Macau Premium Mass Wagers Surge 17% During CNY as Average Bet Hits Record
Premium mass wagers in Macau rose 17% year-on-year during the Chinese New Year Golden Week. The increase came despite only limited growth in player numbers, which were up slightly over the same period. Most of the uplift was driven by higher spend per player, showing that activity remained concentrated among existing premium mass players rather than expanding through new traffic.
Player numbers changed only slightly during the holiday, rising 3% year-on-year to 824. The increase came from higher spend, not more people. Average wagers per player were up 13%, which drove most of the 17% growth. This happened at a time when Macau saw 1.554 million visitors over the same period, so the extra volume came from existing premium mass players rather than new arrivals.
Macau’s Government Tourism Office reported 1.554 million visitor arrivals over the nine-day break, averaging more than 173,000 per day. That topped both 2025 and pre-pandemic 2019 levels for the equivalent holiday period.
The data also shows 53 high-value players accounting for HK$11.3 million in combined wagers. Individual play remained concentrated, with one bet at MGM Cotai reaching HK$2.9 million, the highest single wager recorded in the dataset.
The operator grabbed 25% of observed premium mass wagers during CNY, up from 13% a year ago. Galaxy followed at 23%. Notably, 63% of all premium mass play took place at American-operated casinos, including MGM, Sands, and Wynn, which suggests that Sino-US trade tensions haven’t changed where high-end players choose to gamble.
For operators, this points to a change in how the segment is growing. The number of players is not moving much, but spending is. That puts more focus on limits, table mix, and how high-value play is managed during peak periods like Chinese New Year.
TGJ Take
The 17% increase in wagers with only 3% more players shows where the premium mass segment is heading. Growth is coming from higher spend per player, not more people. That is different from 2023 and 2024, when operators focused on bringing in more players. For suppliers, the takeaway is clear. The value sits at the top end of the mass market, and Melco’s move from 13% to 25% share shows that strong execution at the property level can quickly shift where that spend goes.
