VIP baccarat losing its grip on Macau casino gaming revenue

Barring a letup in Beijing’s anti-corruption campaign, Macau casinos may have witnessed the last quarter in which VIP baccarat accounted for more than half of all gaming revenue.

Figures released Monday by Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) showed VIP baccarat accounting for MOP 26.6b in the three months ending June 30, down 15.7% from the same period last year.

By comparison, mass market gaming revenue fell a mere 1.1% to MOP 25b. And most of this decline was due to slot machines, which dropped 11.3% to MOP 2.63b, while mass market baccarat revenue actually posted a 0.2% year-on-year gain to MOP 18.65b.

The VIP baccarat share of overall gaming revenue was 51.5%, down from 55.5% in the same period one year ago and from 54.1% in Q1 2016. By contrast, mass market baccarat saw its share rise from to 36.1% from 32.7% last year.