by Nigel Huxtable

The second casino to embrace Texas Hold'em poker in Macau will open a dedicated room for the card game tomorrow.
The Grand Waldo casino in Cotai will open a room on the mezzanine level of its casino that will include six cash tables and capacity for 110 tournament players.
The casino will partner with PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker site, which will run weekend tournaments leading up to the Macau leg of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) in September.
The weekend tournaments will begin each Thursday evening with a free entry competition and continue with games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings with entry fees ranging from HKD500 to HKD5,000.
TOURNAMENT ORGANISERS ARE EYEING MACAU AS A HUB FOR POKER IN ASIA AND INTEND TO TURN THE YEARLY APPT LEG INTO ONE OF THE پGLARGEST COMPETITIONS IN ASIA AND ONE OF THE LARGEST IN THE WORLDپH, PRESIDENT JEFFREY HAAS TOLD THE MACAU DAILY TIMES.
The weekly games are intended to feed the yearly event and organisers expect to attract players from around the region.
“WE HAVE HAD A LOT OF INTEREST FROM HONG KONG AND ALSO FROM PLAYERS IN GUANGZHOU, ZHUHAI AND LOCALLY IN MACAU,” SAID MR HAAS.
The tournaments are also expected to help fill the six tables that the casino will operate independently.
“WE PROMOTE THE GAME AND BRING THEM IN AND AS THEY GET ELIMINATED THEY GO AND PLAY AT THE CASH TABLES,” SAID MR HAAS.
In January the Grand Lisboa was the first casino to introduce Texas Hold'em after it was approved by the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.
An initial four tables has since been expanded to eight. The casino is seeing interest particularly from Southeast Asian tourists.
The poker room at the Grand Waldo will open tomorrow night with a charity game with entry fees going to the Sichuan earthquake victims.
The organiser will also donate HKD150,000 and double the entry fees received.
“The Grand Waldo will be the only place in Macau that holds regular poker tournaments,h said Mr Haas.
“WE ENCOURAGE EVERYONE IN MACAU TO COME ALONG AND CHECK OUT THE NEW ROOM AND HELP THE EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS.H