Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | August 2008 28 APT’s Chief Executive. “We think in the next five years we can substantially increase our player base and our tournament entry numbers so that we have several thousand players entering an APT final to be held in Macau each year. “We have designated Macau as the APT’s home base, so we wanted to mark that fact by offering a record-breaking guaranteed prize pool for our first event here,” adds Mr Parker. “A US$1.5 million guaranteed prize pool is a record for Asia but modest compared with the guarantees on offer with the WSOP or the European Poker Tour. But, of course, their base of players is much bigger. We’re pleased that our guarantee has been tempting enough to attract some big names. That’s what it’s all about. “Those big names also benefit because it gives them new exposure in Asia. Another important point about the Asian poker circuit is that players don’t pay tax on their winnings here. In the United States they pay 25%.” As Inside Asian Gaming was going to press, the APT announced that Doyle Brunson, known as the ‘Godfather of Poker’, will be at APT Macau. “He’s a huge name in the poker world. He’s as big as it gets,” says Mr Parker. Mr Brunson has played professionally for over 50 years. He is currently in a tie for secondplace on the all-timewinners’list with ten WSOP bracelets—only one behind first- placed Phil Hellmuth. His live tournament winnings exceed US$5.3 million. His son, Todd Brunson, who is also a successful pro player, will accompany Mr Brunson. Other APT Macau attendees include J.C. Tran, Nam Le, Quinn Do and the APT Philippines champion David Saab, as well as hundreds of lesser-known players from around the Asia Pacific region and further afield. Marketing tool From a casino and promoter viewpoint, showpiece events such as the Asian Poker Tour and the Asia Pacific Poker Tour have clear commercial benefits.Tournaments with In Focus Doyle Brunson, the ‘Godfather of Poker’ regional appeal mitigate the commercial risk of relying on the patronage of purely local players in what is still a developing market. It also stimulates local interest in a game that currently receives very little media coverage and depends mostly on word of mouth for its growth. On the tournament circuit, drawing in foreign players from more developed poker markets creates a virtuous circle of player liquidity, underwriting a guaranteed prize pool of sufficient size to attract good quality players. This in turn creates publicity and an audience, providing other revenue streams of benefit to the casino and promoter, including demand for hotel rooms,spending on food and drink and opportunities for the sale of television rights. The first season of the APPT competition has already been completed, with visits to Manila and then Macau, ending with a Grand Final in Sydney, Australia, last December. The organisers describe the first season as “a huge success,” saying it attracted 1,418 players from around the world and generated a combined prize pool of US$5,586,150. Season Two of the APPT begins in Macau at the Grand Waldo starting on Sep- tember 1.The main contest and the High Roll- ers event will each have a guaranteed prize pool of HK$ $10 million (US$1.3 million). Brand issues The similarity of the tour names—APT on the one hand and APPT on the other, could cause confusion when it comes to event marketing, but Mr Parker of the APT thinks there is room for both events in an expanding market. “I thinkboth tours canbevery successful,” he explains. “APPT is sponsored by PokerStars.net, and PokerStars certainly doesn’t need any help. If they want a thousand players for a tournament in Macau, they can go out and get them. “It’s all about giving the chance for Asian players to enter these tournaments and building the game in Asia. We say the more the better.Eventually things will settle down. In the long run, we feel we’re going to be the best poker tour in Asia,” adds Mr Parker. “We plan to strengthen the relation- ships with our online and land-based part- ners to make sure the supply pipeline of players to APT tournaments is running as efficiently as possible.”