It has never been likely that a live and legal poker tournament would ever be broadcasted within China, but times have changed and the next generation is here as represented by China hosting its very first legal poker tournament starting on the 23rd of November 2007. The tournament was of a large scale, with a total of 352 players being prepared to pay the $2,500 fee to enter the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) and have the honour of being part of the historical event.
Whoever manages to gain the title of being Asia’s largest poker tournament winner will be known for years to come by poker players everywhere. The tournament was commenced by the one and only Scotty Nguyen, who has developed his reputation as a one of the poker greats as a result of winning such events as the 1998 World Series , along with holding the title of being the first Asian player to pocket $1 million from a poker tournament.
It was after only approximately 30 minutes into the event before the first ever legal Chinese bad beat was experienced by a resident of Hong Kong who goes by the name of Raymond Chow. The APPT was only launched a couple of months back in August 2007, and had held tournaments in surrounding countries such as Korea. The tour’s headlining sponsor was PokerStars; this is where 210 out of the 325 entrants managed to qualify for their position in the tournament. The event attracted a number of big names from the poker world such as Scotty Nguyen, Brian Haveson and Chad Brown, in turn boosting the appeal of the event on the whole. It is as a result of names like these making appearances at poker events that keep the glamour and limelight upon the sport, which is perfect to help attract new players into the game.
This particular movement within the poker industry most likely comes as good news to most poker players, with the games reputation hopefully being withheld and promoted via groundbreaking legislation coming into force such as is seen in China. The legalisation of poker in China will most likely signal a great increase in the number of players playing the game, along with allowing many who may have already been playing poker illegally to relax without fear of facing any consequences which may have previously been a large possibility. Before this event the largest poker tour to be held within Asian was seen back in November of last year in Singapore, with 313 people entering the tournament.
