Macau's casino revenues closed in on Las Vegas Clark County as it soared 50% to hit a record of HK$19.57 billion despite new travel regulations on mainland tourists.
Mass-market games saw revenue increase 30.6% from a year back to 5.54 billion patacas, albeit suffering a 2% dip from last quarter. This slight decline is pointed out by analysts to be attributed to February's Lunar New Year holiday and the new travel regulations. Similarly, revenues from VIP baccarat, the choice game among Macau's high-rollers, shot up 58.3% from last year and further advanced 6.3% from the previous quarter to 13.2 billion patacas. According to the Gaming Inspection and Co-ordination Bureau show's data, this accounted for 67.5% of all casino winnings in the territory.
In 2006, windfalls in Macau's 26 casinos surpassed the 40 casinos and slot machine parlors that line the iconic Las Vegas Strip. Meanwhile, the ranks of mainland high-rollers increased to an all time high, propelling the popularity of VIP gaming in Macau.
Chinese officials have been imposing stricter regulations such as stringent issuance of business travel permits, in efforts to ease concerns of economic overheating and reduce the over-reliance on gambling in the tourism industry. Nonetheless, gaming tables continue to rise, up 59% to 3,102 tables in June as compared to that of June last year. Likewise, slot machine count almost doubled to 8,234, spurred by the new casino openings.
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