Sands China ‘ended’ special two-tier bonus for baccarat side bet wagers (SIDE BETS)
may26
Macau’s recently introduced baccarat side bets could provide a significant boost to gross gaming revenue (GGR) growth thanks to their substantially higher house advantage, according to Citigroup.
The investment memo, authored by analysts George Choi and Timothy Chau, was published following the bank’s proprietary Labor Day table survey of the Macau market.
Citigroup highlighted the rollout of new baccarat side bets, swiftly approved by the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), as a key takeaway from the visit. The new side bets carry an estimated house advantage of 16 to 18 percent, compared with around 1 percent on the main Banker and Player bets. ‘Any further increase in propensity to wager on side bets would provide Macau with a significant boost to GGR growth,’ the analysts wrote.
All six concessionaires have added some of the newly approved options. Sands China, Wynn Macau, Melco Resorts and SJM now offer both ‘Monkey no Monkey’ and ‘Pairs+’, while MGM China additionally provides ‘Banker 4’ and ‘Player 4’. Galaxy Entertainment offers only ‘Monkey no Monkey’ at Galaxy Macau.
The analysts expect the new wagers, which can pay as much as 50-to-1 and 300-to-1, to gain traction quickly and lift GGR thanks to a house advantage comparable to Lucky 6 and Lucky 7. They noted, however, that because the side bets were launched only days before their visit, most players had likely not yet encountered them, leaving Lucky 6 and Lucky 7 as the side bets of choice for the time being.
Premium Mass holds up against tough comp
On the Premium Mass segment, Citigroup observed HK$23 million ($2.94 million) in wagers during the Labor Day edition of its survey, the second-highest reading of 2026 and only 6 percent below the figure recorded during Chinese New Year (CNY).
The total was down 15 percent year-over-year, which the analysts attributed to a ‘super tough comp,’ noting that the May 2025 sample had been inflated by two million-dollar wagering whales — including the largest ever recorded by the survey at HK$2.9 million ($370,000), close to the HK$3 million ($383,000) maximum bet typically set in Macau for baccarat. Stripping out HK$4.1 million ($524,000) in wagers from those two players, both total Premium Mass wager and average wager per player (HK$24,459, or roughly $3,125) in May 2026 would have been largely flat year-over-year.
Visitation exceeded 200,000 on each of the first two days of the holiday, comparable to peak CNY levels, which Citigroup said reinforced Macau’s standing as one of the most popular tourist destinations among Mainland Chinese travelers during Golden Weeks.
Whale watch: 58 high-rollers, the most of 2026
The survey identified 58 whales — a term Citigroup uses in its monthly Macau table survey to describe players wagering HK$100,000 ($12,800) or more per hand — the highest count recorded so far in 2026, versus 49 in May 2025.
The Player of the Month was spotted at Wynn Palace’s Chairman’s Club wagering HK$730,000 ($93,000) per hand, followed by an HK$600,000 ($77,000) whale at MGM’s High Limit Area and an HK$350,000 ($45,000) whale at Galaxy Macau’s Horizon Room.
Galaxy and Sands lead on rooms and concerts
Galaxy ranked first in Premium Mass share with 29 percent of total wagers observed during the survey, while Sands China followed in second place with 26 percent. Together, the two operators accounted for 55 percent of Premium Mass wagers tracked over the holiday.
Citigroup credited their leadership to the largest hotel room portfolios in Macau, as well as Labor Day concert programming — Hai Lai A Mu at Galaxy Arena and Kelly Chen at Venetian Arena — that drew premium visitors to their integrated resorts during the holiday period.
Macau’s recently introduced baccarat side bets could provide a significant boost to gross gaming revenue (GGR) growth thanks to their substantially higher house advantage, according to Citigroup.
The investment memo, authored by analysts George Choi and Timothy Chau, was published following the bank’s proprietary Labor Day table survey of the Macau market.
Citigroup highlighted the rollout of new baccarat side bets, swiftly approved by the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), as a key takeaway from the visit. The new side bets carry an estimated house advantage of 16 to 18 percent, compared with around 1 percent on the main Banker and Player bets. ‘Any further increase in propensity to wager on side bets would provide Macau with a significant boost to GGR growth,’ the analysts wrote.
All six concessionaires have added some of the newly approved options. Sands China, Wynn Macau, Melco Resorts and SJM now offer both ‘Monkey no Monkey’ and ‘Pairs+’, while MGM China additionally provides ‘Banker 4’ and ‘Player 4’. Galaxy Entertainment offers only ‘Monkey no Monkey’ at Galaxy Macau.
