Home / Poker News August 2008 / APT kicks off in style in Macau
APT kicks off in style in Macau
Posted by: James Carter. - Thu, 2008-08-28 04:50
The Asian Poker Tour’s first stop got underway yesterday, but poker related events had already started a day before at the Galaxy StarWorld Casino Resort and Hotel. Some of these events might have even been more interesting than the actual poker action which started on the 27th. Poker “Godfather” and legend Doyle Brunson began signing copies of his “Super System” and “Super System II” at around 4:30 PM, about an hour after the official opening of the APT Poker Room. Doyle met with his fans and kept signing autographs till about 6:00 PM. 7:00 PM marked the start of the Celebrity Poker Challenge, a tournament which garnered funds for charity and was attended by a host of celebrities like Tila Tequila, boxer Manny Pacquiao and actor Michael Wong.
The beneficiary of the Celebrity Poker Challenge was Caritas De Macau, an organization whose aim is to promote family and community values among young people. The crowd-pleasers were wrapped up by an invitation-only party held at the Whisky Bar of the Galaxy StarWorld Casino, right after the conclusion of the Celebrity Poker Challenge.
The poker event itself is expected to be much bigger than last year’s. As poker is gaining popularity throughout Asia every day (mostly due to the APT’s and APPT’s efforts), it’s only natural that the organizers expect around 500 players to take part in this year’s green felt battles, a significant increase from last year’s 352. The prize-pool will show a proportionate increase too, of course. It cost players $5,000+$300 to buy into the Main Event, an event which features a guaranteed prize-pool of $1,5 million. Day 1A of the Main Event, which started this morning, saw Doyle Brunson drop out early, as his Kh,8h ran into Chong Wing Cheong’s Ks, Qs. 103 people started Day 1A , and at the time this article was written, there were around 50 left in play.
Going into the dinner-break, it was Xuan Tien Nguyen who led the pack with 44,000 chips, thanks to a big pot he took down a few minutes before the break. His 8s, 9s made trips on the river against an opponent’s straight draw which failed to fill up.
