Other events up in the air
The Asian Poker Tour reportedly will go off as planned in Macau later this year, despite a recent ban by the central government on online poker apps that will take effect on June 1. The news has caused widespread uncertainty among poker enthusiasts and operators in the territory and prompted some poker rooms to shut down altogether.
The Asian Poker Tour “has never been dependent or reliant on deriving players from online activities of any type,” APT CEO Jeff Mann told the Macau News Agency. “Our business model is not online-focused at all.”
According to Inside Asian Gaming, the poker industry elsewhere in Macau “has taken a series of devastating blows” this month including the closure of two poker rooms and the cancellation of a new tournament series. The news outlet reported that the PokerStars LIVE Macau poker room at City of Dreams, host of the Macau Poker Cup, APPT Macau and the Asian Championships of Poker, is now looking for a new home after Melco Resorts & Entertainment chose not to renew its contract, though the recent Macau Millions main event attracted a record-breaking 2,499 players.
Galaxy Macau has also shut down its smaller, eight-table poker room, which never achieved the popularity of the CoD operation.
Meanwhile, the International Poker Tour Macau, which was to have been held this week in Macau, has been cancelled. Organizer Alisports released a statement to players that the event was postponed “after careful consideration” because many Chinese players qualified for the event via the Alibaba poker app.
In April, IAG reported, the Mainland Chinese government decreed that poker would no longer be recognized as a competitive sport. It banned the promotion of Texas Hold ‘em via social media apps and ordered that all social poker apps to be shut down by June. Social media channels such as WeChat will also be banned from promoting any form of Texas Hold ‘em poker. Some in the industry referred to the move as “China’s Black Friday for poker,” a reference to the April 2011 indictments of online poker operators by the U.S. Department of Justice issued an indictment against the three largest online poker companies.
A World Series of Poker spokesman says there has been no decision made about the future of WSOP events in China. “We’re all waiting for clarity from the Chinese government to see what the impact may be,” he said.
Cracking down in another area, the SAR government will once again establish stricter ground rules for junket promoters who want to do business in Macau. According to Macau Business Magazine, the revisions, which will take effect sometime this year, may include the requirement that at least one Macau resident be a shareholder in any junket business and own at least half of the company.
Lam Kai Kuong of the Macau Association of Gaming and Entertainment Promoters said he favors the new rules but adds that existing operators with good records should be exempt. “It’s just not fair for both existing and new junket operators to be subject to the same standards.”
Currently, 109 licensed junket operators are active in the city, down 12.5 percent year-on-year as a result of new strictures and a slowing Chinese economy.
