Macau ยท 31 August 2012
Macau High Stakes Challenge 2012
A one-day HK$2,000,000 (about US$260,000) turbo tournament at the Poker King Club in StarWorld, Macau. It was organised and sponsored by the Neptune Group together with PokerAce.tv.
Format
| Venue | Poker King Club, StarWorld Hotel and Casino, Macau |
|---|---|
| Date | Friday 31 August 2012, one day, starting 15:00 Macau time |
| Buy-in | HK$2,000,000 (about US$260,000) |
| Structure | Turbo, 30-minute levels; rebuys at the same price during the first four levels |
| Rake | 3% in total: 1% to charity, 2% to the organisers and staff |
| Field | 73 players and 21 rebuys; previews expected mostly Asian businessmen alongside touring professionals |
| Prize pool | HK$182,360,000 (US$23,511,000) |
Final table
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stanley Choi | HK$50,149,000 (US$6,465,746) |
| 2 | Zhu Guan Fai | HK$33,737,000 (US$4,349,735) |
| 3 | Nicholas Wong | |
| 4 | Tang Zheng | |
| 5 | John Juanda | |
| 6 | Lap Key Chen | |
| 7 | Sam Trickett | |
| 8 | Phil Ivey |
Andrew Robl was among the first players out; Brian Rast, Joe Hachem and Brian Powell also left before the money. Erik Seidel finished 16th. Sam Trickett was eliminated in seventh when Choi's hand improved to four of a kind on the turn.
The table-cap backdrop
The event ran in the same week that Macau's gaming regulator reversed a plan to count up to 20 poker tables as a single table under the territory's cap of 5,500 table games. The reversal made poker far less attractive for casinos; see a short history of poker in Macau.