Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | Dec 2007 18 In Focus ers brought up on a diet of free market capi- talism rather than the groupthink of Confu- cianism and Chairman Mao. Mr Haas says:“In baccarat, it’s you against the house. You are putting faith in the Gods of Gambling to make sure you make the right decision. It’s interesting, dynamic and the life force of Macau. People come here to play that and have a great time.Poker’s focus is completely different.While there is an ele- ment of chance with poker—it’s essentially a mixed game of skill and chance—the fact is if you know your mathematics and you understand probability and you can do all of your calculations on whether you really have the best hand and you’re good at observa- tion and psychology, that still does make a difference in poker.” He insists though that in a brick and mortar casino market such as Macau, poker will complement, rather than compete with baccarat. “Baccarat is great fun. One of first things I did when I came here was to learn how to play it. I learned how to curl the cards, and even to rip them and throw them. I enjoyed that. I appreciate the games that are here in Macau,and I’m flexible inmy attitude toward them—but there’s such an international de- mand for poker I really thought there would be a great opportunity if we could have an event here.” Poker draws a different demographic Mr Haas suggests the introduction of poker could help develop Macau into a long- stay market. He explains: “Poker serves a different market. It’s not day-trippers. Poker in its tour- nament form is for people who are coming to stay here for a week. It’s an international competition that attracts tourists here,which is what Macau is trying to do. By diversifying the market and adding this additional prod- uct of Texas Hold ‘em Poker we’re bringing in 352 players, plus friends and family. In total that’s more than a thousand people com- ing to Macau and they spend hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong dollars, if not mil- lions while they’re here. Everybody wins. Our event sold out the Grand Waldo hotel and two neighbouring hotels.We sold more than 2,600 room nights! The benefits for food and beverage revenue and other gaming are also tremendous. Men still make up the majority of our players, so their wives and girlfriends split their time between watching games and other activities such as playing at the baccarat tables or the slots. I can tell you that as a result of our tour event in the Philippines the gaming drop at the venue increased 62% over four days.” At APPT’s Macau event, many of the players were western expatriates—some of them based in China. There were also local players—nine from Macau and thirty-seven from Hong Kong. “We also see a few players from main- land China who either have had western influences or have picked up the game within the community. In Hong Kong we are starting to see development of poker leagues. In Japan, they have the Japan Pok- er League. The proponents of poker in Asia tend to be the Type A social networkers who are putting together games of their own,” says Mr Haas. Media coverage is key Mr Haas thinks television will be a strong ally in the growth of the game in the region. “If nobody plays poker here how do they get interested in playing it? They may see it in the movies, like with James Bond, but the primary way people will find out about poker is if they start seeing it on television. If they see it on television on a US- or European-based show without any Asian players though, it looks like a foreign show and they’re not that interested. But if they can see local games, ideally with local players, and even better, with local cham- pions, they start to think ‘Wow, I could do that myself. I wonder how I can learn how to play poker?’” One problem with this approach is that in China—the largest potential market for poker in Asia—it’s unlikely poker will be shown on television unless tournaments are conducted on a ‘play for fun’basis or the Chi- nese authorities agree to declare it a game of skill and of sport—as jurisdictions in Aus- tralia and Russia have done—rather than one of chance. That means word of mouth and the In- ternet,with its estimated 150million Chinese users, will be key elements in the spread of poker in Asia. Word of mouth will certainly come into play among mainland visitors as the vis- ibility of poker rises in Macau, but the sig- nificant numbers are more likely to come from online poker. APPT’s sponsor partner for the Macau event—PokerStars.net—is a play for fun website where beginners can mingle with more advanced players to gain experience of the game before play- ing in tournaments. As part of its cross-marketing effort, PokerStars.net ran a contest allowing play- ers to pre-qualify for the Macau event in ‘freeroll’ poker tournaments with no en- try fees. A few skilled winners had their US$2,500 buy-in, six nights’ hotel accom- modation and spending money paid for (a US$4,500 value). “You can’t be in gaming today in Asia if you’re not in Macau,” says Mr Haas. “It was very important to us.” Mr Haas continues: “The introduction of poker to Macau doesn’t mean Macau is turning into Las Vegas. Macau is distinct, it’s different. It’s a mix of old Portuguese and old Chinese culture brought together in a new fusion with other additional elements. The gaming here is completely different— that’s why people come to Macau. You can’t compare Las Vegas—where people go for a weekend of reckless abandon and gam- ing—with Macau where people come for mostly day trips. It’s a different clientele, a different culture and a different gaming en- vironment.” The gaudy Grand Waldo hosted Macau’s first international poker tournament