Citigroup’s monthly Macau premium mass table survey took place during this year’s May Day Golden Week holiday with analysts George Choi and Timothy Chau claiming to have witnessed a number of all-time survey records.
Describing the action as “jaw dropping” in a Monday note, the analysts said this month’s survey highlights that players “remain passionate about gaming and that the ongoing Sino-US trade conflict so far appear not to be discouraging players from enjoying Macau’s gaming and non-gaming offerings.”
Witnessing multiple million-dollar whales, Citi’s Player of the Month produced the highest wager in Citi’s survey records at HK$2.9 million (US$362,500), while total premium mass wager observed of HK$27.2 million (US$3.4 million) was also a record-high (tied with National Day Golden Week in 2024). Average wager by whales of HK$281,000 (US$35,125) was up 79% year-on-year while average min bet of HK$2,300 (US$288), though down 8% year-on-year, was 3% higher that the recent Chinese New Year holiday.
The number of premium mass players seen amounted to 949, which was 22% higher versus May 2024 and implies that the average wager per player improved by 26% year-on-year to HK$28,654 (US$3,580).
“For the second consecutive month, we ran into the Player of the Month at MGM Cotai Supreme Room,” Choi and Chau said.
“This player had a HK$10 million (US$1.25 million) chip stack in front of him and he wagered HK$2.9 million (the highest on our record). Unfortunately, the HK$1.2 million (US$150,000) wagering whale that we saw at the Venetian High Limit area – who would normally be crowned Player of the Month in any other month – had to settle for an honorable mention this month.
“This is the first time we saw more than one million-dollar whales on the same day.”
The analysts explained that 63% of premium mass wager observed took place in the premium mass rooms of US operators – MGM, Sands and Wynn – suggesting that the ongoing Sino-US trade conflict is so far not impacting players’ preferences.
