The Texas Hold ‘Em bug has truly arrived in Asia and its tentacles are spreading throughout the region. Nowhere is this more evident than in the casinos of Macau – Asia’s gambling hub.
For those who have not been to Macau, the town is Baccarat City: of its gross gaming revenue, 87.6 percent is derived from baccarat alone! Bottom line: Asians, and in particular the Chinese, love card games and have been playing them for centuries. History books detail that the Chinese emperor Mu-Tsung played ‘domino cards’ with his wife on New Year’s Eve in 969 AD. Poker is simply returning home to its original roots after several centuries, having travelled around the world undergoing multiple modifications along the way.
While many people still say that Las Vegas is the world’s gambling mecca, a closer look at the facts shows otherwise. In 2006, Macau overtook Las Vegas in terms of gambling revenue. In the first half of 2008, Macau’s casinos reported $7.4 billion in gross revenues, which is substantially more than the $6 billion revenues reported by the entire state of Nevada for the same period! Also, a gaming table in Macau reportedly turns over seven times more revenue than one in Las Vegas!
Fifteen months ago you could not find a single poker table anywhere in Macau. Today, that number stands at more than 50 tables spread between three casino operators – Lisboa, the Galaxy StarWorld, and the Wynn Hotel and Casino.
What is exciting is that traditional baccarat players in Macau are being drawn to poker. They want to learn the game and they want to excel. This was recently witnessed at the Asian Poker Tour/StarWorld Hotel Poker Room and at the Wynn’s poker tables.
These venues, the main operators of poker in Macau, offer players two distinct choices in terms of playing ambiance. The Asian Poker Tour’s poker room is a dedicated, up-market playing area with a private club atmosphere whereas the Wynn places its poker tables within its main casino gaming floor, offering the vibrant buzz of an active casino as you play.
However, both venues offer a cosmopolitan array of players of varying degrees of proficiency – at the tables were overseas Chinese from Canada, US and London; players from China and Hong Kong as well as Singaporeans, Malaysians, Vietnamese as well as American and European players. There were some good players who knew what they were doing and some who were literally learning the game.
The common element in both venues, though, was that the rail was packed with observers – mainly from mainland China and Hong Kong – obviously keen on learning the game.
Both online and land-based poker operators have definitely noticed the growth potential of Asia and all the big operators are becoming more active. One indication is the major tournaments being held in the region. The two best examples are the Asian Poker Tour (APT) and the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT). Both tours attract hundreds of players at each of their tournaments, which include stops in Macau and Manila among others. In fact, the Asian Poker Tour’s last Macau event attracted internationally renowned poker legends such as Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, and John Juanda, and had a guaranteed prize pool of $1.5 million.
Bigger and better poker tournaments are not the only signs of the rise of poker in Asia. The biggest sign may be the fact that Asian players are appearing in increasing numbers at all levels of poker and many of today’s emerging top poker pros are of Asian descent. The list includes John Phan, the top ranked player of 2008, as well as Men Nguyen, David Pham, JC Tran, Nam Le, and Quinn Do. The latter three have recently been appointed as Ambassadors to the Asian Poker Tour representing the tour at other major poker events around the world as well as a mandate to promote the game of poker throughout Asia.
At the Asian Poker Tour’s two events in 2008, there were poker players from over forty countries. However, ten of the players at the two final tables were Asian or of Asian descent and scores of other local players finished in the money.
Right now, it’s not a question of if, but when we will start to see poker players from Japan, Korea, the Philippines and China taking down the biggest titles and the biggest prize monies on the international poker circuit!
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