Gross gaming revenue (GGR) came in at 55.6 billion patacas (US$6.9 billion) for the third quarter of this year, with mass baccarat making up 61.3 percent of the total, according to new data from the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.
GGR was down slightly compared with the first two quarters of the year, which industry news platform Inside Asian Gaming attributed to the ongoing decline of the VIP baccarat segment, due to a government crackdown on junket operators and the subsequent reduction of high-rollers gambling at local casinos.
VIP baccarat totalled 13.08 billion patacas (US$1.63 billion) for the quarter, up 11.2 percent year-on-year but down 57.9 percent when compared with the same quarter in 2019. The game made up 43.8 percent of Macao’s total GGR in 2019, but is currently tracking at less than a quarter.
[See more: Macao’s gaming tax revenue already exceeds the full-year total for 2023]
While mass baccarat’s intaking of 34.1 billion patacas (US$4.25 billion) was slightly less than in the first or second quarters of 2024, it was up 14.5 percent year-on-on year and by 11.5 percent when compared with the same period in pre-pandemic 2019, Inside Asian Gaming noted.
Third quarter GGR for games of fortune brought the year’s total up to 169.4 billion patacas (US$21.1 billion). After mass and VIP baccarat, slot machines earned the most revenue at 3.1 billion patacas (US$387 billion), followed by cussec (also known as sic bo) at 2.1 billion patacas (US$262 million).
According to the local government’s conservative estimate, GGR for the full year of 2024 is expected to reach 216 billion patacas (US$26.8 billion). Other, more optimistic predictions have said that the overall haul could be as high as 239.9 billion patacas (US$29.8 billion).
