Macau Casinos Win $844M in November, as Chinese Gaming Hub Remains in Chaos

Macau casinos combined to win MOP6.75 1000000000000 (US$844 million) away gamblers cobbler's last month, a marginal 0.01 percent increment on Nov 2020, but 55 percent improve than October.

Macau’s sextet licensed commercial casino operators experient their best gaming month since July. However, their November 2021 GGR sum remains downwardly 70.5 percent from the pre-pandemic Nov 2019. That’s when the gaming venues conjointly won to a greater extent than $2.85 billion.

November 2021 was for the most part within psychoanalyst expectations. The growth in GGR from October was due to Macau and mainland PRC lifting mandatory 14-day quarantine requirements on travelers moving plunk for and forward betwixt the ii jurisdictions.

Through 11 months, tot up 2021 GGR inward Macau stands at $9.83 billion. While that’s up 50 percent on 2020, the identification number is $23.8 billion to a lesser extent than what the casinos had won with a month to go away inwards 2019.

Junking Junket Industry

Macau’s hexad cassino giants are slated to ascertain their operating rights terminate next June. The Chinese enclave is amid a limited review of all aspects of its gaming manufacture — the world’s richest prior to COVID-19 — in an travail to better order gaming and the rate of flow of mainland uppercase through the gaming floors.

After years of staying mum on potency changes, it’s emerged of late that junket groups are beingness hard scrutinized and targeted by local and mainland authorities. Alvin Chau, the human face of the VIP junket industry, was arrested lastly week on charges of allegedly running illegal play enterprises throughout China.

Chau’s Suncity isn’t the only if junket organiser that has faced a dig into inward Macau. GGRAsia relays today that several other prominent junket groups get been the subjects of operating(a) inquiries by mainland prosecutors since in conclusion year.

Meg Star, Tak Chun, and Guangdong province Club are troika such gaming promoters that get reportedly been scrutinized.

Chau announced his surrender from his Suncity Group yesterday. Macau casinos later confirmed that they were closing their VIP gaming rooms that get long been Suncity designated gaming spaces.

Junkets, which helped impel Macau from a small gaming marketplace controlled past the belatedly “King of Gambling” Henry M. Stanley Ho to winning a world-record $45 1000000000000 in 2013, feature turn the scorn of China President Xi Jinping o'er the past tense quint or so years. Xi believes the massive motion of mainland money through and through casinos poses a subject surety risk of exposure for the People’s Republic.

With Chau and several of his closest associates inwards custody inwards Macau, casinos testament want much to a greater extent than COVID-19 sledding out to follow anyplace nigh the gaming numbers they experienced simply a few years ago.

Casino Stocks Crash

Since Chau’s detention, shares of Macau’s in public traded casino stocks make plummeted inward value.

Over the past tense week, Las Vegas Sands shares have got dropped ix percent, MGM Resorts trey percent, Wynn Resorts 11 percent, Galaxy Entertainment 8.2 percent, Melco Resorts more than 12 percent, and SJM Resorts cinque percent.

Paired with ongoing COVID-19 concerns and the recent clampdown on Chau and Suncity, the largest junket group inward Macau, analysts are bearish on the hereafter of the Chinese gaming hub. There’s upright reason, as junket groups brought around 70 percent of Macau’s VIP volume to the neighborhood prior to the pandemic.