Asia Pacific Poker Tour Macau Event Breaks Records

The first poker tournament on Chinese soil kicked off today with 352 players buying into the $2,500 Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Macau Asian Poker Open. The winner of the event will take home $222,640 and the bragging rights of having won Asia's largest poker tournament to date.

Scotty Nguyen, 1998 World Series of Poker champion and the first Asian player to ever pocket $1 million from a poker tournament, announced "Shuffle up and deal, baby," after a traditional Chinese lion dance, accompanied by gongs and drums, to welcome the players to poker, Macau style.

After only 29 minutes, Hong Kong resident Raymond Chow earned the distinction as the first player ever sent to the rail with a bad beat story in China.

The APPT, which launched in August 2007 and has previously held tournaments in the Philippines and South Korea, drew players from over 35 different nations to Macau. Approximately 210 of the 325 players qualified for their seats on PokerStars, the tour's headline sponsor.

"This tournament represents a historic moment for poker and is perhaps one of the three most important tournaments ever held," says Jeffry Haas, APPT president. "Number one probably was the 1970 World Series. Number two might be the 2003 World Series of Poker wherein Chris Moneymaker brought the dream alive … and that event was the beginning of the modern era of poker. And then there is this, the birth of poker in Macau. Macau is now the gaming capital of the world. Macau is about the future of gaming and the future of tourism and now tournament poker will be a part of that vibrant future."

While poker has boomed in the United States and Europe, it is still an oddity in most of Asia. However, the APPT plans on televising its events across Asia, and the rest of the world, starting next year. The crew responsible for creating the World Series of Poker for ESPN since 2003, 441 Productions, is also filming and producing all APPT events.

A star-studded cast of players were on hand for the event, including three world champions; Mansour Matloubi (1990), Nguyen (1998), and Joe Hachem (2005). Other pros, including John Juanda, Lee Nelson, Jeffrey Lisandro, Mel Judah, Isabelle Mercier, Liz Lieu, Chad Brown, Vanessa Rousso, Tuan Lam, and Brian Haveson also made the trip halfway across the world for their shot at history. Four local Macau residents and at least 12 Hong Kong residents also anted up the buy-in or won seats in one of the two $300 megasatellites run for the main event.

Prior to this event, the Betfair Asian Poker Tour, held last November in Singapore, was the largest poker event ever held in Asia. That event attracted 313 players.

The Asian Poker Open is being held at the Grand Waldo Hotel and Casino, a Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. property. Galaxy, already with electronic poker tables at two of its five casino locations in Macau, is at the forefront of bringing live poker to the Macau market. "Poker is great for Macau," says Gary Woollard, Grand Waldo Casino general manager. "The game will only attract more and more people to the properties and help Macau become more of an international gaming destination."

The tournament was organized by First Impression Limited. Its founder, Elton Tsang, was instrumental in working with the Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau in order to achieve the necessary approvals for the event. Tournament Director Matt Savage was presented with the unique challenge of training local Macau dealers, all of whom have never pitched a hand of poker, on the intricacies of the game in just four weeks.

The Asian Poker Open also will feature a $15,000 buy-in high-rollers event that will kick off on Nov. 26.

Stay tuned to CardPlayer.com for more updates from Macau.

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