The analysts expect the new wagers, which can pay as much as 50-to-1 and 300-to-1, to gain traction quickly and lift GGR thanks to a house advantage comparable to Lucky 6 and Lucky 7. They noted, however, that because the side bets were launched only days before their visit, most players had likely not yet encountered them, leaving Lucky 6 and Lucky 7 as the side bets of choice for the time being.
Premium Mass holds up against tough comp
On the Premium Mass segment, Citigroup observed HK$23 million ($2.94 million) in wagers during the Labor Day edition of its survey, the second-highest reading of 2026 and only 6 percent below the figure recorded during Chinese New Year (CNY).
The total was down 15 percent year-over-year, which the analysts attributed to a ‘super tough comp,’ noting that the May 2025 sample had been inflated by two million-dollar wagering whales — including the largest ever recorded by the survey at HK$2.9 million ($370,000), close to the HK$3 million ($383,000) maximum bet typically set in Macau for baccarat. Stripping out HK$4.1 million ($524,000) in wagers from those two players, both total Premium Mass wager and average wager per player (HK$24,459, or roughly $3,125) in May 2026 would have been largely flat year-over-year.
Visitation exceeded 200,000 on each of the first two days of the holiday, comparable to peak CNY levels, which Citigroup said reinforced Macau’s standing as one of the most popular tourist destinations among Mainland Chinese travelers during Golden Weeks.
Whale watch: 58 high-rollers, the most of 2026
The survey identified 58 whales — a term Citigroup uses in its monthly Macau table survey to describe players wagering HK$100,000 ($12,800) or more per hand — the highest count recorded so far in 2026, versus 49 in May 2025.
The Player of the Month was spotted at Wynn Palace’s Chairman’s Club wagering HK$730,000 ($93,000) per hand, followed by an HK$600,000 ($77,000) whale at MGM’s High Limit Area and an HK$350,000 ($45,000) whale at Galaxy Macau’s Horizon Room.
Galaxy and Sands lead on rooms and concerts
Galaxy ranked first in Premium Mass share with 29 percent of total wagers observed during the survey, while Sands China followed in second place with 26 percent. Together, the two operators accounted for 55 percent of Premium Mass wagers tracked over the holiday.
Citigroup credited their leadership to the largest hotel room portfolios in Macau, as well as Labor Day concert programming — Hai Lai A Mu at Galaxy Arena and Kelly Chen at Venetian Arena — that drew premium visitors to their integrated resorts during the holiday period.
https://agbrief.com/news/macau/04/05/2026/higher-house-edge-makes-side-bets-new-ggr-lever-for-macau-citigroup/?utm_source=Asia+Gaming+Brief&utm_campaign=94464e5672-AGB%3A+%2302377+Tuesday%2C+05th+May%2C+2026&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_51950b5d21-94464e5672-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&ct=t%28AGB%3A+%2302377+Tuesday%2C+05th+May%2C+2026%29&goal=0_51950b5d21-94464e5672-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=94464e5672&mc_eid=31e20475e6
Citi: All six Macau concessionaires now offering latest baccarat side bets
All six of Macau’s gaming concessionaires have rolled out at least some of the most recently approved baccarat side bets across their gaming floors, including “Monkey no Monkey” and “Pairs+,” according to the latest monthly table survey by Citigroup.
In a note published after the investment bank conducted its monthly Macau table survey, Citi analysts George Choi and Timothy Chau said Melco Resorts, Sands China, SJM and Wynn were now offering both “Monkey no Monkey” and “Pairs+” – both approved by the DICJ last month – while MGM China is also offering “Banker 4” and “Player 4” on top of the two new side bets. Galaxy, they added, offers only “Monkey no Monkey” at Galaxy Macau at this stage.
“As these side bets were just launched a few days ago, we believe most players (if not all) have never seen them before, which is why Lucky 6 and Lucky 7 remain the side bets of choice,” said Choi and Chau in the note.
“Because these new side bets pay as much as 50-to-1 and 300-to-1, we expect them to quickly gain popularity among players. Such popularity will give Macau GGR an extra boost, thanks to their much higher house advantage.”
As reported by IAG, Sands stated in its recent 1Q26 earnings call that it was starting to see a gradual uptick in the propensity of players in Macau wagering on baccarat side bets, even though their percentage of total wagers placed still remains well below its Singapore peer Marina Bay Sands.
MGM detailed similar observations in its earnings call last week but said the impact was not yet significant enough to consider altering its theoretical win on rolling.
