MACAU, March 17, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PokerStars, the world's largest poker company, is pleased to announce the grand opening of the new "PokerStars Macau at the Grand Lisboa" live poker room at the Grand Lisboa Casino on 19 March 2009. Located on the 2nd floor of the famous Grand Lisboa in the heart of Macau, PokerStars Macau will be the largest poker room in continental Asia with 22 tables for exciting Texas Hold'em poker tournament action and 24-hour cash games.
PokerStars Macau at the Grand Lisboa will host the largest regular weekly poker tournaments in Asia, the premiere "Macau Poker Cup" series every other month, and the annual Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Macau Poker Festival.
Freeroll tournaments, with no entrance fees for new poker players, will be available every week, as well as exciting events for poker players of all skill levels -- from amateur to professional. Players can register or qualify online for all events, or live within the poker room.
The opening on the weekend of 19-22 March will celebrate the return of the "Macau Poker Cup" and its signature HKD 10,000 buy-in "Red Dragon" event. For the first time ever, the Red Dragon will have a guaranteed minimum prize pool of HKD 500,000. Numerous other events will be held during the Macau Poker Cup, including a HKD 1,000 buy-in charity event the proceeds of which will be donated to Caritas Macau.
"PokerStars is committed to the development of poker across Asia, and this new room will be its heart," said Joe Hachem, Poker World Champion and member of Team PokerStars Pro. "It has been extraordinary for me to watch the growth of poker culture in the eighteen months since the PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour first brought poker to Macau, and I'm so excited about playing in my third APPT there in August."
PokerStars Macau at the Grand Lisboa invites poker players from the Pearl River Delta, to across Asia and around the world to come to compete in the wide range of exciting tournaments held every week in Asia's gaming capital.
To find out more about PokerStars Macau at the Grand Lisboa, visit www.pokerstarsmacau.com.
MACAU POKER CUP SCHEDULE
THURSDAY, MARCH 19
2:10 pm --> Macau Poker Cup Freeroll --> Buyin: FREE
4:00 pm --> Phase 1 - Red Dragon Satellite --> Buyin: $220
8:10 pm --> Event No. 1: $500 Rebuy (40K Guarantee) --> Buyin: $500*
FRIDAY, MARCH 20
12:30 pm --> Phase 1 - Red Dragon Satellite --> Buyin: $220
2:10 pm --> Event No. 2: Charity Event + 2 Rebuys (50K Added Prizes) --> Buyin: $1,000*
5:00 pm --> Phase 2 - Red Dragon Satellite --> Buyin: $1,000
8:10 pm --> Event No. 3: $3,000 NLH --> Buyin: $3,000
SATURDAY, MARCH 21
12:30 pm --> Event No. 4: Deep Stack (60K Guarantee) --> Buyin: $1,500
4:00 pm --> Phase 2 - Red Dragon Satellite --> Buyin: $1,000
7:00 pm --> Event No. 5: Red Dragon (500K Guarantee) --> Buyin: $10,000
SUNDAY, MARCH 22
2:10 pm --> Red Dragon - Day 2
3:30 pm --> Event No. 6: Rebuy Madness --> Buyin:$100*.
*These events are subject to change
About SJM
Sociedade de Jogos de Macau S.A. ("SJM"), is one of six companies authorized to engage in the exploitation of casino games of fortune and other games of chance in casino, under the terms of a concession granted by the government of Macau in March 2002. SJM is the only locally-rooted company operating in the casino gaming industry in Macau.
SJM currently operates 19 casinos located in prime locations in the Macau Peninsula and Taipa Island and convenient to principal entry points. Gaming operations are comprised of VIP table gaming, Mass Market table gaming and slot machines.
About the Grand Lisboa Hotel and Casino
The Grand Lisboa Casino offers over 300 gaming tables where guests can enjoy a variety of games including Baccarat, Caribbean Stud Poker, Sic Bo, Texas Hold'em Poker, Craps, Casino War, Blackjack, and Macau's unique Fan Tan. Furthermore, the venue accommodates more than 740 slot machines located throughout the casino.
The Grand Lisboa Hotel, Macau offers 430 ultra-luxurious rooms and suites that come with stunning views, state-of-the-art meeting facilities and banqueting facilities, a fitness centre, swimming pool, spa, outstanding food and beverages facilities with Michelin-star awards all of which will set the standard for 5 star deluxe hotels.
About www.pokerstars.com:
PokerStars (www.pokerstars.com) is the world's largest online poker room (with 20 million players worldwide). It is the premier destination for the world's top players -- with numerous tournaments running every day. PokerStars is renowned for offering the best software and security in the online poker world. PokerStars:
- Is the first online poker room to host over 37,000 real money cash game players simultaneously
- Has dealt over 26 billion hands
- Has run more than 140 million poker tournaments
- Has entered the Guinness Book of World Records for holding the largest online poker tournament -- 35,000 players
- Pays out more than $300 million in tournament prize money every month
- Have had over 265,000 simultaneous players, and entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the first and only poker website to reach the 200,000 simultaneous players mark
PokerStars holds the biggest online poker tournament series in the world -- The World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP). This is the premier online poker tournament series in the world. Its 6th annual running saw a total of 33 events, comprised of 55,578 entries from 119 countries and a total prize pool of $40 million.
PokerStars is the official sponsor of the: European Poker Tour (www.ept.com), PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, Latin American Poker Tour (www.lapt.com), Asia Pacific Poker Tour (www.appt.com) and The World Cup of Poker.
PokerStars is the home of Team PokerStars Pro, a group of over 30 veteran and up-and-coming players from around the world who play online at PokerStars and are sponsored by the site in international tournaments around the world. For more information please visit www.pokerstars.com.
The PokerStars Macau logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=5996