Thursday, 28th March 2024 12:49
Home / Uncategorized / APPT7 Macau: Poker meets Happy Families

For those of us of a childish disposition — or, more specifically, a childish western disposition — some of the names you find in this part of the world are endlessly amusing. Several years ago in Las Vegas, we talked about the very real possibility of a player, probably with Vietnamese origins, taking up the game with the name “Minh Cash”. It really wasn’t too much to expect; we knew there was definitely at least one man with that name, and we just needed him to take up poker for him to have one of the most appropriate moniker in the game.

While we wait for Mr Cash to fulfil this fantasy, we will have to make do with Minh Nguyen, of whom there are several in poker. Indeed, we have two Minh Nguyens in the field here in Macau this week, both of whom have made day two and both of whom are still seeking at least a min-win.

It gets better than that, though. The random table draw, which took place at the end of play yesterday, put the two Minh Nguyens right next to one another for today’s play. It was only then that tournament staff realised that Minh Phuc Nguyen and Minh Hau Nguyen are actually brothers, and resultantly arranged a table switch for Minh Hau Nguyen so that there could be no complaints of any brotherly collusion.

minh_phuc_nguyen_appt_macau_day2.jpeg

Minh Phuc Nguyen: Brother 1

minh_hau_nguyen_appt_macau_day2.jpeg

Minh Hau Nguyen: Brother 2

Most likely, of course, the brothers would play harder against one another than against anyone else, but it’s better for all that they’re split. Danny McDonagh, the tournament director here, explained that even if there’s no suggestion of anything untoward, it just makes more sense to put everyone’s minds at rest and separate closely related players. “Most want to be split anyway,” McDonagh said.

There was a similar issue over on table 17 this morning, where Jay Tan had been seated on the same table as her boyfriend Kenneth Wong. There was a dealer in the middle of them, but they occupied seat nine and one respectively and it was the same kind thing. Tan asked to be moved before the tournament staff would have split them anyway, and she went over to table three, to the chair once occupied by Minh Hau Nguyen.

jay_tan_appt_macau_day2.jpeg

Jay Tan: staying away from the boyfriend

Assuming the players don’t get knocked out, they will be kept separate from one another as much as it possible until the end of the tournament. Obviously, if two brothers/sisters or a boyfriend/girlfriend (or maybe even a father/son or mother/daughter) made it to the final, then they would be forced to play against one another. But even then, McDonagh said that he would try to make sure they are on opposite sides of the table.

He brought in the rule when he was tournament director at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, where there were a good deal more families playing poker than on the international touring circuit.

It remains to be seen whether it will be a problem going forward, although all four players are still in as we approach the end of the first level of the day. Indeed, Tan’s new neighbours on table three are probably the most peeved by developments. She has already increased her stack of 67,700 up to about 145,000 and is now among the chip leaders.

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.

Study Poker with Pokerstars Learn, practice with the PokerStars app