Sherwin Alda Tops Metro Rush to the APT

One player got in for the cheap investment, another joined for sheer thrill. At the end of the day, both found themselves on top of the A Million Rush to the APT event at the Metro Card Club in Pasig City.

Chasing cash and seats, it was the chip leader from Day 1A, Sherwin Alda, who got the first-place finish. Alda, a casual cash game player who decided to join the tournament because of the low buy-in amount, earned himself a seat to the APT Philippines 2010 main event as well as Php 300,000 in cash.

With the final table consisting mainly of relatively unknown players, it was apt that another unheralded player finished behind the champion. Jason Ong, who initially did not intend to play in the tournament, ended up at second place to bring home Php 160,000.

Aside from the cash, Ong and two other players, Emmanuel Segismundo (3rd place) and Luis Bernardo (4th place) also joined Alda in securing seats.

Each APT Philippines 2010 main event seat is worth approximately US $2,700. APT Philippines 2010 will be held from August 23 to 29 at the Resorts World Manila complex in Manila, Philippines.

The defending APT Philippines champion is none other than the Metro Card Club's Neil Arce, who won US $185,000 for finishing first in last year's event.

Final Table Results:

1st - Sherwin Alda (Php 300,000 + APT Seat)
2nd - Jason Ong (Php 160,000 + APT Seat)
3rd - Eman Segismundo (Php 90,000 + APT Seat)
4th - Luis Bernardo (Php 48,000 + APT Seat)
5th - Oliver Cristobal (Php 39,000)
6th - Harvey Ty (Php 30,000)
7th - Onofre De Guzman (Php 24,000)
8th - Francis Adornado (Php 18,000)
9th - Kartman Paul Tolenada (Php 15,000)

The Metro Card Club is located at the Metrowalk complex in Pasig City, Philippines. For more information, visit their website by clicking here.

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Medina Shows Touch, Rules Leg 3 of TPC Motherboard

Jerick Medina took on the challenge and rose to the occasion by besting 101 other players to emerge as the top player in the third leg of The Poker Circuit’s Motherboard series last night at The Midas Touch in Pasig City.

Medina finished with 443,000 in chips, good for second best in all of the TPC Motherboard legs so far. Joining him in the next round is the first lady to make the finals of the Motherboard series, Cyril “Ayee” Ramos, who doubled and tripled her way up to be among the nine qualifiers for the finals at APT Philippines 2010.

It was Richard Marquez who commanded a ceasefire to the action. With pocket nines, Marquez raised the shortest-stacked player, who responded by going all-in. Marquez immediately called as the player showed {q-}{10-} off-suit. The board blanked out and the cast was set.

Showing how cutthroat the competition was in this leg was the fact that the final nine was created at Round 18. That means that the Midas qualifiers are given a four round rollback in the finals as Poker Royale, which was the second leg, stopped at Round 14 (blinds: 4,000-8,000; ante: 1,000).

A total of 46 players registered in Day 1A of the event before 56 more signed up in the final two starting days.

Midas Touch part-owner Atty. Mans Tumanda was more than ecstatic and excited about the turnout, saying, “I am very pleased with the outcome of the TPC Motherboard here at Midas Touch. I can't wait to have my next event, which will involve the TPC, coming very soon.”

The fourth and final leg of the TPC Motherboard series is at King's Poker Sports Club in Pampanga on August 19 to 22. The survivors of all four legs will come together to play in the TPC Motherboard finals on the first day of APT Philippines 2010.

Buy-in for each TPC Motherboard event is set at Php 5,000 + Php 400. With the prize pool at Php 3,000,000, it looks like at least twelve seats to the APT Philippines 2010 main event will be given away in the finals.

APT Philippines 2010 will be held from August 23 to 29 at the Resorts World Manila complex in Manila, Philippines. Buy-in is set at approximately US $2,500 + US $200.

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The Week in Tournament Poker: August 8-14, 2010

Asia PokerNews takes you around the world of poker tournaments as the Macau Millions, PokerStars Russian Poker Series – Riga, Australia New Zealand Poker Tour Gold Coast, and the Florida State Poker Championship, took place over the past week or so.

(Main photo: Macau Millions winner Justin Chan addresses the crowd as PokerStars Macau's Fred Leung looks on.)

First, we stay in Asia, where PokerStars Macau at the Grand Lisboa Casino recently held the Macau Millions. Hong Kong's Justin Chan took home the top honors from the main event, besting many of Asia's top players to win the HK $275,000 first prize.

Missed the Macau Millions? No worries, as Asia PokerNews was there at the event covering all the action. Click here to visit the Asia PokerNews live reporting pages and find out how Justin Chan bagged the victory.

Next, we head to Florida, where Mike “The Mouth” Matusow won a cash prize of US $103,000 after winning the $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Championship at the Florida State Poker Championships. The event took place at the Isle Casino in Pompano Beach with 140 entries showing up to play. Among those participating were Adam “Roothlus” Levy and November Niner Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi.

