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Sparrow Soars In Warmups – posted 01.27.09
PokerStars Macau at Casino Grand Lisboa saw 57 players take time away from Chinese New Year festivities to play the Macau Poker Cup Warmups. The $4,000 KO Bounty event launched the race for 2010 Asia Player of the Year (APOY) and it was Hong Kong’s “Sparrow” Cheung Park Yu who claimed victory and a prize of HKD $48,900.
The competition for APOY really heats up as the Macau Poker Cup goes full steam from March 3-7 with 6 feature tournaments including the signature Red Dragon $1,000,000 Guarantee event. Last October’s Red Dragon had 247 players and $2.3 million in prize money. PokerStars Macau expects to surpass those numbers in the coming week!
Pokerstars Macau Launching The 2010 Season – posted 01.22.09
PokerStars Macau has announced the MACAU POKER CUP (MPC) schedule <add link to schedule> for March 3-7, 2010. The MPC will have 6 numbered events and will once again feature the Red Dragon HKD $1 Million Guarantee. The last Red Dragon event in October 2009 had a record 247 players and $2.3 million prize pool. PokerStars Macau expects to set new MPC records several times over in 2010.
The winner of the 2010 ASIA PLAYER OF THE YEAR (APOY) will win a 1-Year Sponsorship with PokerStars Macau. Players can qualify for APOY Leaderboard points by playing the MPC numbered events and monthly special events. The first monthly special events is the MPC Warmup from February 19-20 where the $4,000 KO Bounty event will launch the race for APOY.
Players can qualify for FREE for Macau Poker Cup and other special events at PokerStars.net (Go to “Events” tab/Macau)
Devan’s Divine Win At Macau Poker Cup Championship – posted 12.22.09
PokerStars Macau at Casino Grand Lisboa hosted the Macau Poker Cup Championship (MPCC) and set a new record for biggest prize pool in the Macau Poker Cup series as 158 players competed in the MPCC Main Event for nearly HKD $3 Million in prize money.
Christmas came early for “Devan” Ying Seng Tan from Hong Kong who won the Main Event and a first prize of HKD $727,600. Devan outlasted a tough field on the final table including PokerStars Team Asia Pros Tae Joon Noh and Bryan Huang. After winning Event No. 6: $5,000 KO Bounty tournament earlier in the week he suddenly found himself heads up with a massive 5-to-1 chip lead (2.6 million to 500,000) in the Main Event against Michael Chun-Chieh Chang from Taipei. Devan would quickly and easily collect his 2nd trophy in as many attempts at MPCC. 
The Main Event presentation turned out to be the conclusion to the inaugural Asia Poker Awards as the Tournament of Champions (TOC) and Asia Player of the Year winners were determined well beforehand.
The TOC is the “Battle of the Best” and included PokerStars Team Asia Pros Celina Lin and Tae Joon Noh. The single table challenge would also bring the likes of pros such as Daniel Neilson from Australia and Red Dragon champions Kitty Kuo, Zhenjian Lin and Victor Chen. However, it would be businessman Kin Joh Pua from Malaysia who would claim the bragging rights and the HKD $100,000 winners’ package.
“Kitty” Hui-Chen Kuo’s back-to-back runner up finishes in the MPCC preliminary events would be enough to hold off a valiant effort from Tae Joon to win 2009 Asia Player of the Year. Tae Joon made it to final table of the Main Event and had a chance to overtake Kitty on the leaderboard with a finish of 5th place or better. However, the poker gods were not with him as his 8th place finish would give Kitty a 4752 to 4444 points advantage to close out the final standings.
The MPCC would also host Asia’s first ever Heads Up tournament and crowned Terrence “Not Johnny” Chan champion after besting the likes of World Champion Amarillo Slim, PokerStars Team Asis Pro Raymond Wu, and Macau Poker Cup 2-time High Rollers Challenge winner Phil Lau.
PokerStars Macau will launch the Macau Poker Cup 2010 season from March 3-7 which features the HKD $10,000 buy-in Red Dragon $1 Million Guarantee event. Players can qualify for free to the Red Dragon event online at PokerStars.net. For more information please visit www.pokerstarsmacau.com
Kitty Running Away With APOY – posted 12.18.09
The Macau Poker Cup Championships has 8 events that count towards the leaderboard to determine the Asia Player of the Year. Kitty Kuo from Taipei began the MPCC with a small lead over PokerStars Team Asia Pro Tae Joon Noh but has since pulled away from the field with 2 runner up finishes.
