Macau premium-mass players spending more despite lower headcount: Citi

Macau’s casino premium-mass segment continued to show resilience in August, with average wager per player observed by Citigroup rising 27 percent year-on-year, according to the institution’s latest monthly table survey. The brokerage said in its August survey that total premium-mass wager observed reached HKD14.3 million (US$1.8 million), up 7 percent from a year earlier, despite the number of players seen by Citi declining by 16 percent year-on-year, to 525. That implied average wager per player of HKD27,284, versus HKD21,543 in August 2025. The latest figure was 8 percent below the HKD29,625 recorded in February this year, during the Chinese New Year period, wrote Citi analysts George Choi and Timothy Chau. The analysts said the findings from their latest table survey provided evidence that concerns about weakness in Macau’s casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) in June and July extending beyond the impact of the FIFA World Cup 2026 – which ran from June 11 to July 19 – were “likely overdone”. “It appears premium mass is once again the saviour, which drags GGR out of negative territory,” they stated. The Citi team said it identified 31 “whales” – high-value premium-mass players betting HKD100,000 or above – during its latest survey, seven more than in July, although one fewer than in August 2025. “Here is the most exciting stat: the 31 whales we ran into last Friday wagered an average of HKD244,000 per hand, up a whopping 54 percent versus August 2025,” the analysts said. “We saw our player of the month at Chairman’s Club of Wynn Palace wagering HKD820,000,” they added. Wynn Macau Ltd, operator of Wynn Palace and Wynn Macau properties, ranked first in Citi’s latest premium-mass survey, accounting for 29 percent of total wager observed, compared with 18 percent in August 2025. The brokerage said it observed seven whales at the Chairman’s Club at Wynn Palace, with wagers ranging from HKD100,000 to HKD820,000. The room’s average wager of HKD117,300 was the highest among the 19 premium-mass rooms visited by the analysts. The survey also found the average minimum bet for mass-market baccarat across Macau declined 13 percent year-on-year, to HKD1,901 in August. The analysts additionally noted renovation work at MGM Cotai’s Supreme room, including the premium slot area inside, and in the middle of the mass-gaming area at Grand Lisboa Palace, run by SJM Holdings Ltd. Citi also observed a newly-opened premium slot area at MGM Cotai, a property under MGM China Holdings Ltd. The analysts also saw “18 gaming tables (13 with dealers) at the new gaming area” near the southwest entrance of City of Dreams, a complex of Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd, with “minimum bets of between HKD300 and HKD1,000”. “We believe this is the first time City of Dreams is pricing any baccarat table with minimum bets as low as HKD300,” they added. Citi maintained its forecast for Macau GGR to grow by 6 percent year-on-year in full-year 2026.