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China’s first ever real money international poker tournament attracted a record breaking number of players on the historic island of Macau – the ‘PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Macau: Asian Poker Open’.

The first ever international poker tournament in Macau, the ‘Las Vegas of the East,’ attracted tremendous interest across the poker playing community, keen to compare Macau to the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas, arguably the entertainment capital of the world.

A field of 352 players from 37 countries and jurisdictions around the world took to the tables today for a share of the $810,000 tournament prize pool, attempting to become the first PokerStars.net APPT Macau Champion – and the first poker champion to be crowned in China.

Kicking off at 12pm (GMT+8), the PokerStars.net APPT is the region’s first televised poker tournament and is being held in the luxurious Grand Waldo Hotel and Casino. The five-day event marks the third leg of a tour which has already conquered Manila and Seoul.

Today some of the most renowned names in modern poker put their best hand forward – with three World Champions including Aussie Joe Hachem among today’s star-studded field, in the hope of making Sunday’s final table. Before play started Joe Hachem said, "it is a great thrill for me to be part of such a historic event in poker’s history. Everyone playing today is focused on becoming China’s first poker champion."

There is strong representation from the Asia with Vietnam’s most famous poker faces, Thuan "Scotty" Nguyen and Tuan Lam. Scotty is one of the sport’s most recognised characters; know as ‘the Prince,’ he has been winning major poker tournaments across the globe for the last three decades. Tuan Lam was runner up in this year’s World Series of Poker Main Event, outlasting all but one of the 6,354 participants.

Joining the professionals are a host of players from across the world, who won their way to the event via free online tournaments at PokerStars.net – the world’s largest free learn-to-play poker site and naming sponsor for the tour. Online winners received flights, accommodation and the chance to be crowned PokerStars.net APPT Macau Champion.