With 5 numbered events completed there is still a mathematical chance for anyone in the Top 20 to take over the No. 1 Rank but realistically it’s down to Tae Joon, fellow Team Asia Pro Celina Lin, Chen-An Lin from Taipei, and Anders Christensen from Denmark.
Here’s a look at the Top Ten after Event No. 1 through 5.
Rank |
Player |
Points |
Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|
1 |
"Kitty" Hui-chen Kuo |
4752 |
$ 601,045 |
2 |
Tae Joon Noh |
3832 |
$ 427,490 |
3 |
Chen-an Lin |
2608 |
$ 175,890 |
4 |
Anders Christensen |
2496 |
$ 232,180 |
5 |
Celina Lin |
2466 |
$ 452,510 |
6 |
Daniel Neilson |
1872 |
$ 185,745 |
7 |
Zhenjian Lin |
1824 |
$ 403,365 |
8 |
Kenneth Leong |
1752 |
$ 92,640 |
9 |
Jack Lee |
1740 |
$ 72,710 |
10 |
Roel Pijpers |
1685 |
$ 53,695 |
Terrance Chan wins Heads Up Tournament – posted 12.16.09
The Macau Poker Cup Championship opened with the first Heads Up tournament in Asia and drew some big regional players such as PokerStars Team Asia Pro Raymond Wu, MPC High Rollers back-to-back champion Phil Lau and Former Red Dragon winner John Chong. International champions Terrence Chan and Amarillo Slim also took the field.
The final four would see two gruelling matches in Phil vs. John and Terrence vs. Carlos Chan. Both semi-finals matches would get extended deep into game 3 of the best 2-of-3. It would end up being Phil and Terrence in the final Heads Up match which would be best 3-of-5
Terrence took a quick 1-0 lead but then watched Phil win two straight. After a see-saw game four it would be Terrence who ties it and forces a game five. On the final hand , blinds are 100-200 and both players limp. Flop is 6-8-T and both players get their chips in. Terrence shows JT for top pair and Phil turns over J9 for the straight draw. Terrence’s top pair would hold as he wins the MPCC Heads Up tournament.
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MPCC gets underway – posted 12.05.09
PokerStars Macau at the Grand Lisboa, the largest poker room in Asia, has announced the schedule of the ‘Macau Poker Cup Championship.’ This year’s grand finale is expected to set new records in both players and prize pools for the Macau Poker Cup series.
The Macau Poker Cup Championship (MPCC) takes place December 12-20, 2009 at the luxurious Grand Lisboa Casino. The 9-day schedule will consist of 8 featured tournaments, highlighted by the HKD $20,000 MPCC Main Event. In addition to exciting tournament poker, PokerStars Macau will play host to the first Asia Poker Awards which will present the winners of the MPCC Main Event, Tournament of Champions, and 2009 Asia Player of the Year.
Danny McDonagh, PokerStars Macau Tournament Director, says “The Macau Poker Cup (MPC) series has seen spectacular growth in the last year. The signature tournament, HKD $10,000 buy-in Red Dragon event, had 57 players and a prize pool of approximately HKD $500,000 in December 2008. In October 2009, these numbers soared to 247 players and a HKD $2.3 Million prize pool. The HKD $20,000 buy-in Main Event is expected to set a new prize pool record in the MPC history books. “
The Macau Poker Cup is the largest regional tournament and has previously attracted notable pros such as PokerStars sponsored player and 2-time World Champion Johnny Chan, APPT Macau Season Two High Rollers winner Nam Le, 2009 WSOP Player of the Year Jeff Lisandro, and World Champion Huck Seed.
PokerStars Team Asia Pros attending the MPCC include Celina Lin, Tae Joon Noh, Bryan Huang and Raymond Wu. Celina and Tae Joon are both near the top of the leaderboard and in the running for Asia Player of the Year and will participate in the Tournament of Champions. Hong Kong celebrities Chrissie Chow and Samantha Ko will also be part of the MPCC festivities.
Joining the professionals will be a host of players from Asia and the rest of the world, many of whom will have won their way to the event via free online tournaments at PokerStars.net. Satellites for Macau Poker Cup Championship are running now on PokerStars.
Crouching Kitty claws top prize at Macau Red Dragon – posted 11.05.09
The latest PokerStars Red Dragon event smashed its own record with a HKD $2.3 million prize pool and by crowning its second female champion this year.
The last event drew in 168 players and a HKD $1.6 million prize pool but this October the field reached a record breaking total of 247.
The event also crowned its second female champion. After starting heads up play slightly behind in chips, PokerStars sponsored player Kitty Kuo grinded her way to a 2-to-1 chip lead.
