For anyone who has never been to Macau, I can say one thing: you really should see it. I wouldn’t go so far as to say you will love it — it is perhaps the very definition of an acquired taste — but you should definitely take a look if you ever get the chance. If you’re from the west and have neither gambled nor had your photo taken ten times per day in front of a fountain, this is how the other half live.
Despite its long history as the gambling capital of Asia, Macau has not been associated with poker for all that long. The first casinos opened in these parts in the late 19th century, but poker first made an appearance in 2007.
According to the font of all knowledge, the first poker tables were actually electronic, which is reason enough to welcome the PokerStars card room to the region. Real life games against real life opponents, with a real life dealer and real cards you can hold were first offered from November 2007, when the APPT first visited Macau. That was a US $2,500 tournament that attracted 352 players. Dinh Le of Vietnam took it down from a final table that also featured Joe Hachem, Liz Lieu and ElkY.
In less than six years here, the PokerStars operation has occupied three different premises, each time growing slightly in both prominence and popularity. Things began in the Grand Waldo, then shifted to the Grand Lisboa and then back to the Grand Waldo. But when PokerStars Live at the City of Dreams opened in April of this year, it immediately felt like a permanent home. Ironically by moving to a casino that does not have “Grand” in its name, the premises actually feel grand enough for the first time: this is an opulent spot at the heart of an integrated casino and resort.
There’s an enormous casino floor surrounded by a magnificent shopping mall, restaurant and hotel complex. There are swimming pools, fitness centres, thousands of rooms and five-star quality throughout. The poker room is wide and expansive; the chairs are padded and made of leather. There is space for 28 tables with plenty of walking space between them. In short, this is more like it.
The poker-playing populace has already voted with its feet and proclaimed beyond doubt that this place is a success. At the Macau Poker Cup Red Dragon event hosted here in April, at which the card room was officially unveiled, there were 891 entrants, the largest field ever assembled for a poker tournament in Asia.
It was the 18th time the Red Dragon had been contested — it’s not exactly the Hayley’s comet of poker tournaments — yet the opening flights sold out, even after four hours of alternates were admitted. Players had to be turned away.
No one is expecting similar scenes this week, but despite competing for customers with the World Series and the UKIPT, it seems that we will pass the 400-player mark. The information board currently shows 178 registrations for Day 1A, which will certainly be bettered tomorrow.
The two previous events on the APPT this season, in Cebu and Seoul, attracted 158 and 222 players respectively. The corresponding event here last year had 358 runners, so we’re already going great guns in comparison with those.
In an interview given at the World Series this week, ElkY proclaimed that he thought the future of poker was in Macau. Few can ever argue with ElkY and no one will be starting now.
A reminder on how to follow our coverage from Macau. There is hand-by-hand coverage at the top of the main APPT Macau page, which includes chip counts. Feature coverage will filter in beneath the panel. All the information about the Asia Pacific Poker Tour is on the APPT site, and PokerStars Macau also has its own home.
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