If there is one thing the Asia Championship of Poker currently being played at the PokerStars LIVE room at City of Dreams has confirmed, it’s that Macau is now without any doubt one of the top tournament destinations in the world.
10-time WSOP bracelet winner Johnny Chan is a regular in Macau
Sure, it has a long way to go before it can challenge Las Vegas and the WSOP – and it still sits in second spot in the Asia-Pacific region behind Melbourne – but it is clearly on the way up and judging by the caliber of player continually drawn to this gaming mecca the sky is the limit.
With a buy-in of HK$100,000, the ACOP Main Event isn’t for everyone but it has enjoyed considerable growth this year with 203 players taking their seat the past few days compared to 184 players 12 months ago.
Eugene Katchalov was among the big names to take part in the ACOP Main Event
Not surprisingly, Asia’s most recognized players – the likes of Bryan Huang, Celina Lin, Raymond Wu and Mervin Chan – were all there but so too were some of the biggest names from across the globe. They included two-time WSOP Main Event champion Johnny Chan, 2011 WSOP November Nine member Ben Lamb, highly respected American pro Eugene Katchalov, former Aussie Millions champ Lee Nelson and PokerStars pro Randy Lew.
There was also a huge Australian contingent boasting the likes of Jonathan Karamalikis, Billy Argyros, Tom Grigg, Michael Kanaan, Oliver Speidel, Jarred Graham and Tom Rafferty. Clearly the tyrant of distance is of little concern when it comes to Macau!
For the record, the ACOP Main Event concludes on Sunday with the winner set to pocket HK$4,752,000.
