2008 APT Macau To Make History with Asia’s Largest Cash Game
August 28th, 2008
The cards are in the air at the Galaxy StarWorld Hotel and Casino in Macau as Day 1A of the eagerly awaited APT Macau finally got underway. The ‘Godfather of Poker’ Doyle Brunson and the legendary host of the 1970 World Series of Poker, Jack Binion, joined Asian Poker Tour Tournament Director Matt Savage to ‘Shuffle Up and Deal’ as a world class field took their seats.
Jack Binion, standing alongside Doyle Brunson, addressed the players as they took their seats. “This is the future of poker,” said Binion. “This is so exciting and significant - you can see the potential and feel the energy.”
A formidable line-up of players are at the StarWorld for the landmark $5300 event. Amongst those spotted include Johnny Chan, Todd Brunson, Liz Lieu, J.C Tran, Kenny Tran, John Juanda, Nam Le, Quinn Do, Steve Sung, Huck Seed, Michael Rheem, Mel Judah, Mansour Matloubi, Harry Demetriou, Carter Gill, Richard En and APT Philippines champion David Saab.
Amongst those playing on Day 1A included Doyle and Todd Brunson but there was considerable interest on the rail as David Saab and JC Tran got drawn on the same table and locked horns. The APT Macau is making history by offering $1,500,000, the largest guaranteed prize pool ever to be offered in Asia, with the first prize also a guaranteed $500,000.
On Friday August 29th at 7pm, the Asian Poker Tour will make history again with Asia’s largest cash game, coverage of which will be televised and distributed worldwide at a later date. The details are simple, minimum buy-in is HK$1,000,000 (US$130,000), starting blinds are HK$3,000/$6,000.
Even the most conservative estimates suggest that HK$15 million (well over US$1.5 million) will be at stake, more than the guaranteed prizepool of the APT Macau tournament itself. Amongst those taking part include Doyle Brunson, Todd Brunson, Johnny Chan, Nam Le, JC Tran, Kenny Tran, John Juanda, Steve Sung, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Waki Yamazaki, Gary Benson and Bruce Parker. Doyle Brunson has already wired in HK$2,000,000 (US$260,000) and quipped “that’s just the start.”
Chris Parker, CEO of the Asian Poker Tour, will also be taking a seat in the lions den. “I’m so glad we have such soft tables!” joked Parker. “In all seriousness, we were astounded by the interest in the high stakes cash game - everybody wants a piece of the action. We set the mimimum buy-in at HK$1,000,000 but anybody who knows anything about Macau or the potential of poker in this area of the world knows this will be small stakes by the end of the night. It is going to be something very special - when it airs we predict you will witness record breaking pots! You think the action in Vegas is big, just wait and see what comes out of Macau!”
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