The so-called "smart" game table, which may use technology to monitor casino chips with radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, will save Macao baccarat game speed by five seconds per game and increase operational affordability, regardless of whether more customers come through city casino doors, Citigroup said on Friday.
"Saving five seconds per game of baccarat could lead to an organic growth of 5.9 percent of GGR [total game revenue]," suggested analysts George Choi and Ryan Cheng. This was despite the fact that smart tables alone "can't lead to more people's traffic to casinos."
"Ten percent of the tables in Macau are smart now," Citgroup estimated. If their use "becomes more widespread," the organization will be "more confident about the long-term growth prospects for the Macau gaming industry."
The agency also noted that these technologies will make it easier for casinos to value their personal players at home and reward them accordingly: free goods or services.
Citigroup said one example is being able to admit players who want to place certain types of bets that are generally more favorable to their homes while offering customers higher odds.
"For example, it makes sense for casinos to increase their costs on players who consistently spend 10 percent of their baccarat bets on Lucky 6 exotic bets. These players are worth 125.5 percent more than those who place strict main bets, according to our estimates," Choi and Cheung wrote.
Other benefits of the smart table include "exactly" capturing the number of foreign players, which could potentially lower the gaming tax rate [at Macau casinos] by up to five percentage points," and "improvements to AML [anti-money laundering] and responsible gaming measures that the Macau government would welcome."
Last month, Macau's casino regulator, the Game Inspection and Coordination Bureau, said senior officials in Macau had held meetings with the city's law enforcement police and security teams of six casino operators in Macau to discuss issues including surveillance systems and "smart" game tables.
Recently, several Macau operators have indicated their plans to use RFID game tables.
On March 14, Bill Hornbuckle, chief executive and president of MGM Resorts International, the majority shareholder of Macau casino concession company MGM China Holdings Ltd., told an investment forum that RFID chips used by the group's Macau businesses for several years were generally a good way to track the play of foreign customers as well as monitor the financial integrity of games.
