Macau Revenue Drops by 49%

Macau Revenue Drops by 49%

Tuesday, 3 March 2015

A drop in the number of high rollers flying out to Macau has caused yet another a decline in revenue for Asia's gambling Mecca.

Despite still raking in $2.8 billion in February, that figure represents a 49% drop compared to January's haul.

Not only that, but the decrease in revenues by the city's leading casinos is the ninth in a row and something that's beginning to cause some concern among industry insiders. Although some of the downswing has been attributed to an economic slowdown in neighbouring China, the other issue affecting spend is the crackdown on gambling junkets by China's President, Xi Jinping.

Because Macau offers a legal gambling haven away from China's strict anti-gambling policies, high rollers from the latter have made regular trips across the water to ante-up over the last few years. This migration from China to Macau has been aided by so-called gambling junkets that arrange VIP trips for the rich businessmen.

However, with Chinese authorities now cracking down on these illegal operations in an attempt to stem the flow of money out of the country, a curb has been put on the junkets. This, in turn, has led to less VIPs making the trip to Macau to play the highest limit table games and, significantly, cash games.

Moreover, the players that have been visiting Macau have been gambling less than usual. According to reporters for Reuters, four of Macau's major casinos have been noticeably empty and VIP rooms have been virtually "desolate" in recent months.

Although the revenue generated by Macau is still 7X that of Las Vegas, the downturn is certainly having an impact on both the casinos and the cash games. Over the last few months reports of big money cash games taking place in Macau have dropped significantly which would suggest that more players are now anteing up in Vegas.



Tags: Macau