According to a table survey by Citigroup, premium-mass players in Macau placed HK$655K (£62.7K/€75K/US$64K) in wagers per average sitting in September. That’s an increase of 43% over the same month last year.
Year to date, so-called whales – those who place average bets of HKD100K or more – have wagered a collective HK$43.3m, more than the HK$39.7m wagered in all of 2023.
The body count is also up. Citi tallied more than 600 premium-mass players at casino tables in September, up 42% year on year.
Exchange crackdown in Macau a non-issue
In an August note, Citi analysts George Choi and Ryan Cheung wrote that “demand by mainland Chinese players remains robust.” That’s in spite of a recent crackdown on illicit money touts, designed to quell exchange gangs and loan sharks around Macau casinos.
The segment clearly has no trouble transporting funds from the mainland into the special administration region (SAR). And they’re not hampered by ongoing deflation in the world’s second largest e..