Citi’s May survey was conducted on the 1 May holiday in Macau, with the analysts describing the HK$23 million in premium mass wager they observed as the second highest in 2026 behind only Chinese New Year.
https://asgam.com/2026/05/04/citi-all-six-macau-concessionaires-now-offering-latest-baccarat-side-bets/
ab26
Rollout of new baccarat side bets ‘Pairs+’, ‘Monkey no Monkey’ now starts beyond Sands’ Macau venues, ahead of Labour Day: checks
ab26
Sands China said Thursday that it is starting to see a gradual uptick in the propensity of players in Macau wagering on baccarat side bets – although their percentage of total wagers placed still remains well below its Singapore peer Marina Bay Sands.
The issue of side bets was raised during parent company Las Vegas Sands’ (LVS) 1Q26 earnings call, with Sands being one of a number of operators to have previously stated that the higher margin betting options were not as popular among players in Macau as they have been in Singapore.
In fact, so significant has their impact been at Marina Bay Sands that LVS recently abandoned traditional hold calculations in favor of a new quarterly methodology, because smart tables have allowed them to calculate exact hold expectations on a rolling basis.
There has been no such shift in approach in Macau, although the city’s gaming regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), last month approved three new side bet options for the market – “Monkey no Monkey”, “Pairs+” and “4/5/6 Cards”.
Sands China’s CEO, President and Executive Director Grant Chum also confirmed Thursday that the company has rolled out some new side bets over the past week, which IAG understands to be “Monkey no Monkey” and “Pairs+”.
“In terms of … popularity, it remains true that the take-up of side bet, especially as a percentage of total wagers, is much higher still in Marina Bay Sands than in Macau,” said Chum.
“That said, the take-up of side wagers in Macau is increasing. The propensity to wager on these side wagers, we do see a progressive trend upwards. And I think the introduction of these new side wagers that we’ll be implementing now and in the next few months will further enhance their propensity.”
The new side bet options are available at The Venetian Macao, The Londoner Macao, The Parisian Macao and Sands Macao, with the “4/5/6 Cards” option set for implementation in the near future according to information gathered by IAG.
Both Sands China and Marina Bay Sands use Angel’s hybrid smart table technology.
https://asgam.com/2026/04/23/as-new-side-bets-start-rolling-out-across-macau-sands-says-player-take-up-slowly-building/
abr26
Fresh baccarat side bets ‘Monkey no Monkey’, ‘Pairs+’ now in Sands China casinos: site checks
Baccarat side bets can boost Macau casinos’ performance but depends on a venue’s client mix, market positioning: observers
mar26
Macau’s casino regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, has approved three new-to-market baccarat side bets, according to industry sources and an updated guideline issued for the sector and reviewed by GGRAsia.
The guideline – marked as in effect from March 23 – contains the approved play rules for baccarat side bets respectively named ‘Monkey no Monkey’, ‘Pairs+’, and ‘4/5/6 Cards’.
The Monkey no Monkey bet wins for the customer if the cards initially dealt in aggregate for the player hand and the banker hand, are either four face cards – in combinations of jack, queen or king. There’s also a win in the event of four numbered cards – in any combination ranging from an ace card, up to a card numbered as 10. That is per the gaming regulator’s guideline.
Wins on that bet have a payout of 50 to 1 if the cards initially dealt are four face cards. If the cards initially dealt are four numbered cards, the payout is 1 to 1.
The Pairs+ side bet wins when the banker hand and/or the player hand receive a pair in their two initially-dealt cards.
There are three tracks of play with Pairs+. If only the banker hand or only the player hand receives a pair in its initial two cards, the payout is 3 to 1. There’s a 30 to 1 payout if the first two cards of the banker hand and the first two cards of the player hand respectively each form a pair, but with different point scores respectively for the banker hand and the player hand.
The highest payout on Pairs+ is 300 to 1. That’s if the first two cards of the banker hand and first two cards of the player hand respectively each form a pair, and do so with with equal-points scores.
The 4/5/6 Cards side bet has six tracks of play, divided between banker-hand wins and player-hand wins, indicates the gaming regulator’s guideline.
There’s a 4 to 1 payout when the banker hand wins on no more than four cards dealt in aggregate across the banker hand and the player hand. There’s a 4.5 to 1 payout when the banker hand wins on five cards dealt in combination. The payout rises to 5.5 to 1 when the banker hand wins on six cards dealt in combination.
For player-hand wins on the 4/5/6 Cards side-bet product, there’s a 4 to 1 payout on no more than four cards dealt in aggregate; there’s a 6 to 1 payout on five cards dealt in aggregate; and there’s a 4.5 to 1 payout on six cards dealt in aggregate.
