The Macau GGR summer slump is partly caused by a crackdown on illegal money exchanges.

 Due to fewer tourists, a crackdown on illegal money exchanges, and an uncertain Chinese economy, Macau's gaming industry is likely to miss its income goals for the month.
 Macau's GGR went down.
 Macau's gaming business might not make as much money as expected in July.  Analysts at JPMorgan think that the city's casinos will make MOP18.5 billion (€2.1bn/£1.73bn/$2.25bn) this month in gross gaming revenue (GGR).  That would be just below the MOP19 billion prediction.

 Even in June, things didn't go as planned.  Macau's GGR went up 16.4% over 2023, but it wasn't as high as the 17.5% that most analysts thought it would be.  Also, it stayed 25.7% below what it was before Covid.

 When summer comes around in Macau, things tend to slow down.  A lot of Chinese tourists come to the United States during the May Golden Week break.  A "seasonal trough," as Citigroup called it, usually comes after the rise in Macau GGR.

 A reason is the crackdown on money transfers.
 Another thing that's changing this year is that the government is now cracking down on illegal money transfers. The June effort was meant to stop people from leaving their money in other countries and loan sharking.  It's also meant to stop Chinese tourists from bringing more money than they are allowed to bring across the border each trip.

 Chen Shiqu, who works for China's ministry of public security, said that "money exchange gangs" that hang out near casinos give gamblers "a lot of Hong Kong dollars in cash."  In the city's casinos, the HKD is the standard currency.

 Citi experts said that people are worrying too much about illegal money changers.

 George Choi and Ryan Cheung wrote, "Most players...have their own legal ways to get their money over to Macau, enough for them to bet as much as HK$1 million (€117,700) per hand."

 Ben Lee, managing partner at IGamiX Management and Consulting, told GGRAsia, "If casinos offer currency exchange at their cages, one has to wonder why people want to use illegal money changers, unless they are not really changing money."

 VIPs and other top players will feel the pinch.
 Lee said that the touts might be "transferring money across the border," which is something that the Beijing government is very worried about. The clampdown is most likely to hurt VIP and premium players, he said, among bettors.  "Those players are gambling with a lot more money than they are allowed to bring across the border."  There will also be an effect on some of the grind mass, especially those who need more money than the daily ATM cap.

 Hoffman Ma, executive director of Success Universe Group Ltd in Hong Kong, said that mass-market players are most likely to be hurt.

 "People with a lot of money or who come to Macau a lot probably won't be affected the most," he told the news source. "Those types of players usually have their own ways to get money."

 Lee also said that any extra scrutiny of financial transactions "will result in short-term drops in our gaming revenue."