GGRAsia – Liu Jiajun claims APPT8 Macau crown

Liu Jiajun claims APPT8 Macau crown

May 26, 2014 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau

Liu Jiajun was the winner of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Macau Season 8, which ended on Sunday.

The Chinese player was awarded HK$2,776,000 (US$358,000) and made it back-to-back titles for his country after Alexandre Chieng won the event last year.

This year’s event had a total of 12 official Asia Player of the Year Events attracting a total of 2,445 players and an overall prize pool of HK$25,067,744, organiser PokerStars said. Those numbers represent increases of 32 percent and 41 percent on Season 7 totals.

The next stop on the APPT will take place in Manila, Philippines at the Metro Card Club from July 2-7.

Revenues from Texas Holdem Poker in Macau have been growing in recent years, although it fizzled last year.

Yearly gross gaming revenue from Texas Holdem grew from MOP54 million (US$6.76 million) in 2008 to MOP289 million in 2012. Last year, revenues amounted to MOP270 million.

In Macau the rake on player buy-in fees for poker games is typically set at 5 percent up to a US$200 cap. This compares with the theoretical house edge on a ‘player’ bet in baccarat in Macau of 1.52 percent.

Despite the house-friendly business model of poker, Macau casino operators also have the comfort zone of opting for a guarantee on minimum monthly income as the price of the cooperation with a third party poker room operator.

A research note in 2012 said the gaming regulator in Macau had a new way of accounting for poker tables, allowing casinos operating up to 20 poker tables in a single area to count them as only one table. Eventually the government made a U-turn on the measure.

The regulator has imposed a cap of three percent compound annual growth on live dealer gaming tables until the end of 2022.