According to a Sunday note from the banking provider, the whale, a term used to describe a high-stake better, spent HK$200,000 on Lucky 7 – the largest whale ever observed.

Lucky 7 is one of two new live-table baccarat side bet options available since the end of September.

Analysts George Choi and Timothy Chau said that “more whales” were “betting more” in November, which is usually a slow month.

The observation was made as casino operators are finding ways to “organically grow GGR”.

The strategies deployed included a deployment of smart gaming tables and the promotion of new side bets.

Citi believes that these tactics would increase hold rates as the “number of players and their wallet size are not the only GGR drivers”.

In terms of premium mass wagers, the bets has risen 29 per cent to HK$12.2 million on the previous year – fuelled by player quality and quantity.

The number of players seen amounted to 514, up 21 per cent year on year.

“This implies that wager/player (a guage on player quality) improved 7% YoY to HK$23,706,” the analysts wrote.

Compared to November last year, the number of whales observed this month grew to 21, three more than there were previously.

The average wager per whale stood at HK$268,381 – 73 higher than it was last year.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment was said to have ranked no.1 with a 31 per cent wager share.

“It looks like the newly interoduced Emperor tier of its loyalty program is delivering early success,” the analysts explained in the note.

“We ran into the Player of the Month at the Signature Club at Studio City’s Epic Tower and witnessed him wagering HK$2.2 million (the biggest single wager we have ever seen since we started our survey in 2017.”