124 Gaming
Vegas finds fears
in baccarat boom
An explosion of high-end baccarat play has provided practically
the only good news for the Vegas Strip’s beleaguered casinos
in recent months, but analysts fear the boom may prove fragile
as China weighs moves to tighten monetary policy
by Andrew Gellatly
W
hile many table games in Sin City’s biggest prop- Making the game even sweeter for the Strip properties has
erties are reducing their play limits or are even been the fact that they have been unusually lucky in their hold
standing idle, the baccarat pits, which offer high at the game, with volumes up 20 percent in 2009, but win ris-
stakes play to predominantly Asian players, are booming. ing 27 percent. The fourth quarter was even more exceptional
High rollers wagered a staggering US$1.3 billion (MOP10.4 with volumes up 40 percent but with win doubling.
billion) on baccarat games in December — a record for any sin- The figure easily surpassed previous records for revenue
gle month in Nevada history, leaving behind US$155.7 million and wagering volume set in December 2007, but by compari-
(MOP1.245 billion) for the Strip casinos to share. son, the industry’s most popular games - slots and blackjack -
have seen their take slide, with slots revenues down 14 percent
Win amount - Las Vegas Strip 2009
in 2009.
But while Las Vegas is currently enjoying the ride - and
180000
those operators like Wynn and Las Vegas Sands who also have
160000
concessions in Macau are feeling a double boost - analysts be-
140000
120000
lieve the good times could be short lived if the Mainland Chi-
100000 nese government moves to crack down on the flow of credit
80000
that is currently pushing their economy to double digit levels
60000
40000
of growth.
20000 “Without the benefit of baccarat, Las Vegas Strip gam-
0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
ing revenues would have been notably weaker and we’re con-
cerned about the strength of the source of baccarat volume,”
says Bill Lerner, principal at Union Gaming, the Las Vegas-
Baccarat Blackjack
based advisory firm.
March 2010
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140