Macau Gaming Revenue Plummets by 36% in August

The numbers keep going from bad to worse in Macau, with monthly gaming revenue in the Chinese special administrative region having fallen by 36 per cent to US$2.3 billion in August. It was the fifteenth straight month that gaming revenues in Macau have fallen year-on-year, which shows that the gaming industry is still far from any kind of recovery.

Gaming revenue in Macau for the first eight months of the year has decreased by 36.5 per cent, a figure that looks unlikely to improve in the next months. The falling number of travellers to Macau and its casinos has also affected poker cash tables in the area, but live poker tournaments have not been strongly affected by the decline in the gaming market.

This has been seen in a number of recent poker events in Macau, including the ACOP Platinum Series X, which have actually attracted more players than they did earlier in the year. However, the most telling sign of whether live tournament poker has been affected by the continuing decline will be in the next Macau Poker Cup.

The Cup officially got underway last Friday, with a number of satellites and small events having taken place. The Main Event of the Macau Poker Cup, known as the Red Dragon, will start this Saturday and is expected to attract a few hundred players from all over Asia and the world.

If player numbers for the upcoming Red Dragon are down from previous events, it will be a major cause for concern, but there is nothing indicating that this will be the case.

Overall gaming revenue in Macau has declined for four straight quarters, which has also led to a decline in the region’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Although the local government has stated its aim to take some measures to help boost gaming tourism, such as reviewing a proposed smoking ban on gaming floors, it is a case of too little late.

The recovery of Macau’s gaming industry will be long due to the slowdown in China’s economic growth, which has led to a decrease in mainland Chinese travellers to the region. Because of this, it is expected that gaming revenue will continue to be in decline for at least the next quarter and possibly the rest of the year.

Source: Via Macau Daily Times