Imperial Pacific to host Japan poker event on Saipan

Jan 08, 2019 Newsdesk Industry Talk, Japan, Latest News, Rest of Asia, World  

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The All Japan Poker Championship (AJPC) Asian Circuit is to include this year – for the first time – a poker competition on the western Pacific island of Saipan.

The competition is to be held at the Imperial Pacific Resort. The casino there is operated by a unit of Hong Kong-listed Imperial Pacific International Holdings Ltd, a company that has plans to complete a hotel on the site. The poker event will be held from February 13 to 17, the AJPC said in a written announcement issued on Tuesday.

The buy-in to the main competition will be US$2,000 and a series of side events and cash games are also scheduled.

The AJPC said the Saipan tournament was likely to attract players from Japan, but also increase the number of entries its circuit events typically receive from other regional markets including South Korea and Taiwan.

“We aim to hold the AJPC Asian Circuit in Saipan for the first Japan-based tournament to be held on the island,” the announcement quoted AJPC chairman Sasaki Yasuhiro as saying. “We will continue to build our brand through launching tournaments in new and exciting destinations.”

Saipan is part of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a United States jurisdiction.

The AJPC is adding new competitions to its Asian circuit in places other than Saipan, including one competition in South Korea and others in Southeast Asia, with a view to expanding the number of players competing outside Japan.

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. The AJPC last year said it had enjoyed a period of growth with registrations increasing year-on-year. It also added Taiwan to its event circuit.

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