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.
