When the Asia Poker League (APL) was launched earlier this year with the promise of running a series of tournaments across mainland China, it seemed immediately obvious that the organizers were playing with fire.
Just a few days ago, those concerns proved justified when Kunshan City authorities ordered APL Shanghai to shut down operations just a few hours after it had begun.
Despite hosting a previous event in Beijing recently without a hitch, the APL wasn’t so lucky this time around amid rumors that there was disagreement among local authorities over exactly how the Shanghai event should run.
In a statement to online poker news site Somuchpoker, APL President Judic Kim said, “The Asia Poker League has always hosted events in compliance with local laws. If there is a misunderstanding related to the scope of the event with the local authorities and that this problem cannot be solved it’s our responsibility to take such a decision (to close it down).
“Our priority is to protect our players and to make sure that the Asia Poker League future in Mainland China remains intact.”
The abandonment of the event comes 18 months after the Asia Pacific Poker Tour Nanjing Millions was shut down by police and organizers arrested in a clear statement of intent from Chinese authorities that unauthorized gambling of any sort would not be tolerated.
WGM also warned recently that the APL was taking a huge risk by trying to launch a new tournament series at a time when gambling is such a hot issue on the mainland.
You can read our previous article here.
APL Shanghai had reportedly obtained a license to operate via the PokerSports Shanghai Club, however a number of other reginal poker tours have refrained from hosting events on the mainland due to concerns over the validity of locally issued licenses.
