APT Macau Main Event Day 1a | 2008 Asian Poker Tour - Macau

08-28-2008 05:30 UTC+8

Welcome to the APT Macau!

[user628]

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the APT Macau which will get underway at 9:00 pm Pacific/midnight Eastern US time tonight. This second leg of the APT is taking place at the lavish Galaxy StarWorld Hotel and Casino situated on the Macau peninsula in Macau, China. This former Portuguese colony lies 37 miles (60 kilometers) southwest of Hong Kong, facing the South China Sea, and will be the site of the largest event of the Asian Poker Tour, with a $1,500,000 prize pool and a guaranteed first prize of $500,000.

Event organizers are expecting a record crowd of for this $5,300 buy-in event. Day One will be split in two, to accommodate the large number of participants, and the event will run from tonight through the 31st.

Opening events for the tournament began yesterday with the opening of the APT Poker Room, a book signing by the legendary Doyle Brunson, and a Celebrity Poker Challenge to benefit Caritas de Macau, a local charity. Poker pro Quinn Do won the charity tournament, but the biggest winner was the charity which received a HKD$200,000 donation courtesy of the APT.

We look forward to seeing you as the action kicks off for Day 1a tonight. Join us then!

08-28-2008 11:54 UTC+8

Action Underway Shortly

[user67765]

The players are starting to gather in the lobby in anticipation of the commencement of the 2008 APT Macau Main Event! They will be taking their seats shortly with the cards scheduled to be in the air at 12 p.m. local time, which is in about ten minutes' time.

Stay tuned to PokerNews as the live reporting team brings you all of the action live from the tournament floor!

Level: 1

Blinds: 25/50

Ante: 0

08-28-2008 12:02 UTC+8

Shuffle Up and Deal!

[user67765]

Doyle Brunson and Jack Binion Welcome the players to the APT Macau Main Event

Legendary poker icons Doyle Brunson and Jack Binion have welcomed the players to the Asian Poker Tour and uttered the immortal words, "Shuffle up and deal!"

The cards are now in the air!

Tags: Doyle Brunson Jack Binion

08-28-2008 12:16 UTC+8

A Sense of the Action

[user75032]

A few notes on the start of play are in order. Fifteen tables have been set up in the tournament room for the tournament, with an additional eight tables set aside for satellites. Currently, none of the satellite tables are in use; 12 of the tournament tables are occupied. The tournament tables are playing eight-handed. The five seat at each table has been set aside for the table placard, although registration for today has not yet closed.

That puts the size of the field so far today at just under 100 players. In that field we have spotted Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Nam Le, "November Nine" member David Rheem, and APT Manila winner David Saab, who was escorted to the table by several of the "APT girls" -- models who have been hired by the APT to serve as goodwill ambassadors.

Tags: David Rheem David Saab Doyle Brunson Johnny Chan Nam Le

08-28-2008 12:19 UTC+8

Saab Makes Solid Start

[user67765]

Winner of the inaugural Asian Poker Tour event in Manila, David Saab is off to a good start in his quest for back-to-back titles.

After Saab raised preflop, he called both the flop and turn bets by Hai Chen Hong on a board of {3-Diamonds}

, until the {7-Spades}

fell on the river and Hong checked to Saab who fired out a healthy bet of 3,500. Hong thought for a moment before laying his hand down, giving Saab a nice start to move to about 12,000 chips.

Tags: David Saab Hai Chen Hong

08-28-2008 12:22 UTC+8

The TV Table

[user75032]

Liz Lieu just arrived to the tournament, fashionably late. Upon finding her seat, she saw Johnny Chan on her left at Harry Demetriou at the other end of the table.

"Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed.

Todd Brunson and J.C. Tran were also fashionably late arrivals. Brunson is at David Rheem's table and Tran is at David Saab's table. Saab offered Tran a snapshot of the table when Tran sat down.

"Online player, online player, online player, online player, online player, online player," said Saab, pointing to each other person at the table in turn and laughing.

"But I'm an online player too!" Tran responded.

Tags: David Saab Harry Demetriou JC Tran Liz Lieu Todd Brunson

08-28-2008 12:29 UTC+8

Starstruck

[user75032]

For many of the online qualifiers in the room, playing in the tournament is almost a reward in and of itself. A player sitting next to Todd Brunson, clearly overjoyed at Brunson's presence at the table, has been snapping photographs of himself and Brunson in between hands.

Tags: Todd Brunson

08-28-2008 12:33 UTC+8

Post, Post, Post

[user75032]

Play today started eight-handed, but as late arrivals continue to trickle in, the number five seat has been put into action at each table. The problem is that the five seat started as a "dead seat," without a stack of chips in front of it, and has not been blinded down during play. The solution: any player coming into the five seat is required to post a blind of 50 chips three hands in a row.

08-28-2008 12:38 UTC+8

Gill Takes Early Pot

[user67765]

On a flop of {8-Spades}

Carter Gill checked to his opponent in position who fired out a bet of 650. Gill then check-raised to 1,700 and his opponent made the call.

The turn brought the {Q-Hearts}