VIP gambling reclaims Macau casino revenue throne

Macau’s VIP gambling market continued its resurgence in the second quarter of 2017, outpacing mass market growth by a factor of four.

Figures released Monday by Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) showed the special administrative region’s casino operators enjoyed VIP baccarat revenue of MOP 35.85b (US $4.46b) in the three months ending June 30.

The figure is up only 1% from Q1 2017’s VIP gambling total but up an impressive 34.8% from Q2 2016’s MOP 26.6b. The VIP share of the overall Macau market’s Q2 revenue improved to 57% from 51.5% in the same period last year.

By comparison, total mass market gaming revenue (including slots) fell 2.6% sequentially but gained 8.1% year-on-year to MOP 27b. Of this sum, mass market baccarat generated MOP 19.7b, up 5.7% year-on-year. Mass market baccarat’s share of the overall gaming revenue pie fell to 31.3% from 36.1% in Q2 2016.