Macau To Become Poker Capital Of The World

The Chinese enclave of Macau became the world’s most popular gambling resort back in 2007, when it wrestled the title from the Las Vegas Strip.
Putting things into perspective, Macau’s 34 casinos generated $3.36 billion in revenue for October 2011 compared to the $5.77 billion produced by the Las Vegas Strip for the whole of 2010.
A few years later, and Macau is now aiming to become the ‘poker tournament capital of the world,’ too, after announcing plans for a competition to be held in 2013, with a prize pool of $100 million and with $25 million for the winner.
US businessman William Murray claims the tournament will be sponsored by at least five Chinese companies, one of which is represented by Murray, and explained:
“Macau is already the baccarat capital of the world and now we are completing the other half of the puzzle, poker…This spectacular event will establish Macau as the poker tournament capital of the world and hopefully will bring the world’s top players there for cash and tournament contests.”
Elaborating further on the tournament itself, Murray explained that the $25 million first place tournament aims to attract a field of 500 players, with the field equally divided between players from the Far East, the US the rest of the world. Doing the maths, that would require a buy-in of around $200,000, shutting out all but the top pros and the incredibly rich.
For instance, the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Super High Roller event this year had a buy-in of $100,000 and managed to attract a field of 38 players. The tourney was eventually won by Eugene Katchalov, who collected $1.5 million for his victory.
In addition to the Main Event, there will also be a series of gambling games as part of the tournament series, ranging from Baccarat to poker.
Macau’s future ambitions are probably well founded, as the gambling enclave has already become a favourite of many top pros who have flocked there to take part in the APPT Macau poker series, as well as the now famous nosebleed cash game known as the ‘Big Game.’