PokerStars Signs Two New Team Pros in Asia‏

Pokerstars has increased their presence in the burgeoning Asian market by signing up players from Taiwan and China to Team PokerStars Pro it was announced today.

Chen-an Lin from Taiwan, and Yaxi Zhu from China, are both very popular and successful players in the far east, and PokerStars hope they will help to grow the game in one of the world’s biggest emerging poker markets.

Joining the likes of Bryan Huang, Celina Lin, Vivian Im, Aditya Agarwal, Kosei Ichinose and Naoya Kihara, who already represent the PokersStars Pro team in Asia, both Lin and Zhu “are highly respected in their local and national communities” according to PokerStars’ Associate Director of Pro & Celebrity Marketing, Kirsty Thompson, who continued: “These players and will help to raise the profile of the game in their regions.”

Chen-an Lin

Chen-an Lin has already shown his promise in his native Taiwan by lifting the HK$20K NLHE event during the Macau Cup last August for a bumper US$50,000 payday. He is looking to use the PokerStars sponsorship as an opportunity to promote the game in Taiwan.

Yaxi Zhu

Chinese poker pro Yaxi Zhu, a former business and finance manager, has earned over US$230,000 in live winnings since changing careers, including a tournament victory in Prague during EPT season 11 last year worth €119,000 and another in Macao in the ACOP Platinum Series.

Both players will start their Team PokerStars pro careers in the upcoming Macau Poker Cup. The MPC 23 festival will include 16 Offical Asia Player of the Year tournaments, including the wonderfully-titled Red Dragon event which runs from September 5 to 11 and has a guaranteed HK$5million (US$650,000) prize-fund.