The final hand saw PokerStars Team Pro: Asia Tae Joon Noh raise from the button with A-K only to see a big re-raise from Kitty.
Tae Joon would push his remaining chips into the pot and Kitty quickly made the call to show pocket Aces.
The flop had a King to give Tae Joon some hope but the Aces would hold up.
Kitty won over HKD $550,000 on her way to winning the biggest Red Dragon event in history and now sits on top of the leader board for Asia Player of the Year.
Another record breaking Macau Poker Cup is upon us at PokerStars Macau - posted 10.26.09
Another record breaking Macau Poker Cup is upon us as the first three events have already set new highs at PokerStars Macau.
Event No. 1’s Charity Event produced a record prize pool of HKD 114,700. Kevin Ko from the USA won a Red Dragon entry plus over HKD $30,000 on his way to victory. 
The prize pool of HKD $114,700 and 158 players both set new records for Event No. 2: Deep Stack event. The winner was Raymond Ng from Hong Kong who won over HKD $53,000.
The High Roller Challenge saw a repeat winner in Phil Lau from Hong Kong who bested a field that included PokerStars.net Team Asia Pro Raymond Wu and WSOP Player of the Year Jeff Lisandro. Phil won HKD $195,000 in his victory.
Day 1 of Event No. 3: $3,000 NLH is still in progress but we already know that both the field of 158 players and HKD $440,000 are new records for this event as well. The Asia Player of the Year Leaderboard has a few new faces in the Top Ten but PokerStars.net Team Asia Pro Celina Lin is still leading the pack. Celina looks poised to add to her points total as she’s still in the remaining field of 35 players in Event No. 3 after 8 levels of play.
Asia Player of the Year Leaderboard
| Rank | Player | Points | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Celina Lin* | 2106 | $ 439,310 |
| 2 | Zhenjian Lin* | 1824 | $ 403,365 |
| 3 | Ming Fang | 1360 | $ 238,910 |
| 4 | Ted Wang | 1299 | $ 122,270 |
| 5 | "Marlboro" Hanbing Wang | 1226 | $ 160,190 |
| 6 | Raymond Ng | 1224 | $ 53,330 |
| 7 | "Sammy" Xiuming Huang | 1220 | $ 281,425 |
| 8 | Jack Lee | 1020 | $ 36,260 |
| 9 | Roel Pijpers | 997 | $ 24,435 |
| 10 | Kevin Ko | 960 | $ 20,970 |
*Red Dragon Champion 贏红龙赛
Asia heads for Macau Poker Cup - posted 10.19.09
The Macau Poker Cup will run from October 22nd - October 25th hosted by PokerStars Macau at the Grand Lisboa. The feature tournament is the Red Dragon event with a buy in of HKD $10,000 and has a HKD$1,000,000 Guarantee.
The last Red Dragon awarded nearly HKD $1.6 Million with 168 players. Organizers expect to see the numbers continue to increase and have expanded the venue to a 200-player capacity. Early response indicates that this Macau Poker Cup will indeed hit capacity so register soon to ensure your a seat.
This Macau Poker Cup will determine the qualifiers for the Tournament of Champions at the Macau Poker Cup Championship from December 12-20 and of course the 2009 Asia Player of the Year is up for grabs. To keep the excitement to the max there will be Double leaderboard points for all the numbered events in October and December.
You can qualify for the Red Dragon as satellites are still running live at PokerStars Macau and online at PokerStars.net
Good luck and see you in Macau!
25-year old from Ireland wins half a million dollars – posted 10.12.09
A 25-year old ex-sales manager from Ireland has won over half a million dollars after winning the PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Season 3 Main Event in Macau.
Dermot Blain, from Dublin, Ireland, defeated a field of 429 poker players to claim the top prize in a tournament that lasted a grueling six days.
Blain, who won entry to the APPT Macau tournament by playing a PokerStars Macau satellite, staged a remarkable comeback. He took his seat at the final table as an underdog in 7th place with just 507,000 in chips.
The turnaround for Blain came when he eliminated the start of the day chip leader Daoxing Chen with Ad-Ks going up against Ah-Qs and Blain’s Ks kicker holding up.
Heads up play between Blain and Mike Kim then lasted only four hands with Blain once again holding a King kicker with Kd-Th going against Kim’s Td-9s on an all-in call.
The king held up and confirmed Blain as the 2009 PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour Macau Main Event champion. He takes home the championship trophy and a payout of HKD $4,194,000 (USD $541,081 approx.) while runner-up Mike Kim takes home HKD $2,984,100 (USD 385,006 approx.).
