Public table game sales in Macau fell 8% in October from a year earlier, according to unofficial industry returns cited by several investment analysts.
Macau's total gaming revenue (GGR) fell 23.2% in October from a year earlier, the Macau casino regulator said on Tuesday.
According to public data reviewed by GGRAsia, the October GGR decline was the largest monthly decline since the Macau government began publishing its current form of GGR data in 2005.
The market expected total sales to fall 21% in October, mostly driven by a decline in the VIP segment, but was expecting flat or single-digit growth in the popular market.
Several analysts have suggested that the situation has become clouded by some casino operators moving to VIP areas so that premium public players can continue to smoke. Smoking has been banned on the main floor of casinos in the city since Oct. 6, but smoking is still allowed in VIP areas.
"Our inspections show that as October progresses, frequent and focused high-value [popular market] gamblers may have moved back into the VIP sector given smoking regulations," Cameron McKnight of Wells Fargo Securities LLC in New York said on Tuesday.
He estimated in October that junket rolls were down 29% year-over-year and VIP revenue was down 31%. 파워볼사이트
Wells Fargo also estimated that November gaming sales in Macau were on the decline from "high teens year-over-year."
U.S. Stern Age Group's David Bain said in a report on Wednesday that bulk table sales fell 8% in October, while VIP table sales fell 30.8%. The brokerage forecast high single-digit bulk growth and a mid-30% drop in VIP table sales.
"We understand that most of the major fluctuations versus expectations stem from casino operators designating parts of their premium mass tables to VIPs," Bain said.
