tables in operation Macau-wide in January – of which 55 were split between Melco’s Qilong Club and Galaxy Macau’s Pavilion South – total wager observed in the city’s premium mass rooms grew by 26% month-on-month, indicating that “players’ passion for gaming does not seem to be impacted by the current state of the Chinese economy.”
Choi and Cheung added that there were 534 premium mass players witnessed, up 34% from the 404 seen in December and 5% higher than during the October 2023 Golden Week holiday period.
“The quality of the player we saw measured in terms of wager per player remains largely unchanged,” they wrote. “The number of whales we saw in January was 27, compared with 20 in December 2023.”
The analysts also took note of a new “insurance” bet being used on some baccarat tables at both of MGM China’s properties – MGM Macau and MGM Cotai.
While a similar bet has previously been witnessed at Malaysia’s Resorts World Genting, it hasn’t been seen anywhere else in Macau but has the potential to catch on much like the now popular “Lucky 6” bet, Choi and Cheung said.
“If this insurance bet is perceived by players as an effective way to minimize losses and gains popularity amongst players (like the ‘Lucky 6’ bet), this will enhance house advantage, just like any other exotic bets in any casino game.”
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