Asia Pacific Poker Championship

[HoldingFolding]

Is anyone going to this tournament? Any idea how many entrants to expect?

[THAY3R]

Asia is the future of poker bla bla bla bla, look at me im special i'm doing all of these things involving asia and germany bla bla bla

/olivert

[olivert]

Who the heck is going to go the an island in the middle of nowhere for an untelevised $1500 buy-in event?

This APPC (being promoted by Americans) looks to be a dud.

--

There are huge obstacles to getting any major televised poker tournament off the ground in Asia, namely GOVERNMENT-RUN or GOVERNMENT-LICENSED gambling monopolies.

Those government-run or government-licensed gambling monopolies in Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, The Philippines etc. etc. etc. are all protecting their turf.

One reason why the anticipated WPT event in Macau has been delayed indefinitely: the government-licensed gambling monopoly in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) told the WPT that it will do everything it can to BLOCK the telecast of any poker tournament being held in Macau to be aired on any TV network in Hong Kong.

Bottom line: poker will eventually air in Hong Kong, but only at the pleasure of the HKJC. That means the HKJC, and only the HKJC, will eventually monopoly online and televised poker in Hong Kong.

Also, the WPT was kicked out of Singapore. The Singapore Media Development Authority (MDA) voided the TV contract between WPTE and Mediacorp because WPTE does NOT have a license from the Singapore Gambling Supression Board (GSB), which currently has a 100% monopoly on legalized gambling in Singapore.

The two poker events in Asia last November, the APPT in the Philippines and the APT in Singapore, were only televised locally because the government-run or government-licensed gambling monopolies in other countries ganged up with the local media authorities to block cross-border poker telecasts.

(BetFair had planned to put the Singapore APT event on Discovery Channel throughout Asia. The telecasts never aired outside Singapore because media regulators around Asia blocked the telecasts. The APT did have a license from the Singapore GSB so the Singapore MDA approved the telecast within Singapore ONLY.)


Ultimately, there will be successful major televised poker tourneys in Asia, but I anticipate that they will be run by the government monopolies, with cross-border telecasts to be negotiated on an event-by-event basis by the government monopolies via cross-border reciprocal agreements.

--

As for mainland China: everybody and his brother and sister (PartyPoker.net, FullTiltPoker.net, World Poker Tour, etc.) have been talking to the Chinese government in the past 6 months. The one route that is being explored is the same route that Russia has taken: to convince the China State General Administration for Sport (www.sport.gov.cn) that Poker should be classified as a recreational "sport" the way Chess, Billards, and Darts are currently classified in China. Government agencies in China currently have a 100% monopoly on legalized gambling in China (welfare lotteries, sports betting parlay cards).

[kleath]

Olivert HAS to be a bot right?

[Danimal 3000]

haha, $1500 buyin, $300 of which goes to an administrative fee and $150 to WSOP package fee. Right.

[HoldingFolding]

[ QUOTE ]
haha, $1500 buyin, $300 of which goes to an administrative fee and $150 to WSOP package fee. Right.

[/ QUOTE ]

The $300 looks like it includes 3 nights accomodation at that resort. The $150 looks like it should be $1500 which doesn't seem that unreasonable for airfare and entry in the WSOP.

[ QUOTE ]
Who the heck is going to go the an island in the middle of nowhere for an untelevised $1500 buy-in event?


[/ QUOTE ]

1. Not everyone lives in North America
2. Not everyone cares if a tournament is televised or not
3. Not everyone is bankrolled for the $25K buy ins

I live in Japan & this would be a relatively cheap way to try my hand at live tournament poker & enjoy a brief vacation too. I'd imagine the same might be true for expats living in HK, Manila or Singapore too. If your not interested, just ignore it.

[jck8]

olivert- you are favorite poster.

[olivert]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
haha, $1500 buyin, $300 of which goes to an administrative fee and $150 to WSOP package fee. Right.

[/ QUOTE ]

The $300 looks like it includes 3 nights accomodation at that resort. The $150 looks like it should be $1500 which doesn't seem that unreasonable for airfare and entry in the WSOP.

[ QUOTE ]
Who the heck is going to go the an island in the middle of nowhere for an untelevised $1500 buy-in event?


[/ QUOTE ]

1. Not everyone lives in North America
2. Not everyone cares if a tournament is televised or not
3. Not everyone is bankrolled for the $25K buy ins

I live in Japan & this would be a relatively cheap way to try my hand at live tournament poker & enjoy a brief vacation too. I'd imagine the same might be true for expats living in HK, Manila or Singapore too. If your not interested, just ignore it.

[/ QUOTE ]

The tournament poker business in Asia (I do NOT include Australia as part of Asia) so far has been bumpy.

The APPT in the Philippines last November, which was put together with very little lead time and very little promotion, drew only 34 players.

The APPC in Tainan looks to have the same problem: very little promotion.

Remember that there is no poker on TV in much of Asia.

(The Philippines is an exception, with the government gambling monopoly PAGCOR granting licenses to promoters to put tournament poker, including WPT and WPT Philippines, on TV.)

ESPN-branded networks in 24 countries and territories from Pakistan to South Korea, which are managed by NewsCorp (Rupert Murdoch) under a joint venture agreement (ESPN STAR SPORTS, or ESS, with headquarters in Singapore), has never aired the WSOP.

I understand from a contact in Japan that J Sports ESPN in Japan, which is managed by the Sumitomo Group under a joint venture agreement (J SPORTS, headquartered in Tokyo), has never aired the WSOP.

Translation: 99+% of the population in the Chinese-speaking world has never heard of Johnny Chan and has no idea who Johnny Chan is.

In order for poker to take off in Asia, a massive marketing effort, via widely-available and widely-watched TELEVISION networks (i.e. WSOP-branded products on ESPN-branded networks run by NewsCorp/Rupert Murdoch), will be required.

As long as the government-run or government-granted monopolies are protecting their turf and are keeping the WSOP (and the WPT, Aussie Millions, etc.) off television sets in Asia (in an attempt to monopolize televised and online poker within their respective countries and territories the way France is attempting to do so now), big time televised tournament poker may never see its light of day in much of Asia.

(The BetFair APT last November, which drew over 300 players, relied on online satellite qualifiers mostly from Europe. Out of the 300+ players, less than 20 were local players from Singapore.)

[HoldingFolding]

Your macro analysis is fascinating, but not particulary relevant to my query. I'll let you know how it goes...

[NYWalker]

[ QUOTE ]
Your macro analysis is fascinating, but not particulary relevant to my query. I'll let you know how it goes...

[/ QUOTE ]
if possible, post some pictures too. thanks!