Grand Waldo Hotel to Host PokerStars-managed Poker Room

Filed in archive Poker News on May 22, 2008

The Asian Pacific Poker Tour, sponsored by PokerStars, introduced texas hold em' to many gamblers in the Asian gambling mecca of Macau with last year's APPT Macau tourney. The successful run of the APPT has rolled up into a new venture at the beautiful Grand Waldo Hotel (picture shown above). Starting tomorrow, the "Macau Cup" will begin its 3-day run to launch the first live poker room in the city at the hotel.

Hopefully the spark of interest in poker in China, Taiwan, and the Philippines will roll over into the online section if/when their governments allow such play. The future expansion of poker lies with new players getting hooked, and with this new card room along with PokerStar's guidance via management and knowledge for the live game as well as internet should push America's little card game East.

Below is PokerStars' media release for the brand new poker room and also announcing the 2008 APPT series start:

POKERSTARS MACAU OPENS WITH CHARITY TOURNAMENT FOR EARTHQUAKE RELIEF

The Grand Waldo Hotel and Casino hosts the PokerStars Macau Poker Room

Douglas, Isle of Man - May 22, 2008: Today PokerStars, the world's largest online poker site, announced the opening of Macau 's first live poker room - PokerStars Macau. Housed in Macau's prestigious Grand Waldo Hotel and Casino in Cotai, it will have a 250 person capacity and offer cash games as well as a robust weekly tournament calendar.

The newly appointed poker room will launch on May 23 with a No-Limit Texas Hold'em Charity Poker Tournament to raise money for the victims of the recent earthquake in Western China . Participants will compete for $150,000 HKD in prizes, including entries to the $25,000 HKD buy-in September 2008 APPT Macau, after making a charitable donation to participate. The suggested minimum donation is $2,000 HKD.

"PokerStars is committed to the development of poker in Asia " said Joe Hachem, Poker World Champion and member of Team PokerStars Pro. "Although Macau has become a gaming powerhouse, it was only with the incredible success of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour last November that Texas Hold'em poker started growing there. PokerStars planted the seeds and now this beautiful Poker room is going to be the garden where future champions learn to play. I wouldn't be surprised if the next World Champion comes from Macau or elsewhere in China ."

Gary Woollard, general manager of Grand Waldo Casino believes: "The arrival of poker as a gaming option in Macau's casinos will encourage more people to come and enjoy all Macau has to offer. We are delighted to have a company with the reputation of PokerStars to manage what is sure to be a very successful and popular poker room."

The charity event will be the first event of the "Macau Poker Cup" - a series of poker tournaments scheduled during the May 23-25 weekend, including a $1,000 HKD buy-in Deep-Stack event, the $10,000 buy-in Red Dragon event and the first of many satellites to the Asia Pacific Poker Tour's second season's events. Visit www.pokerstarsmacau.com for details.

The full schedule for the Asia Pacific Poker Tour's second season will be announced shortly, but will kick-off at Grand Waldo Casino with the September 1-6 APPT Macau Main Event, a $25,000 HKD buy-in No-Limit Hold'em poker tournament, with a guarantee of $10,000,000 HKD.

The luxurious Grand Waldo Hotel and Casino is one of Macau's newest five-star hotel resorts and gives poker players, their friends and family, an opportunity to explore one of Asia 's most fascinating locations. With its wealth of Chinese temples, Portuguese monuments and beautiful gardens, Macau 's historic centre has been designated a World Heritage site.

Jeffrey Haas, president of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour, comments: "Poker has grown tremendously in Asia and we are very excited to be driving that growth, particularly as we were the first to produce live poker in Macau . After the success of the PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour last November, a tremendous poker boom has resulted in Hong Kong and Macau - but it's just starting. The significance of the PokerStars Macau poker room on Asia will likely parallel the effect that Chris Moneymaker had on the USA when he won the 2003 WSOP."

To find out more about the PokerStars Macau poker room visit www.pokerstarsmacau.com.