High-end baccarat play responsible for 73 percent of Macau’s $33.5 billion in gaming revenues

In a report released Tuesday, Macau gaming authorities gave greater detail to the Special Administrative Region’s $33.5 billion gaming revenue take in 2011.

High-end baccarat business accounted for 73.2 percent of the total gaming revenue take during the year. Meanwhile, mass-market baccarat, played away from the exclusive gambling rooms, accounted for 18.2 percent of the region’s gaming revenues.

“Macau remains dominated by baccarat, which collectively accounted for 91.4 percent of total gross gaming revenue in 2011,” Union Gaming Group principal Grant Govertsen said in a research report. “There were only five game types that generated more than 1 percent of gross gaming revenue.”

Gaming revenues from slot machines accounted for 4.3 percent of the revenues, the Asian game of Sic-Bo was responsible for 1.8 percent while blackjack players contributed 1 percent. The remaining less-than-1 percent came from greyhound and horse racing, Chinese lotteries and scratch cards, and sports betting, such as on football and basketball games.

At the end of 2011, there were 34 casinos in Macau, 20 of which were owned by Stanley Ho’s SJM Holdings. Hong Kong-based Galaxy Entertainment had five casinos, Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Melco PBL each had three casinos, and one each by Wynn Resorts Ltd. and MGM Resorts International. Macau considers Wynn Macau and Encore at Wynn Macau to be one casino.