Citigroup observed “solid” Macau premium-mass bet volume for the start of the Labour Day holiday season, second only to the Chinese New Year festive period in February this year.
That is according to the bank in its May survey of premium mass bet volumes and minimums.
Total premium mass wager observed – at HKD23.0 million (US$2.9 million) – was however down 15 percent year-on-year, due to a “super tough comparison” versus May 2025’s survey, stated Citi analysts George Choi and Timothy Chau.
“Recall, this time last year we were extremely lucky and ran into two, million-[Hong Kong] dollar wagering whales,” explained the Citi analysts. One of those two high-value players from May 2025 was “the largest wagering whale” recorded by the bank, betting HKD2.9 million.
“If we remove the HKD4.1-million wagers from these two whales from May 2025’s data point, both total premium mass wager and average wager/player (HKD24,459) in May 2026 would have been largely flat year-on-year,” the analysts concluded.
Citi said it has observed 58 whales in this year’s Labour Day holiday, versus 49 in May 2025.
Total bet volume in this May’s survey was circa 6 percent below that seen in the February survey, coinciding with Chinese New Year. That time, the aggregate seen had been HKD24.4 million: the highest monthly figure so far this year, according to Citi.
“This data point shows that Macau remains one of the most popular tourist destinations among mainland Chinese for Golden Weeks,” remarked the Citi analysts, referring to a phrase commonly used to denote Chinese holiday seasons that mark strong demand for Macau gaming.
China’s State Council has designated this year’s Labour Day holiday season as running from May 1 to May 5 inclusive. Macau received a total of 632,951 visitors during the first three days of the holiday period – a daily average of close to 211,000 visitors – which was up 5.0 percent year-on-year, according to data from the city’s Public Security Police.
Market-share leaders identified in this May’s survey were Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd and Sands China Ltd.
“Galaxy [Entertainment] ranked first with a 29-percent share in total premium mass wager observed, and Sands was second with a 26-percent share,” the analysts noted.
“We think their advantage of having the largest hotel room portfolio in Macau helps, and so do the concerts (Hai Lai A Mu at Galaxy Arena and Kelly Chen at Venetian Arena) that they are hosting during the Labour Day holidays,” Mr Choi and Mr Chau additionally remarked.
The Citi analysts also observed that Macau’s six casino operators have all now adopted the recently-approved baccarat side bets across their properties.
‘Monkey no Monkey’ had a theoretical house advantage of 16 percent, and ‘Pairs+’ was at 18 percent, Citi suggested.
“As these side bets were just launched a few days ago, we believe most players (if not all) have never seen them before, which is why ‘Lucky 6’ and ‘Lucky 7’ remain the side bets of choice,” suggested the analysts.
They added regarding the newcomer bets: “Because [they] pay as much as 50-to-1 and 300-to-1, we expect them to quickly gain popularity among players.
‘Lucky 6’ and its variants, as well as the ‘Lucky 7’ and ‘Super Lucky 7’, generally offer a theoretical house edge of mid-teens of percent or higher, suggested Macau gaming scholar Ryan Ho Hong Wai in previous comments to GGRAsia.