At the €1,850 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event of the PokerStars Russian Poker Series, Alexander Kuperman walked away with the title after the final five players chopped up the remaining money. 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event runner-up Ivan Demidov won the second biggest buy-in event on the schedule.

Meanwhile, Nauv Kashya took home AUD$ 182,965 for topping the field at the ANZPT Main Event. He bested a tough final table that included Ricky Kroesen, Aaron Benton and Joel Dodds.

Here’s a look at the results from the latest tournaments:

Macau Millions
Buy-in: HK$ 2,000 + $200
Guarantee: HK$ 1,000,000
Prize Pool: HK$ 1,467,180
Entrants: 741

1st - Justin Chan (HK $275,000)
2nd - Tom Chou (HK $200,000)
3rd - Lei "Alex" Long (HK $130,000)
4th - Jimmy King (HK $100,000)
5th - Jonathan Azoulay (HK $75,000)
6th - David Pan (HK $57,680)
7th - Richard Hu (HK $45,000)
8th - Li Jin Hua (HK $37,500)
9th - Victor Chen (HK $30,000)
10th - Jun Chen (HK $25,000)

Notable Finishes: Raymond Wu (23rd - $13,000), Bryan Huang (33rd - $9,000)

PokerStars RPS Main Event
Buy-in: €1,850 + €150
Guarantee: None
Prize Pool: €328,393
Entrants: 183

*1. Alexander Kuperman - €45,000
*2. Ganeev Murat - €45,000
*3. Mikhail Rudenok - €45,000
*4. Martin Meciar- €61,744
*5. Arturs Jegorovs - €45,000
6. Igor Yaroshevsky - €13,125
7. Joao Candeias - €10,175
8. Evgeniy Zaycev - €8,200
9. Ernesto Estevez - €6,550

PokerStars RPS €1,000 NLHE
Buy-in: €1,000 + €100
Guarantee: None
Prize Pool: €34,920
Entrants: 37

*1. Ivan Demidov - €10,270
*2. Kaspars Renga - €9,000
*3. Dmitry Vitkind - €7,000
4. Viktors Caikins- €3,825
5. Aleksandrov Mikhail - €2,775
6. Sergey Ponasyuk - €2,025

ANZPT Gold Coast
Buy-in: A$ 2,500
Guarantee: None
Prize Pool: A$ 717,500
Entrants: 287

1. Nauv Kashyap - A$ 182,965
2. Ricky Kroesen - $116,235
3. Liam O’Rourke - $64,575
4. Aaron Benton - $50,225
5. Joel Dodds - $41,975
6. Brad Wilson - $34,440
7. Le Vuong Van - $27,265
8. Michael Spilkin - $21,525
9. Dominic Coombe - $16,145

Notable Finishes: Maurie Pears (16th - $7,890), David Steicke (22nd - $6,100)

In other tournament news, the Detox Poker Series kicked off this past week. Matt Savage has been called in as the tournament director and the series looks to be drawing a great crowd out in Las Vegas. There are a handful of events on the schedule, but here are the results from the big $350 kickoff event with a $100,000 guarantee.

Detox Poker Series
Buy-in: $350
Guarantee: $100,000
Prize Pool: $121,150
Entrants: 399

1. Joe Tehan - $31,943
2. Rickard Ziscino - $16,432
3. Richard Watwood - $15,065
4. Nicholas Gorman - $8,360
5. Kevin Kramer - $6,270
6. Steve Wilson - $5,230
7. Amin Dobine - $4,180
8. Jess Welman - $3,140
9. Michael Regan - $2,090

* - Denotes a chop

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Nothing But Postives for the Gaming Industry in Macau

It looks like Macau may be inching even closer to Las Vegas' status as the world's top gambling location after strong results over the last year. Here's the latest business news from Asia's gaming capital.

Macau Gaming Industry on the Upswing

Gaming revenue in Macau jumped 70 percent in July 2010 compared to the same month last year, and July's take was also 20 percent higher than in June. After a slump while international gamblers were distracted by the World Cup, they hit the tables and slots in earnest after the final matches ended.

Industry analysts David Katz and Stephen Shulstein said the results were better than expected. They also said they thought that Macau gaming revenue will probably be strong throughout 2010 even though the Chinese economy has been cooling slightly.

Bloomberg gave a rundown of the stock performances of companies with major investments in the Macau gaming industry at the beginning of August and reported growth all around.

Although U.S.-based casino operators are thrilled by the booming Macanese (Macau) market, the State Department is less excited. In its Country Reports on Terrorism 2009, published last week, the State Department wrote, "Macau's position as a major international gambling center makes it a potential site for money laundering and terrorist financing activities. The report added that, "Macau authorities have taken steps to improve compliance with suspicious transactions reporting requirements ... but the threshold reporting limits remain well above international norms,” and the territory "does not have reporting requirements for cross-border currency movements."