The third season of APPT Macau has been a record breaking success. The massive growth in prize pool and payout overshadows last year’s Season 2 prize pool of approx. USD $1,629,819 and the previous Season 1 total of $809,600, which is testimony to the growing interest in poker in Macau and in Asia.
APPT Seoul is due to host the next leg of the tour and confirmed details of how to enter and dates will be posted here soon. For complete coverage of all six days of action of APPT Macau Season 3 please visit our live results archive section here.
APPT Macau Smashes Guarantee in Opening Event- posted 08.21.09
Tournament action in Asia’s gaming capital is heating up and PokerStars Macau leads the pack with the first Asia Pacific Poker Tour Preliminary Event - HKD $2,500 No Limit Holdem $100,000 Guarantee. The biggest poker tournament so far in Macau during August 2009 saw a field of 100 players balloon the guarantee to over HKD $220,000 in prize money.
First time Macau visitor, Shawn Nguyen played the no. 2 ranked player on the Macau Poker Cup Leaderboard, Lin Shenjian, in heads up play. In the final hand, Lin moved all in with 5d8d and Nguyen called with AhJh. Shawn’ s hand held up to win nearly HKD $70,000 in the opening event.
APPT has continued to smash every guarantee since then and truly lays claim to the Biggest Poker Festival in Macau. APPT Macau Main Event takes place from August 25-30 and expects to break last year’s record of 538 players and USD $1.6 million in prize money. Qualify for APPT Main event through PokerStars.net or LIVE at PokerStars Macau and be part of history.
PokerStars Team Asia Pro Celina Lin takes down HKD $400,000 at Red Dragon – posted 07.17.09
PokerStars.net Team Asia Pro Celina Lin won nearly HKD $400,000 at this week’s Red Dragon event and is now ranked number one on the Macau Poker Cup Leaderboard. Read the insights behind the final hand in our exclusive interview below.
PokerStars Macau at the Grand Lisboa had yet another record breaking MacauPoker Cup from July 9-12. The Red Dragon HKD $1,000,000 Guarantee Tournament had a record field of 168 players and awarded nearly $1.6 Million in prize money.
Next month, PokerStars Macau plays host to Asia’s biggest poker tour, the APPT Season 3, which runs August 25-30. See the APPT page for more information.
So as everyone knows you won the biggest and richest Red Dragon event in Macau Poker Cup history. What has this win meant for you?
The title of the Red Dragon event at the MPC has been a goal I have been chasing for a year now, finishing 2nd last year was a disappointment for me. It’s an honour to be able to play against all the best players in Asia and be awarded this career highlight.
Let’s discuss the Red Dragon event. How did you feel entering the largest field in the history of MPC?
The field size is expected to get larger each Macau Poker Cup with more players from all over the world entering the event. It is an honour to be a part of this historic MPC and the feeling of taking down such a title gave me a taste of victory and drives me to win another.
So at what point did you feel like you were going to win it all?
After I doubled up a player, I became short stacked and I had to shove 10bbs with QQs and got called by A9s and 77s. After I won that hand, I had the chips with a real shot at the title. All the players were playing very well on the final table, but each of them were short stacked compared to Sammy and I, so our aggression really lead the way and took most of the players out before we played our 4 hr heads up match
Heading into the final table, was there any player or players that worried you in particular?
I had seen Mr. Lin (Zhenjian) pull some moves and steals here and there. I would’ve been worried if he had a big stack, but he came in short, so I knew he couldn’t steal the antes and blinds like he was doing previously. I haven’t really had a chance to play with most of the players prior to this final table. Ivan on my left shoved over my very first final table raise so I knew he was capable of playing his short stack well. We actually started on the same table from the beginning of the tournament.
You hold the all-time record for final tables at MPC but only had one title prior to this win. Was there a key strategy that you used this time that was different to your previous trips to the final table?
I has always played short stack in accordance to the blind level. At the MPC, due to a tight schedule and the amount of events, players at times find themselves short. But if you looked around the table, most of players might be even shorter than you. The strategy then becomes you can make minimal raises and take the blinds, and fold if a players shoves all in and you do not have the odds to call.
The main event definitely allows for more skill level to prevail since they rewind the blind level on the final table. It is really a test of skill and less luck based.
When you began your heads up play with Sammy you were behind nearly 2-to-1 ($1.1M to 600k) in chip stacks. How did you manage to overcome such a big disadvantage?
