The Asian Poker Tour is busily preparing for the first ever poker festival on the grounds of the Galaxy StarWorld Hotel and Casino in Macau and, as an added feature for participants, the festivities from August 12th through the 23rd will be the stage for the filming of a Chinese poker film.
The film, tentatively titled “Poker King” and being directed by Chinese language directors Chan Hing-Kai and Janet Chun and produced by Amy Chin and Chan Hing-Kai, will use the Asian Poker Macau Festival as the stage for its movie. The production will tell the story of two poker rivals competing for world championship glory and features such Chinese actors as Louis Koo, Sean Lau Ching-Wan, Stephy Tang, Cherrie In and Josie Ho. It is expected that the film will be completed for its cinematic release later this year.
Tom Hall, the CEO of Asian Logic – which owns the Asian Poker Tour – states that the movie will only add to the excitement following the first APT event last year. “This is a very exciting project and is sure to provoke even more excitement about The Asian Poker Macau Festival”, Hall said. “Players across the region and from around the world are encouraged to come to the StarWorld and play at the Asian Poker Tour Macau when it begins on August 12th.”
There is also a possibility that some of the most prominent Asian poker stars in the game will have cameos in the movie. The APT’s sponsored professional players “The Poker Pack” – featuring recent World Series of Poker bracelet winners J. C. Tran and Steve Sung, 2008 “November Nine” member David “Chino” Rheem and Quinn Do, Nam Le and Kwang Soo Lee – are said to be in negotiations for substantial parts in the “Poker King” film.
Even though the film will be the focus of some of the attention in Macau, the tournament will be the first celebration of poker in the Chinese territory of Macau. The Asian Poker Macau Festival stretches from August 12th through the 23rd and will feature plenty of action for participants. Preliminary tournaments starting at a mere 500 Hong Kong Dollars (about $64 America) will be featured all the way up to the start of the APT Macau Main Event, a 32,000 HKD buy in (slightly over $4,000 USD). There will be three Day Ones for the APT Macau Main Event, which begin on August 19th. The final table is scheduled for August 23rd and will have television coverage.
Organizers of the Asian Poker Macau Festival have enlisted the expert skills of tournament director Matt Savage to oversee the time in Macau and Savage should provide a wealth of side games and events for those in attendance. High limit games and Sit And Go tables should be a prominent feature of Savage’s efforts.
Last year, the Asian Poker Tour’s journey to Macau drew some of the biggest names in the game for six days of poker and featured the debut of one of the current stars of the game. Professional players such as two-time World Champion Doyle Brunson and fellow former World Champion Johnny Chan (who is scheduled to return for this year’s festival), 2008 WSOP Europe champion John Juanda and popular female professional Liz Lieu were all part of the action. The tournament itself was won by the then-newcomer to live poker Yevgeniy Timoshenko, who picked up $500,000 for the APT Macau championship and went on to win the WPT Championship in April of this year.
The Asian Poker Tour is bringing the poker world to the Pacific Rim through a unique cooperation of companies. Through such online poker rooms as Party Poker, bwin.com and Titan Poker and land based casinos in the Philippines and Hong Kong, the field for this year’s event is expected to explode past last year’s gathering. For a full look at the schedule of preliminary events for the Asian Poker Tour Macau festival, visit the Asian Poker Tour website to learn more.
