The bustling casino floors on the Macau peninsula experienced a surge in live-dealer baccarat table bets, with wagers of HKD1,000 (approximately US$128.50) emerging as the most favored on Monday, October 6. Simultaneously, the Cotai district saw a range of popular bets from HKD1,000 to HKD2,000. These insights come from GGRAsia’s reviews of various casinos conducted on the same day. This surge in gaming activity coincides with the sixth day of an extended eight-day national holiday in China known as the October Golden Week.
The casino visits by GGRAsia included key locations like Grand Lisboa, Wynn Macau, MGM Macau, and StarWorld Hotel on the Macau peninsula during the morning, progressing to key Cotai properties in the afternoon, such as Galaxy Macau, The Venetian Macao, and City of Dreams.
The player volume in the main-floor baccarat areas of these casinos was moderate, while the high-limit zones, with minimum bets from HKD2,000 to HKD5,000, remained underutilized. Notably, SJM Holdings Ltd's Grand Lisboa and Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd's StarWorld Hotel offered mass-market baccarat play with accessible minimum bets starting at HKD300. At Grand Lisboa, the Level 2 gaming floor, known for its relatively lower minimum bets on traditional baccarat tables, had bustling activity with tables set between HKD300 and HKD500 garnishing significant player engagement.
Potential Market Shifts and Adjustments by Casinos
In-depth morning audits showed that the third level of StarWorld Hotel featured traditional table baccarat with stake requirements ranging from HKD300 to HKD1,000, attracting considerable player attendance. This particular floor also accommodates a large electronic gaming arena branded as “Golden Touch.” A report from Citigroup highlighted StarWorld's third level in its October assessment of premium mass betting, remarking on the newly available gaming zones that hosted 16 tables presenting minimum bets as low as HKD300 to HKD1,000.
Citigroup also observed similar trends at Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd's City of Dreams, which offered 15 tables with minimums between HKD500 and HKD1,000, in a strategic move aimed at capturing the market share from local satellite casinos. These adjustments align with the changing landscape of Macau's casino industry, marked by the transitioning of most third-party managed facilities, inspired by recent regulatory changes.
Weather-Related Interruptions and Market Outlook
October Golden Week tourism witnessed interruptions due to Typhoon Matmo, principally affecting travelers from the Chinese mainland. The storm warranted a Signal No. 8 warning at 2 am on Sunday, later downscaled to No. 3 by afternoon. The resultant cessation affected non-gaming services at Macau's casino resorts along with suspensions of shuttle and bus operations. Ferry services connecting Macau with Hong Kong and neighborhoods such as Shenzhen and Zhuhai also encountered delays. The Macau International Airport reported multiple cancellations affecting flights scheduled over the weekend, highlighting typhoon-triggered disruptions.
Despite such interferences, JP Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Ltd reassured stakeholders in a Monday note, clarifying that the slowing momentum seen during the Golden Week was temporary, and predicted a resurgence in gross gaming revenue (GGR) during the following week. The expectation is on a mid/high-teens year-on-year growth attaining around MOP750 million (US$93.6 million) per day, translating into a 30% decrease paralleling last year's figures, but still showing a rebound from the approximately 40% downturn observed earlier in the week.
Source: Macau main-floor US$129 baccarat bets popular on day six of October Golden Week hols: checks, GGRAsia, October 6, 2025.
Posted by Wizard
Oct 07 2025
Oct 07 2025
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