Wynn Doubles Properties in Macau, Also Doubles 2Q Profits

Wynn Resorts Ltd. reported that its second-quarter profits doubled from last year's thanks to the opening of a second casino in Macau. Wynn's net income increased from $25.5 million to $52.4 million. The company points to Encore Macau's opening in April as a major source of the additional funds. Steve Wynn, the company's namesake and CEO, said that Encore's "high-end pits" attracted more than their "fair share" of profitable whales.

"Prior to the opening of Encore, we had 8.5 percent of the equipment and 13 of the revenues from the market," he explained. "Now, we have 10 percent of the equipment and 16 to 17 percent of the revenue. We are on our way to the best year in this company's history." Wynn also told shareholders that the company plans to build a third resort on the Cotai Strip. Although he may have been motivated as much by his very public disagreement with the democratic presidential administration as by the success of his properties in Macau, Wynn announced earlier in the year that he was considering moving company headquarters from Las Vegas to Macau.

Read about the Wynn's second-quarter numbers for yourself here and here.

Sands a Success in Macau

The Las Vegas Sands Corp. reported a second-quarter loss of $4.7 million, but that was a huge gain considering the company lost $222.2 million during the same period last year. Total revenue climbed from $1.06 billion in 2009 to $1.59 billion. The 51 percent jump in revenue was largely attributed to the raging success of the Sands' properties in Macau and its new casino complex in Singapore.

Although subsidiary Sands China had a good year, including a successful $2.5 billion debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange, Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson fired Sands China CEO Steven Jacobsen at the end of his yearlong term in July. Jacobsen was replaced by former Disney executive Wing Chao.

Click to learn more about the Sands finances and CEO drama.

MGM Looking to Expand Macau Operations

MGM Resorts International has been suffering under the weight of its $8.5 billion CityCenter project, which opened in Las Vegas in December 2009. The development's operating losses are taking a toll on the company's finances and is the primary cause of MGM's $883 million net loss in the second quarter of 2010. That was a drop of about $2 per share.

The only positive thing that MGM could announce in its quarterly report was a jump in the profitability of its half stake in the MGM Grand Macau. In the second quarter of 2009, the hotel-casino lost $8 million, but it brought in $40 million in income during the same period in 2010.

The president of MGM Macau, Grant Bowie, said on Friday that the company is looking to expand its presence in the area and is on the hunt for a parcel of land in the booming Cotai Strip. "We have made it clear we want to grow in Macau," Bowie said. "We are working with the goverment," to make that happen. There are rumors that an offering of MGM stock on the Hong Kong stock exchange may be tied to receiving a land concession on the Strip, something MGM requested in 2007.

Harrah's Missed the Boat

In an interview with Bloomberg last week, Gary Loveman, CEO of Harrah's Entertainment Inc., said that his biggest mistake as CEO was his 2006 decision not to bid on a $900 million gambling license in Macau. A year later, Harrah's bought a golf course there to try to get the brand name somewhere on the island, but it was too late to secure one of only six gambling licenses. "Big mistake," Loveman said. "I was wrong, I was really wrong."

(Article source: PokerNews.com)

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Shinich Koisi Wins Second Tokyo Poker Tour Event

The Tokyo Poker Tour (TPT) held its second consecutive successful tournament last weekend, with Japanese player Shinich Koisi going home as the champion.

(Main photo: Winner Shinich Koisio, left, poses with Tokyo Poker Tour's Itaru Kaneko)

A total of 113 players from all over Japan, including major cities such as Osaka and Tokyo, participated in the event, which was held at the Tokyo Womens Plaza in Omotesando.

It was a long heads-up duel between Koiso and the runner-up, fellow Japanese player Zool. In the end, Koiso and Zool both got their stacks in with Koiso holding {j-Spades}{10-Clubs} against Zool’s {a-Hearts}{q-Clubs}.

The flop came out {j-Hearts}{9-Spades}{3-Clubs}, immediately giving Koiso top pair. The turn blanked with the {4-Diamonds} and the river {10-Diamonds} only made his hand even better as he improved to top two-pair.

For the win, Koiso won a US $2,500 Spanish Poker Tour (SPT) Package Tour and Everest Poker merchandise. Meanwhile, Zool received a pair of high-end Masunaga sunglasses for his runner-up finish.

Just like the first TPT tournament, the event was filled with plenty of highlights. Japanese singer Antonio Koinoki sang his famous theme song to kick off the event and he invited all the players to join him in shouting “shuffle up and deal!” Also in attendance was Japanese comedian and wrestling personality Koriki Choshu, who participated in the tournament.



In addition, Tokio, the thirteen-year-old son of TPT tournament director and promoter Itaru Kaneko, made another appearance as a dealer, much to the delight of the crowd.

The next TPT tournament will be held tomorrow, August 14, at the same venue. The winner of that tournament will receive a 7 Luck Casino package for two.

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