Poker’s collective eyes might be firmly fixed on Vegas right now but Asia hasn’t taken notice as the Macau Poker Cup crowns its latest champion. Celina Lin took down her second MPC Red Dragon event and the Chinese player is the only female to win the contest not only once but now twice. She told the PokerStars blog: “I always wanted to be the first female champion, but I thought it was impossible to win it twice.”
Alongside the bragging rights among Macau’s poker elite, her victory at the Grand Waldo Entertainment Complex means an HK$854,000 (US$110,000) prize and the coveted red dragon trophy.
This was all before Event #31 of the World Series of Poker had finally concluded after a back and forth two-way fight had seen Carter Phillips prevail over Joe Cada. The $1,500 NLHE was the largest of its type so far, with 2,811 entrants, and the last two players were among the shortest stacks at the start of the final. Cada put up quite the fight in the heads-up and was in the lead himself at certain points but couldn’t manage a bracelet win. In addition to the bling, Phillips takes home a tidy $664,130, and reacting to his second bracelet he told Bluff Magazine it “feels really good right now”.
LB Poker president Xavier Etienne thinks the joint venture will post a profit in the next three years despite huge losses last year. Speaking to LesEchos.fr, Etienne believes the profit will come between “2014 to 2015” – a year behind earlier projections. The poker company is a joint venture between FDJ and Groupe Lucien Barriere and turned over a net loss of €29.9 million in its first six months. They’ll be looking to a partnership with Caesars Interactive Entertainment (CIE), signed this year, to provide them with increased revenue in future. With regards this project, Etienne added: “We are at the beginning of an investment in an industrial project.
“The construction of the fundamental is behind us” said Etienne before adding it will “ramp up commercially and innovate in the product.”
