Asian Poker Tour - Macau - Diary

Friday, Aug. 21, 2008

Off to the Asian Poker Tour in Macau. Leave for Hong Kong on Sunday. Michael Phelps expressed his love for poker in a newspaper interview, so I had to write him an open letter.

Dear Michael,

First of all, congratulations on your eight gold medals and world-record feats; what a supreme sporting achievement, and I hope superstardom treats you well. However, I write this open letter to you to say that I am in a position to add weight to the argument that you should be crowned history's ultimate sportsman.

I noticed recently that you told your local newspaper that you are a big fan of poker and look forward to playing again. By a strange twist of fate, I represent the Asian Poker Tour and we are running Asia's largest-ever guaranteed tournament next week in Macau. It starts on Aug. 27 and runs until Aug. 31, and guarantees a prize pool of $1,500,000 and a first prize of $500,000. This is the biggest prize pool ever offered in Asia! While you are already in China, why don't you give it a go? It would be our pleasure to fly you in, organize your accommodations, and buy you into the tournament!

Some have said you are a "human dolphin," but we're keen to know if history's greatest swimmer is really a fish. You may have feet that can reach angles others cannot to give you the ultimate swimming technique, but just wait until you've got sharks like Vegas poker legend Doyle Brunson chasing you. We'll see how fast you really are then, when they smell blood; get some flippers on those size 14s!

Don't bring your goggles, bring a pair of sunglasses; dive in at the deep end and we would love it if you showed us your hand. You've almost certainly got more chance of making good money from our $1,500,000 prize pool than securing any commercial deals! Your homecoming to a delirious country can wait.

Go all in, Michael! We'll even get some special one-on-one lessons for you from poker's greatest players. If it makes you happier, we'll even bring in Mark Spitz, too, and you can play heads up! Some have campaigned for poker to become an Olympic sport. The fact that you are a human dolphin doesn't mean that you will necessarily get a gold medal for Texas hold'em!

In all seriousness, come join us; you may as well while you are there! We'll definitely show you a good time and would be honored with your presence. Get the closing ceremony over and done with first, though!

Best Wishes,

The Asian Poker Tour

Friday, Aug. 28, 2008

Working the Asian media is a new experience for me, and day 1A of the main event is busy. There's a real buzz and excitement in the air. Jack Binion calls, "Shuffle up and deal," with Doyle Brunson and Matt Savage. The tournament room looks fantastic, and the organisers haven't spared any costs in making the venue as player-friendly as possible. The lineup is simply fantastic. I walk around and see Doyle Brunson, Todd Brunson, Johnny Chan, J.C. Tran, Nam Le, Quinn Do, Steve Sung, Liz Lieu, Huck Seed, and John Juanda - just to name a few.

3 a.m.

Had a night out with the players and organisers. J.C. Tran was trying to test my drinking mettle, but I didn't succumb too much. One highlight was getting into a taxi with Todd Brunson to meet everybody else at the nightclub MP4. First of all, we are taken to club MP3 - and that's the wrong location. Then I "download" some Chinese-language notes for the taxi driver, and still end up in the same place. The next stop is a random hotel, and then, eventually, we get there! Late-night venues in Macau are strange - as they are all D something or MP something!

Once we get to the club, we are in esteemed company - as the Asian Poker Tour hostesses are all there. This includes finalists from Miss America, Miss Kentucky, and the likes. We are in a roped-off VIP area, and trying to get in is the men's Spanish hockey team. Kind of surreal. Earlier on, there was an HK$1,000,000 buy-in game featuring all the big names. Chris Parker, CEO of the Asian Poker Tour, lost HK$1,000,000 in one hand to John Juanda (US$128,000). Coverage of this cash game will be great; look for it on a TV near you soon.

Saturday, Aug. 30

The tournament is in full swing, and amongst those going strong are PartyPoker.com Million V winner Alexander Jung and Carter Gil. I go out of the hotel for the first time and take a look at Macau. The Wynn, Venetian, and MGM are fantastic. I am staying at the buzzing Galaxy StarWorld, and it has a Whisky Bar on the 16th floor. Tonight I see a Chinese band moshing to rock covers; my head's all over the place. I have been all over the world, but this experience is certainly very different. I go to a bar, and there are karaoke booths where everybody is singing, stone-cold sober. What I don't quite get, however, is why they all sing sad love songs all the time. "It cuts like a knife," and so did some of the voices. Why not sing something more uplifting?

Sunday, Aug. 31

The winner of the APT Macau is 20-year-old Yevgeniy Timoshenko, a highly rated player from the United States, of Ukrainian descent. A total of 257 players from over 40 countries lined up for a guaranteed prize pool of US$1.5 million and a guaranteed first prize of US$500,000 - a landmark for the development of poker in Asia. The APT-sponsored poker room at the Galaxy is buzzing. Shuffling machines, air purification units, and tables had to be added because of the demand. You only have to look at what Jack Binion and Doyle Brunson said about the APT:

"This is so exciting and significant; you can see the potential and feel the energy." - Binion

"I have been to so many tournaments and so many places in the world, but I have to say, I am so impressed with the Asian Poker Tour and Macau. This is the first time I have been here. I thought Las Vegas was the gambling capital of the world, but I was wrong; it feels like coming home." - Brunson

As for me, I can see that the potential of this Tour is enormous. All the players had a wonderful experience in Macau, and the APT hospitality was first-class. And, by the way, Michael Phelps didn't turn up, but that won't stop the world from inviting him to other tournaments. Hopefully, one day we will find out whether the human dolphin is really a fish.