Baccarat side bets – favoured by the industry for boosting house edge – have been widely-implemented in Macau since 2024, supported by ‘smart’ table technology.
The ‘Small 6/Big 6’ baccarat side bet – a tweak of the side bet ‘Lucky Six’ in Macau casinos – was implemented market-wide in Macau in time for the Labour Day Holiday in May 2024. Later that year – coinciding with October’s National Day holiday period on the Chinese mainland – Macau casino operators debuted the baccarat side bets ‘Lucky 7’ and ‘Super Lucky 7’.
From mid-July 2025, Sands China Ltd had been operating a baccarat progressive jackpot. That offer “ended” with effect from March 16, according to GGRAsia checks of notices posted on the company’s casino floors. Other Macau gaming operators had – with effect from the second half of last year – opted to simplify their baccarat side-bet options across mass-floor and high-limit main-floor baccarat games.
https://www.ggrasia.com/macau-approves-new-baccarat-side-bet-options-monkey-no-monkey-pairs-and-4-5-6-cards?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=macau-approves-new-baccarat-side-bet-options-monkey-no-monkey-pairs-and-4-5-6-cards
mar26
Macau casino operator Sands China Ltd “ended” from “March 16” (Monday) its special two-tier bonus for live-baccarat wagers on the side bet combinations ‘Lucky 6’ and ‘Lucky 7’ at all its premium and mass-market gaming floors across the city. That is according to tableside customer notices in Chinese, viewed onsite on Wednesday by GGRAsia.
The notices invited customers to “look forward” to “exciting.. new offers”, but didn’t elaborate. GGRAsia has approached Sands China for comment and further information on the new offers.
GGRAsia visited on Wednesday the main casino floors of The Venetian Macao, The Plaza, The Parisian Macao, and The Londoner Macao, in the Cotai district, to confirm the withdrawal. The step also applies to live-baccarat wagers at Sands Macao on the city’s peninsula.
The two-tier bonus, branded “Sands Baccarat Bonus”, had been first seen across Sands China’s high-limit and premium gaming venues in the Cotai casino district from mid-July. Players who wagered on the baccarat side bet combinations of Lucky 6, Small 6/Big 6, Lucky 7 and Super Lucky 7 – collectively named by the operator as “lucky wagers” – were eligible for the two-tier bonus.
The bonus feature was later also offered across Sands China’s mass gaming areas in Cotai and at Sands Macao.
The Sands Baccarat Bonus tiers were first, “Grand Bonus”. This was only triggered when the player’s hand won on a total of seven points over six points with a total of six cards, and where the player hand was formed solely by cards in the ‘diamonds’ suit while the banker hand was formed solely by ‘spades’.
The second tier was the “Major Bonus”, which was triggered when the player’s hand won on a total value of seven points over six points, with five or six cards. That was where the player’s hand was formed solely by cards of the same red suit – either ‘hearts’ or ‘diamonds’ – while the banker’s hand was formed solely by cards of the same black suit – either ‘spades’ or ‘clubs’.
Sands China seems to have been the only Macau operator to offer this specific type of baccarat bonus, in effect a progressive jackpot. That is based on GGRAsia’s periodic site checks of Macau gaming venues.
Baccarat side bets – favoured by the industry for boosting house edge – have been widely implemented in Macau since 2024, supported by ‘smart’ table technology.
During the second half of 2025, while Sands China was operating its baccarat progressive jackpot, other casino companies in the city opted for a strategy of simplifying baccarat side-bet options across their mass-floor and high-limit main-floor baccarat games.
Optimising the mix for side bet combinations has been a work in progress for the city’s gaming sector, noted industry scholar Ryan Ho Hong Wai in comments to GGRAsia in November.
Seaport Research Partners said in a March 2 update that baccarat side-betting had “been increasing in Macau”.
Senior analyst Vitaly Umansky had added: “We estimate that as a percentage of volume, side bets are now well over 3 percent and rising (the figure is higher in Singapore, especially at Marina Bay Sands) and we expect this will continue to increase.”
The institution estimated Macau’s casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) to track circa 7 percent growth in the years 2026 and 2027, respectively, supported by increasing visits and spend from customers from China, including “easy money flows and the benefits accruing from implementation of smart digital tables and increasing spend on side bets”.
https://www.ggrasia.com/sands-china-ended-special-two-tier-bonus-for-baccarat-side-bet-wagers-from-march-16?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sands-china-ended-special-two-tier-bonus-for-baccarat-side-bet-wagers-from-march-16
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