Smart Gaming Tables Have Many Benefits for Macau’s Gaming Industry, Citigroup Survey Reveals

Evaluating the lengthy prospects of the gaming industry in Macau, Citigroup, a brokerage company based in New York, emphasizes the notable effect of the extensive acceptance of smart gaming tables on its expansion.

A large number of benefits:

In the firm’s newest detailed report, analysts Ryan Cheung and George Choi cleared up the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) tables, highlighting the many benefits that are set to boost gaming income. Additionally, RFID tables, widely known as smart gaming tables, currently account for 10% of the total number of tables in Macau, based on estimates by Citigroup.

Relatedly, the firm noted that smart gaming technology is now part of each of the Mass baccarat tables found in 2 MGM China casinos, according to notes from the firm’s newest monthly study. Also, in total, 140 RFID tables were observed at Londoner’scasino Mass concourse, located in Macau.

Furthermore, the research team also decided to observe the twenty-four RFID tables located in the Grind Mass section of Wynn Macau, even though there were none of them in the Wynn Palace. Firms such as SJM, Melco and Galaxy have already ordered smart gaming tables from RFID providers, with plans to phase in during this year, based on management comments made throughout their recent revenue calls.

Hottest topic:

Analysts point out that the utilization of RFID chips and smart gaming tables has become one of the trending topics among gaming institutional investors and in the gaming industry.

Speaking on the subject, Citigroup commented: “We believe the benefits from smart gaming tables and RFID chips are real.” In addition, they claim that the tech may organically provide assistance to operators to increase their GGR, without the necessary step of decreasing operating costs or boosting casino foot traffic.

Although smart gaming tables alone can’t drive additional customers to casinos, the technology may speed up gameplay. To put it simply, if 5 seconds per baccarat game is saved, it could lead to an organic GGR growth of 5.9%.

Another benefit is that RFID tables make it easier to collect data on players’ wagering patterns, which allows for more cost-effective player-comping strategies as well as more precise assessment.

In this regard, the brokerage firm commented, “It makes sense for casinos to increase their comps on players who consistently spend 10 percent of their baccarat wagers on the Lucky 6 exotic bet, as these players are, on our estimates, worth 125.5 percent more than players who strictly make main bets,” according to Asia Gaming Brief.

Preventing the use of a counterfeit chip:

There is another major benefit of RFID tables, which is the prohibition of the utilization of counterfeit chips, an issue that is very common in cases involving casino crime.

Moreover, smart tables allow casinos to present higher hold and exotic wagers cost-effectively and provide assistance in locating and identifying high-value but unrated gamblers.

There are also other upsides, according to Citigroup, involving:

• improvements in responsible gaming measures and anti-money laundering (AML),
• targeted training for dealers to reduce training expenses
• precise recording of the number of foreign gamblers, which could eventually decrease the tax rate on games of chance by as much as 5%