We here at IAG are always a little bit “on alert” on Friday afternoons and public holiday eves, because if the Macau government is going to make a newsworthy announcement or drop some juicy tidbit of information, this is often when it happens.

And so it was late Friday afternoon at a Macau Executive Council press conference, when Adriano Marques Ho, Director of the Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), revealed that his office had estimated the amount of gaming revenue sourced from “foreign players” in 2019 was a mere 3.58% of casino gaming revenue. Remember that number because we will come back to it.

The term “foreign players” is understood to mean players from outside Macau’s definition of greater China – that is the mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan and, of course, local Macau players.