Casinos in Las Vegas might have had an average 2014 but things are looking up in 2015. Las Vegas casinos reported a five percent spike in April 2015 when compared to April 2014 and brought in over $95 million in revenue according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Casinos all across the United States have registered a revenue spike during April 2015 when compared to April 2014 and the total revenue of state wide casinos is nearly $898 million, which is a 5.4 percent increase.
Macau which makes nearly six times the revenue as Las Vegas has experienced the opposite as Macau’s casinos have reported a twelfth consecutive month of revenue decline. Las Vegas casinos are hoping that the market slump which they experienced in 2014 is finally over and that their casinos will once again start to flourish.
One of the main games that have contributed to an increase in Las Vegas casino revenue has been baccarat. Las Vegas casinos reported that mini baccarat skyrocketed by 31.6 percent during April 2015 and was responsible for bringing in $4.9 million. These numbers are ironic because baccarat has never been that popular in Vegas but is the most popular table game in Macau. Ever since Beijing started its anti-corruption crackdown on Macau’s casinos these VIP Asian gamblers have stopped visiting Macau and have decided to take their business overseas.
Gamblers from Mainland China have started visiting Las Vegas and as a result there has been a bigger demand for the game of baccarat. In a statement, Joseph Greff, managing director of JP Morgan Securities LLC said “The market will (and) should continue to experience volatility in baccarat play given a likely slowdown in Chinese players. That said, April baccarat numbers were encouraging.”
Morgan Stanley Research Ltd and AlphaWise, a market research firm published a report on Las Vegas’s casino industry and stated that Las Vegas casinos are depending on VIP and high stake gamblers from Macau to boost their revenue. The influx of these VIP gamblers from Macau has been reflected in the rise of baccarat games and the revenue spike in April.
The Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and South Korea are also targeting VIP gamblers from Macau and are luring them over to their casinos with lucrative offers. Las Vegas might find it more difficult to woo these VIP gamblers due to the distance between China and the United States.