Bad May Baccarat numbers for the Vegas strip

After 12 months of increases, they had a negative 13% in baccarat on the Vegas strip. Craps had a solid month, and blackjack continues it's steady (but very slow) climb out of it's deep hole for the 3rd straight month.

If I am correct about the new casino in Singapore being a significant factor in the baccarat numbers, then it looks like the Vegas strip could be in for a long stretch of basically flat revenue.

If the Baccarat numbers were indeed mainly from Asian High Rollers then the inevitable has happened and it may or may not be due to Singapore, but that is as good a reason as anything else. Any narrow segment of the market can prove to be fickle, even a very profitable segment.

Maybe that is why these Dotty-like places exist. There is not much money in ultra-low rollers but there is a steady supply of customers who wander in, play ten dollars in a machine and leave. Asian High Rollers may or may not be at the tables tomorrow but Ultra Low Rollers will definitely be there all the time.

Will Asian High Rollers desert Singapore and Macau for Vegas someday? Sure. Someday.

Quote: FleaStiff

If the Baccarat numbers were indeed mainly from Asian High Rollers then the inevitable has happened and it may or may not be due to Singapore, but that is as good a reason as anything else.
Will Asian High Rollers desert Singapore and Macau for Vegas someday? Sure. Someday.

I don't know for sure that it is Singapore. But Singapore has a low tax rate (not as low as Nevada), but it is a lot closer to bring whales in for a short weekend. March-June is not normally good for baccarat. But March ended up surprisingly strong and April outpaced the previous april (But not by much). May took a drop from the previous May.

The surge in baccarat revenue for fiscal year 2010 (which ended on 30 June 2010) has kept the strip almost even with the terrible year last year.

Fiscal Year (ends Jun 30)
2010 +0.07% ( month of June still did not report)
2009 -15.27% (worst year ever)
2008 -1.51% (beginning of the recession)
2007 +13.29% (last good fiscal year)
2006 +14.57%
2005 +9.57%
2004 +7.71%
2003 +4.36%
2002 -7.04% (travel after 9-11 greatly reduced)
2001 +2.78%
2000 +15.19%
1999 +9.56%
1998 +2.62%



Will Asian High Rollers desert Singapore and Macau for Vegas someday?

I don't know. In the last five years the Palazzo, the Encore, and City Center opened up to appeal to high rollers. None of them are doing particularly well. But the equivalent buildings have opened up in Asia (a new Sands Macau, a Wynn Encore in Macau, and Marina Bay which is better than City Center IMHO). New Centers will go up in Vietnam, and more casinos in Macau. No one expects a new casino in Vegas in five years. I'm not sure what will attract the high rollers to Vegas.

Personally I think California will modify their laws that currently permit small card gaming rooms to allow for some swanky baccarat clubs in Los Angeles and San Francisco. I envision a no slots casino with maybe 50-100 baccarat tables in each city connected to a swanky 5 star hotel. That will be in competition with the 256 baccarat tables and 122 mini-baccarat tables in Nevada, and the roughly 1000 gaming tables in Singapore.

The Asian visitors are already in LA and San Francisco where most of the flights land. California is going to figure out that they can tax this business and help with their defecit.

The Vegas Strip revenue for Baccarat is currently $1.122 billion per year. I am sure that two clubs in LA and San Franciso could bring in several hundred million apiece with minimal social disruption. Singapore charges $100 for locals to get into the clubs. Personally I think that you should make people buy $5,000 worth of special chips and let them play them on a single roulette wheel where the zero and double zero don't count. You just make the bar very high to get into the place.

If baccarat goes into a slump then Vegas Strip could be in for another flat year.