Gaming guru: Whales “on a roll” could “destroy” casino profitability

By
Kelsey Wilhelm

Given that baccarat is “almost an even-money game”, high-rollers with deep pockets “can destroy your (a casino’s) profitability just as easily as you (the casino) can create it,” says Sudhir Kalé – founder of GamePlan Consultants in an interview with CalvinAyre.com posted Wednesday.
In the consultant’s view, this threat is eliminated when concentrating on the mass market, as “their bank is going to run out way before the casino’s bank is going to run out [and] they gamble in small amounts.”
The gaming expert, who consults for companies such as Sands China and Galaxy Macau, pointed out that it would take “over 14 million, 800 thousand hands for any operator to say with 95 per cent confidence that you’re going to win,” in relation to VIP Baccarat. Given this, Kalé thinks that Macau, aside from being incomparable to Las Vegas given its “day-tripper” clientele, should have concentrated on mass markets “from day one,” he told the news site.
The consultancy firm founder views Macau as a “choice for gaming establishments”, as compared to Las Vegas being “clearly a destination”, citing the average of four nights visitors stay in the Nevada city compared to Macau’s less-than-one. This, coupled with an opinion that the non-gaming push is “more a push on the part of both governments,” than on behalf of the gaming operators, leaves Kalé calling a Vegas-Macau comparison “erroneous”, citing nearby destinations for non-gaming activities and amenities such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia as more attractive destinations which, while offering gaming, are not “pretty much all about gaming.”
Diversification appears to be on a far horizon in the consultancy firm founder’s view, as “more than 90 per cent of the revenues and 90 per cent of the profits come from gaming, so clearly this is a gaming-driven market unlike any other.”
Sudhir Kalé is a frequent speaker at gaming-related summits and conferences and is widely regarded as an expert in various aspects of gaming management.