gaming

The highly successful debut of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) last year has gotten PokerStars amped up for season two, adding a new location and upping buy-ins for bigger prize pools.

The first stop on the APPT will be the People’s Republic of China. The Grand Waldo Hotel and Casino in Macau will host the event Sept. 1-9. There will be both a $3,200 buy-in main event and a $19,250 buy-in high-rollers event.

AP is carrying a story concerning the impact of Macau tourism (and gaming) on that great institution of Hong Kong gaming -- the 124-year-old Hong Kong Jockey Club, whose racetrack revenues are one of the secrets of the territory's economic success.

According to AP, the new competitors are draining away at least $2.4 billion a year in potential betting revenue, or about 20 percent of last year's take.

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The five-card fever invades China as the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) holds its third leg in the historic Chinese island of Macau from Nov. 22 to 27 at the Grand Waldo Hotel and Casino.

It will be the first ever real money No-Limit Texas Hold’em poker tournament to be held in this tiny island city with fast-growing economy, and the organizing Pokerstars.net (www.pokerstars.net) is expecting a record number of participants from all over the world to pit their skills against each other in this fastest growing mind game.

Poker appears to be expanding in a market that everybody in the industry has their eye on.

Just recently PokerStars announced their first APPT event to be held in Macau, a special administrative region of China, and the hits keep coming.

On Friday the PokerDome group announced they had partnered with the Diamond Casino in the Holiday Inn with the plan of unveiling the first permanent cash game in China.

PokerStars has announced the first-ever real money No-Limit Texas Hold'em poker tournament to be held in the People's Republic of China, with the creation of the 'PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour Macau: Asian Poker Open'. The entire APPT Macau stop will run from November 22-27, 2007, and will feature a main event with a buy-in of US $2,500. The event will be held at Macau's Grand Waldo Hotel & Casino, one of the newest "five-star" venues to appear on the expanding Macau scene.

Macau generated revenue of 25.01 billion patacas (Bt9.19 trillion) for the first eight months of the year, of which 18.36 billion patacas, or 73.41 per cent, came from gambling tax. The second-largest income contributor is tourism.

Last year, this special administrative region of China recorded revenue of US$9.3 billion (Bt318 billion) from tourism, which is expected to increase to $15 billion this year. In the first half of this year, tourism income was $6 billion, up 38 per cent year on year.

10.) Connecticut

This rural section of Southern New England isn't exactly a world wonder, but it does contain two major casinos and one dubbed "the wonder of it all." Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun are located within 30 minutes of each other. Foxwoods is home to the one of the world's largest poker rooms and Mohegan Sun boasts both world class entertainment and high-end shopping. This area is conveniently situated between the tourist heavy cities of New York City and Boston and is a favorite destination of college-aged gamblers who flood the region annually.

9.) Bahamas

The casinos may not be world famous, but the islands are, hosting beautiful beaches and coveted vacations spots. The Atlantis, located on the appropriately named Paradise Island, is a treasure for both its gambling space and its beach-themed allure.

The risk takers see no bounds. And neither does gambling. The origins of gambling cannot be traced to one country or region in particular. Gambling is an age old practice. Though its concentration in the United States is higher, its popularity is evenly distributed. With betting in sports and the advent of international and national lotteries, gambling has found new vistas across the globe.