$3.1% increase was an average of 5.4% below some analysts' previous estimates.

More than 30 casinos in Macau reported a 7.4% increase in September, before the October figure rose 8.8% while their total gaming sales improved 1.1% after suffering a 26-month year-on-year decline. That's up 14.4% in all, above about $2.4 billion, before last month's figure rose 8% to nearly $2.5 billion.

The latest figures from the local government's Bureau of Game Inspection and Coordination show Macau seeing a slight improvement in the number of foreign tourists visiting the former Portuguese enclave, nearly $31 million a year, as the number of tourists from mainland China rose 12.8 percent to 7.6 million.

Bloomberg News, however, reported that eight industry analysts surveyed earlier expected Macau to post total gaming revenue in January, up about 8.5% from a year earlier, and the market also reacted badly to the latest figures, with shares of two of Hong Kong-listed Win Macau Limited and Sands China Limited's most famous casino operators immediately falling 4.5% and 2.8%, respectively. Similarly, local gambling giant SJM Holdings Limited saw its shares fall 2.6%, while MGM China Holdings Limited, which is set to open its $3.1 billion MGM Kotai hotel and casino resort in the second half of the year, fell 2.4%.홀짜게임

Macau-based game analyst Union Gaming Securities Asia managing director told Bloomberg News that bets by high-yield players were lower than expected in the first few days of the Chinese New Year holiday, against "unlucky factors" in some casinos in January.

"The reality is that we need to wait for results to get a better picture of current trends on the ground given China's New Year's posters.

In a note to investors last month, Bernstein Research analyst Vitali Umanski reportedly explained that Macau's total gaming sales could be adversely affected by seasonal factors as average daily sales slow down in the week leading up to China's Lunar New Year's Day.

"The first two days of the Chinese New Year holiday are generally slower than the rest of the week holiday period, especially in high-end play," Umanski wrote. "If the slowdown leading to next week's Chinese New Year is more pronounced than expected, the monthly gross gaming revenue estimate may fall short of our current expectations."