Following the decline of VIP gaming in Macau, mass-market baccarat is now the dominant form of play, according to the city’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ).
Figures from the first three months of 2023 show that mass baccarat contributed MOP$20.51 billion (US$2.54 billion) in gross gaming revenues (GGR) for the quarter, or 58.9 percent of market-wide GGR.
According to Inside Asian Gaming, that was a slight dip from the fourth quarter of 2022, when the games kicked in almost 63 percent of GGR, but it far exceeds the 2019 figure, when mass baccarat accounted for MOP$29.61 billion (US$3.66 billion), or 39.1 percent of all GGR. IAG noted that the 4Q22 figures represented a much smaller sample size, as Macau borders did not fully reopen until January 8.
GGR from VIP baccarat in the first quarter of this year reached MOP$8.57 billion (US$1.06 billion), or 24.6 percent of Macau-wide GGR, down from 48.7 percent of GGR in the first quarter of 2019. And total GGR for this year’s opening quarter hit MOP$34.81 billion (US$4.30 billion), the DICJ said.
Historically, nearly three-quarters of Macau’s gaming revenue came from VIP players and high rollers, mostly from Mainland China and Hong Kong. The city’s VIP gaming industry cratered with China’s crackdown on cross-border gambling, and the junket industry all but collapsed following the arrests of former Suncity Group CEO Alvin Chau in November 2021 and Tak Chun Group CEO Levo Chan in January 2022. Both junkets closed down shortly thereafter. In January 2023, Chau was sentenced to 18 years in prison for running an illegal gambling operation. Chan’s trial is set to conclude this week.
As part of its reforms of the VIP sector, the Macau government now limits each junket to just one casino concessionaire. The junkets may not operate their own VIP rooms within casinos, and they’re not permitted to engage in revenue-sharing agreements with gaming operators.
The number of licensed junkets now stands at 36, down from 235 in 2013.
