The Macau Poker Cup has now been around for a long time, having taken place 21 times previous to this year. Sponsored by Pokerstars, events usually have sizeable guarantees and draw a good crowd. This is particularly the case with the Red Dragon Main Event. The previous Red Dragon event back in August created a field of 808 players, but this time around, 987 participated. This figure was only a handful short of the attendance record, but the increased buy in of HK$12,000 ensuring a record prize pool of HK$10,339,812. This is a clear indication of poker tours in Asia gaining popularity, and hopefully will be a good omen for future growth in the Macau Poker Cup.
Record prize pool for the Red Dragon (photo Kenneth Lim)
Team Pokerstars pro and former two time champion Celina Lin was one of the big names to watch, but unfortunately she busted early on. David Steicke managed to make the final table, raising hopes that a notable name might life the trophy. Steicke has USD$3.3million in career cashes, including winning the Aussie Millions AUD$100K Challenge for $1.2 million but fell in 9th. Yuguang Li and Yunye Lu battled heads up for the title, and agreed to the following ICM deal after several hours of play: Yunye Lu – HK$1,645,000 and Yuguang Li – HK$1,598,000. Play then continued until Yuguang Li eventually triumphed, locking up an extra HK$150,000 and a HK$100,000 ACOP Main Event seat.
Side Events: Eric Fung won the Baby Dragon event, which attracted 289 players, each buying in for HK$6,000.
Louis Hartwell
Graduated in Media Communication at the University of Lausanne, Louis Hartman is a co-founder of somuchpoker.com. He began his career in Cambodia as freelance journalist. In same time he was making his living by playing poker every night at that time. Intense learner, he read dozens of poker strategy books to improve his skills during many years. With a strong interest about poker "behind the scene" in Asia and his communication skills, Louis launched Somuchpoker in 2014.
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