APPT Nanjing Millions Abruptly Stopped by Chinese Authorities

According to Ben Blaschke and Andrew W. Scott of World Gaming Magazine, who first reported on the incident, Chinese authorities have raided the APPT Nanjing Millions event earlier today, bringing it to an abrupt stop.

The event, which kicked off on Tuesday, has been happening in the Wutaishan Sports Center, which has now been closed off by the police, with an announcement that the event has been suspended due to allegations of illegal gambling, which are being investigated.

Members of the PokerStars staff who are currently in China, running and overseeing the event, could not be found and they are presumably working with the police on sorting out this problem. The authorities have not announced any arrests at this point in time.

Although very unpleasant, this development is hardly shocking to those better familiar with the circumstances surrounding live gambling in mainland China and the latest political turmoil pertaining to that issue. There have already been several events that had to be cancelled or postponed in the past due to numerous regulatory problems.

Although there was no information from the Chinese authorities, Andrew Scott was able to get a statement from the Amaya Inc., the company behind PokerStars and PokerStars LIVE Macau. In the statement, it is explained that the decision to postpone the tournament was made in order to answer the questions of the authorities.

The statement also maintains that the tournament was organized and operated by a local operator, Poker Star Club, and sponsored by APPT China. The tournament, it concludes, should resume in the near future.

This doesn't offer too much of an insight into what is actually going on, which is, in all fairness, to be expected in a situation like this. Regardless of how this situation is resolved, there is a bigger question that will have to be answered after the immediate crisis is resolved.

The question, of course, is whether it even makes sense to try and host poker tournaments in mainland China? There is no doubt that the interest with the players is great, but the authorities seem to be on a war path and getting mixed up in that situation might not be the wisest choice.

Number of registered players in this year's Nanjing Millions exceeded 2,300 which, while great for poker in general, might not be looked upon kindly by the government. These players are now left in the dark, wondering what will happen next; whether an adequate answer will be provided or not, it is hard to say.

We will be on the lookout for any new developments in the coming days and keep you posted. Hopefully this will not turn out to be just a money grab by the authorities and players will be allowed to continue with the tournament or have their money refunded. The same goes for tournament staff who were there to do their jobs, as it is too easy to get caught in political crosshairs during tumulus times where often those who are least at fault have to deal with far more than they have bargained for.