5 August 2009 (Manila, Philippines) — The countdown is on to the The Asian Poker Tour Macau Festival which will run from August 12–23, 2009 at the Galaxy StarWorld Hotel and Casino in Macau. Last year’s six day event has doubled in size and will be transformed into a record breaking 12 day extravaganza and the event will form the backdrop to a potentially groundbreaking Chinese language poker film provisionally titled ‘Poker King’. We are pleading with human dolphin Michael Phelps to show us some love and have written him an open letter:
Dear Michael,
They say a week is a long time in politics and I’m sure you’ll agree that a year is a long time when you are a world beating Olympics legend. It looks now looks like that you are back to your best and congratulations on the new world record. Last year, we noticed that you had told your local paper that you were a poker buff and since then you have played in small tournaments at Caesars Palace in Vegas and been around and about on the circuit. In fact, lots of poker players claim you’re their friend but whether that is them using their famous bluffing skills is a different matter!
Last year you were in Beijing for the Olympics and we encouraged you to head down to the Asian Poker Tour Macau event at the Starworld. We heard positive noises but there was no sign of the human dolphin when they called ‘shuffle up and deal.’ We would like to extend this invite once again to you to come, all expenses paid, and take part in this showpiece poker event. The Main Event is in Macau between the 20 – 23rd August but the 12 day festival of poker starts on August 12th so let us know!
Forget the controversy about suit changes in your sport, concentrate on these suits: spades, clubs, diamonds and hearts! Forget your rivalry with Milorand Cavic, how about a heads-up game with the legendary Johnny Chan or modern day poker icon JC Tran? We know you couldn’t make the meeting with the Pope but how about a meeting of poker minds in Macau?
Some media reports even suggest that you may have got in with the wrong crowd in the last 12 months – we promise to keep you out of trouble. We’ll give you access to pools of sharks, fish and those that you swim in! If you don’t want to bring your goggles, fair enough, bring a pair of sunglasses and your poker face! While you are at it, you could ask a certain poker playing President by the name of Barack Hussein Obama II if he fancies joining you!
The question remains is the newly rejuvenated human dolphin really a fish? We hope to find out!
Best Wishes
The Asian Poker Tour
The Asian Poker Tour Macau hosts over 20 events with 15 official side events – the first four taking place between the 12th – 16th August featuring guaranteed prize pools. Day 1A of the Main Event kicks off on the 20th August. Amongst the online networks sending players are The Ongame Network, the iPoker Network and PartyPoker.com. In addition, online rooms BWin, PKR, Dafa Poker, JBET Poker, Betfriends, 888.com, Titan Poker, RedKings, 32Red, ChiliPoker, Winamax, BetSafe, PafPoker and PokerLoco are in on the action guaranteeing a significant online qualifier contingent. Sponsors of the side events and collaterals include the Hong Kong Game Club, DafaPoker, Dafa888, The Poker King Movie, JBet, PartyPoker.com, BWin, Zipang Casino, 777babycasino and PKR.
This weekend sees the last chance to win online packages on 888.com, JBet and ChiliPoker (Monday), with the last satellites taking place on the Ongame Network and BWin on Thursday 6 August.
The 2008 Asian Poker Tour Macau Main Event was won by then 20-year-old US hotshot Yevgeniy Timoshenko, who scooped US$500,000 after emerging triumphant from the star-studded field that featured players from over 40 countries. The buy-in for the 2009 Main Event is set at HK$34,400. As well as the action on the felt, the play off the felt promises to be extremely lively too with The Asian Poker Tour looking to top the legendary and award winning party held in Macau last year. Amongst those already committed to take part include Johnny Chan and ‘The Poker Pack,’ the Asian Poker Tour’s formidable team of ambassadors comprising of JC Tran, Nam Le, Steve Sung, Quinn Do, David ‘Chino’ Rheem and Kwang Soo Lee. All will feature in the ‘Poker King’ movie.
The last Asian Poker Tour event was held in the Philippines in January 2009 and was won by Manila rounder Neil Arce, who scooped US$185,000 for first prize after overcoming a field of 262 players from over 40 countries. The runner-up was the Republic of Korea’s Steve Yea, who repeated his second place in the Asian Poker Tour Macau 2008. Full details can be found at http://www.asianpt.com/
ABOUT ASIANLOGIC (ALOG) OWNERS OF THE ASIAN POKER TOUR
AsianLogic is a leading online and land-based gaming company focusing on the Asia-Pacific markets. AsianLogic owns and operates eight online casino brands and two online poker rooms as well as land-based sportsbook operations through its MegaSportsWorld brand. It is a specialist in Asia-specific games such as Mahjong, Cho-Da-Di, Do-Di-Zhu and 13 Card Poker. The Company owns and operates the Asian Poker Tour. The Company also maintains a corporate advisory team specialising in the gaming sector which is an active investor in gaming-related businesses as well as providing consultancy and analytical services. AsianLogic enjoys strong commercial relationships with leading gaming providers including Playtech, ID Games and LVS. Founded as ESL in 2002, AsianLogic employs over 300 employees, the majority of whom are based in the Philippines.
For more information, please contact:
Melissa Ross
Lyceum Media
+44 (0) 207 976 6469
[email protected]
Warren Lush
[email protected]
+34656236600