Mixed Results for Macau Gaming Revenue in July

According to the Chinese Government, overall gaming revenue in the Chinese gaming enclave of Macau in July was US$2.3 billion.

That amount can be seen as either good or bad, depending on whether you are a glass half full or half empty kind of person.

A glass half full person may say that the US$2.3 billion revenue was higher than the US$2.2 billion that was registered in June, which marks a slight increase.

However, July’s monthly revenue also represents a sharp year-on-year decline from July 2014’s gaming revenue in Macau.

The US$2.3 billion revenue was a 34.5 per cent fall year-on-year, which is further proof of the adverse impact of the Chinese government’s corruption crackdown on Macau’s gaming sector.

July’s figures do offer some comfort in that they show that the decline in Macau’s gaming sector may have “bottomed out”, given that revenue was similar to June’s figures.

Despite that, though, the figures are well below the US$3 billion mark that the gaming sector regularly surpassed for most of last year.

While the crackdown on corruption in China is a factor in this, other relatively recent factors have also cast a shadow over any potential recovery of the Macau gaming sector.

Firstly, the Chinese economy has declined, which has resulted in a decline in Chinese tourists going to Macau for gaming purposes, a big deal considering the majority of Macau’s tourists are from China’s mainland.

Other Asian nations have also aimed to capitalise on Macau’s decline by opening their own gaming industries up to the rest of the region.

Cambodia, Vietnam and South Korea are prime examples of such nations who have expanded their gaming sectors as a way to attract tourists who have been discouraged by the crackdown in Macau.

The low revenues in Macau do not seem to have gravely impacted poker in the territory, however, as professional live poker tournaments ae still being held regularly and are still attracting large numbers of participants.

This was show just over a week ago when the Asia Championship of Poker (ACOP) Platinum Series X was held in Macau.

A total of 252 players turned out for the ACOP Platinum X Main Event, which was considerably more than the 181 who turned out for the Main Event at the previous ACOP Platinum Series.

Japanese player Tokuho Yoshianaga took out the event, taking home K$272,946 (around US$35,000) for his efforts.