Monday, November 20, 2006

Two years ago, Mr Tan Wee Yee flew all the way to Las Vegas to enter a poker tournament, and promptly found his wallet fatter by US$60,000 ($93,634) after finishing in one of the top groups. On Wednesday afternoon, the 29-year-old, who works in the finance department of a hedge fund, was among 313 hopefuls - 11 of them Singaporean - who began their quest for a slice of the prize pool of more than US$1.5 million at the first officially sanctioned poker tournament in Singapore. Some local hopefuls are from the property sector, others from banking. One, a final-year undergraduate at the Singapore Institute of Management, tore himself away from his textbooks just so he could be part of this "history-making event". After the qualifying rounds, the inaugural Betfair Asian Poker Tour shifted into high gear as the three-day elimination main event began on Wednesday. The tournament - the largest ever in Asia and co-organised by local company Capital Events - attracted more than 700 players from 32 countries. The final 313 made it either by winning online tournaments, forking out a US$5,000 "direct entry" fee, or via qualifiers. Singaporean Low Chin Han, 25, admitted the lure of a possible US$451,000 first prize was "too much to resist". The senior associate at a bank first picked up the game four years ago as a student in Melbourne, where he routinely visited the Crown Casino to play poker. Others, like Mr Jenn Ong, 31, a real estate developer, parted with his US$400 qualifying fee "just for the fun of it" and is now in the finals. Top Singapore-born player Willie Tann believes the game is fast catching on in Asia, due to online gaming and major sports networks broadcasting high-stakes tournaments on TV. Said the 65-year-old, who has amassed more than US$1 million in prize money: "I see boys, young men, coming to play, and to them, it's becoming really macho to be a good at poker, to be able to outwit your opponent at the table." With poker being a game of both skill and luck, he believes an Asian player has "as good a chance as a European or American" of bagging a top prize. Already, one Singaporean has stamped his mark by coming up trumps in a "no limit hold 'em" side event which ended on Monday night. Mr David Kiu, 29, paid just US$150 for a seat and, 12 hours of poker later, came away US$12,940 richer after beating 277 other players. "There were really strong players from all over the world, which makes it particularly sweet," he said.