I saw that really as one pot difference, which did happen soon after which bought us to 850k in chips each. The toughest comebacks were when he won several pots, and I saw myself around 250k in chips three times. Each time I managed to come back and take the lead again. I pushed all-in against Sammy at a high frequency and he respected my raises, so I was able to stay afloat due to the big blinds and antes
You have a history of playing very aggressive with many all-ins during heads up play but this was not the case this time playing against Sammy. Was this an intentional change of strategy?
Sammy was a very tight player. I started off raising a lot, but then he called every raise and bet into me on the flop. So I changed my strategy to limping the button and picking spots to re-raise him. I played him post flop in position a lot and I think that’s where I was able to gain most of my chips.
In the 4 hrs of heads up play, I did go all-in about 15 times. It is not as many all-ins as I normally do, but sometimes we had good stacks to play post flop too. He never called any of my all-ins except one where we both had KQ and split the pot.
The Red Dragon set a record for field size yet had the lowest percentage of female players. It's amazing that two women made the final table and even more unlikely that a female player won. Do you see any particular advantages or disadvantages of being a female player in poker?
In Asia, men are very nice and courteous towards women, I don’t think I have seen as many walks (re: fold to the big blind) elsewhere. As a female player, I have played against some players who thinks girls play more weak-passive and when you show them you are capable of fighting back, they then tend to play more cautious and give walks if they don’t have a playable hand rather than raise with any two cards.
You have the most all-time final tables in Macau Poker Cup with nine, you have now won the MPC main event (Red Dragon) and you are now number one on the MPC Leaderboard. What are your next goals?
I am thrilled to be Number one on the MPC Leaderboard, to be able to hold on to the lead and win the title at the end of the year is a goal I will be working very hard towards. This year I am hoping to win the so called “Triple Crown” of the MPC which is the POY (Player of the Year), Tournament of Champions and the final MPC Championship Main Event.
Where will we being seeing Celina Lin next?
I will be attending the Pokerstars.net Australia New Zealand Poker Tour next in Queenstown and Queensland. After that I’m looking forward to the Pokerstars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour in Macau from August 25-30th.
Interview with Celina Lin, Team Asia Pro- posted 07.01.09
How did you learn poker? 
In 2004, I played a long session of Caribbean Stud at AUD $600 a hand for 2 hrs, and was down AUD $600 at the end, which is actually pretty good. I walked past the poker room while searching for a Craps table, and was called to the table to play what turned out to be 4/8 limit hold'em. I looked at the game and thought this looks like fun, and capped every hand with any two cards not knowing what I was doing but thought it was much cheaper than Caribbean Stud. That night was the only time I won the most ever at a 4/8 game (AUD $600 in 30 minutes) and learnt the word "malaka". After that, I discovered the Holy Grail, online poker! I deposited USD $600 and played 15/30 limit. I ran my bankroll up to $10,000 in 3 weeks while playing any two suited cards, A-anything, you name it. That was my introduction to poker and I was hooked.
What appeals most to your personality most about the game of poker? The risk, the math, the psychology?
All three aspects of poker are very important and crucial to a successful poker player. What appeals to me the most is the psychology. It is the most difficult concept to learn and master. Psychology of the game is a skill that develops after many years. It is not as basic as learning the math of the game.
What does playing the game of poker teach you about life?
Poker has taught me to always face problems with logic and make the correct decisions. Regardless of the outcome, you know you still did the right thing. Poker has helped me with my ability to interact with people from different cultural backgrounds and to learn and experience what life truly has to offer.
What's great about playing at the PokerStars Macau poker room?
PokerStars Macau poker room has a great selection of Texas Hold’em games at many different buyins and skill levels. There are lots of tournaments and satellites with a wide range of buyins to suit players with different budgets. The Macau Poker Cup offers a weekend of tournament extravaganza to players all over Asia and worldwide. I have seen a significant increase in player numbers for all the events. You can even win entries or register to PokerStars Macau tournaments on pokerstars.com
Interview with Bryan Huang, Team Asia Pro- posted 07.01.09
What appeals most to your personality most about the game of poker?
I consider myself a "people-person" and find it very interesting to understand the way people think and process information they have at their fingertips so I definitely would say the Psychology or the "art" of it is what appeals to me"
What does playing the game of poker teach you about life?
We choose how we lead it but have no complete control over it. Just get up from any setbacks, try your best to learn from it to ensure that you get something out of every experience or “bad-beat”.
What's great about playing at the PSM poker room?
I think that the PokerStars Macau Poker room is a great establishment with a good selection of games and daily tournaments. It is also run by world class individuals who are friendly and very professional. The feeling and décor of the poker room is very “Asian” yet you find people from every corner of the world having a good time. The atmosphere and energy of the poker room can never be found anywhere else in the Asia-Pacific region.
