Macau Billionaire Poker Summer Showdown

Macau is known globally for its high-stakes cash game action, but that’s not the only thing the ‘Las Vegas of Asia’ has to offer, with the next tournament in the Macau Billionaire Poker series set to continue the high guarantees and big fields which have become a standard for tournament poker in the former Portuguese colony – with the organizers expecting Tom Dwan to make an appearance again following his 2nd place finish in the spring edition Super High Roller.

Apart from the huge-buy-in High Roller events, it’s MBP Main Event which is the star attraction of the Summer Showdown running across July and August, with a $5million ($650,000) HKD guarantee likely to attract the best and brightest of the local professionals along with a host of others from around the world.

Macau has long been a popular destination for Chinese poker players, as well as a regular stopping off point for Western pros enticed by the gambling mecca which has become almost a second home for Phil Ivey, Tom ‘ durrrr’ Dwan and Daniel ‘Jungleman’ Cates as they try to plunder the often crazy,  but highly lucrative, nosebleed action.

The Spring edition of the MBP featured Dwan alongside the legendary Johnny Chan as their Team World took on Team China, and Dwan came close to his first tournament title in a long-time when he reached the heads-up showdown of the HK$500,000 buy-in (US $65,000) MBP Super High Roller, eventually losing out to Belarussian Mikita Badziakouski.

The MBP events also cater for a less exalted crowd, but the money on offer is still a huge draw for the tournament scene regulars, with an array of events ranging from HK$12K all the way up to HK$500K, including bounty events, a free-to-enter Airplane NLH tournament and a fee-free Women’s event, as well as the Main Event to top things off.

The venue for the festival is the Babylon Casino, one of Macau’s best known card-rooms on the waterfront, and the 2 weeks of poker showdowns will run from July 22nd – August 3rd.