The All Japan Poker Championship (AJPC) has announced a partnership with Taiwan-based poker club Chinese Texas Hold’em Poker Association.
The Taiwanese poker organisation will “work with the AJPC to extend the tournament from its home in Japan into the China-Taiwan poker market,” said an AJPC press release on Thursday.
Neither Taiwan nor Japan currently have legal casinos. Taiwan has flirted with the idea for decades, creating legislation to enable such facilities on outlying islands. It has held several referendums regarding allowing casinos on outer islands – most recently in October – but without any end product. Japan is on course to create a legal casino market, but it might be the year 2025 or later before any venues open.
The AJPC is based in Osaka and holds a number of events within Japan, including a yearly AJPC Championship, which it said was the “largest poker tournament” in Japan.
According to the Thursday release, a Taiwan event will be held between June 14 and 18 at the Chinese Texas Hold’em Poker Club in New Taipei City. The announcement said it would be the “first major tournament to be held in Taiwan using a Japanese brand” and was expected to attract players from Taiwan, Japan and mainland China.
“We are delighted to have entered into a formal partnership with the Chinese Texas Hold’em Poker Association. As a legitimate, recognised poker association in Taiwan, they have been supportive of Taiwanese players and worked hard to grow the recognition of the sport in Taiwan and China”, said Yasuhiro Sasaki, chief executive of the AJPC, in a prepared statement included in the release.
The AJPC additionally confirmed in the Thursday press release that the second stop of its international tour will be the Paradise City Incheon casino in South Korea.
“With a main event buy in of KRW1,100,000 (approximately US$1,025), the event is expected to draw close to 1,000 entries,” the Japanese poker outfit said.
The AJPC said in January that it planned to hold tournaments in Macau and Taiwan as part of its 2018 Asian circuit series. However, it did not provide further details or name the potential partners for events to be held in Macau.
