May 29 - As a means of firmly establishing the PokerStars brand name
in the Macau region, the online poker room has entered into a partnership with
the Grand Waldo Casino in Cotai and will manage the newly opened poker room -
the first of its kind in the area that has overtaken Las Vegas in gambling
revenue.
The new poker room will seat 250 poker players and both PokerStars and the
the Grand Waldo hope that it will become a popular live poker hub in the Asian
region.
The General Manager of the Grand Waldo Casino, Gary Wollard said: "The
arrival of poker as a gaming option in Macau's casinos will encourage more
people to come and enjoy all Macau has to offer. We are delighted to have a
company with a reputation of PokerStars to manage what is sure to be a very
successful and popular poker room."
Poker is already offered at the Grand Lisboa Casino after it became the first
party to obtain a license to introduce Texas Hold 'em to Macua from the Gaming
Inspection and Coordination Bureau of Macau.
The new PokerStars poker room will host weekend (Thursday to Sunday)
qualifying tournaments for the long-awaited Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) that
is due to be held in Macau in September, 2008. The poker room will include an
eclectic mix of games, including tournament and cash games to provide maximum
entertainment.
Jeffrey Haas, President of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour, said in light of the
poker room's opening: "Poker has grown tremendously in Asia and we are very
excited to be driving that growth, particularly as we were the first to
introduce live poker in Macua."
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