Tournament coverage Poker

China Poker Carnival shines in Sanya

Written by Andrew W Scott

This article first appeared in the May/Jun 2012 issue of World Gaming magazine.

When people think of big poker tournaments in Asia, they generally think of Macau or the Philippines. But the sleeping giant of poker is mainland China and she is not spending so much time sleeping these days!

One of the nicest aspects of my position is being invited to wonderful events all around Asia. It was one such invitation that saw me head off to the exotic tourist destination of Sanya in China’s Hainan Province for the 2012 China Poker Carnival (CPC), an Asian Poker Tour sanctioned event. It was my first trip to the CPC and also my first to Sanya, so I was very curious to see what I would discover.

The CPC has been held annually since 2008. The inaugural event held in Beijing had a modest prize pool of RMB 133,000. A mere nine players made the money. Undeterred, the CPC organizers dedicated themselves to promoting the healthy development of poker in mainland China. Their vision was to eschew all gambling aspects and promote the game as a healthy mind sport. It is clear their hard work has paid off.

By 2010 the CPC had become a threeday event with over 100 players, but the real breakthrough occurred when the event was filmed for television for the first time. The poker boom in other parts of the world was driven to a large extent by television, and this phenomenon repeated itself in China. The CPC became a 10 program series that propelled the status of tournament poker in China to a new level.

Another breakthrough for the CPC was its move to Sanya, which has long held a reputation as an exotic tourist destination. The city lies at China’s southernmost tip, and is described by some as China’s answer to Hawaii, with great beaches and weather. Sanya has further enhanced its international profile as the venue for a number of beauty pageants including Miss World five times between 2003 and 2010. The Hainan Ministry of Cultural Affairs and Sport put its support behind the CPC, listing it as one of Hainan’s 20 most important cultural and sporting events in 2012.

The MGM Sanya resort

The MGM Sanya resort

How times have changed since 2008! The CPC is now China’s premier annual poker event with all the trappings of a major international poker tournament and boasts the Asian Poker Tour (APT) as a partner and the main sponsor.

The 2012 event was held at the five-star MGM Sanya resort in the fashionable Yalong Bay region. Upon entering the MGM’s ballroom for the first time I was immediately struck by the professionalism of the surroundings. It was just like any other major poker event in Macau or Las Vegas. There were 25 tables including a madefor- TV feature table, TV cameras, advertising and sponsors billboards around the room and seats provided for the fans. High tech lighting and music added to the atmosphere. No expense was spared.

The CPC now has qualifying events in Shanghai and Beijing, held several months prior to the main event, and of course like any international tournament there was a players’ party to give the competitors a chance to enjoy each other’s company. This year’s tournament will be made into a TV series of more than 10 episodes, and will be aired on Hainan’s Travel Channel.

The 2012 CPC was the biggest texas hold’em tournament ever held in mainland China. The invitational event saw a recordbreaking 414 players (including yours truly) take to the felt over five days, which included two day 1s. The RMB 1 million prize pool was the highest ever in mainland China. Players enjoyed a generous 20,000 chip starting stack and each level lasted 45 minutes.

2012 China Poker Carnival money list
Position
Player Prize (CYN)
1
Chao Ma 300,000
2
Zhang Mengmeng
150,000
3
XuJunbin
110,000
4
Wen Hui
90,000
5 Zhou Yicun 70,000
6 Meng Xiaoqiang 50,000
7 Wang Guangyao 35,000
8 Sun Wei 25,000
9 Xu Changjiang 20,000
10 Fu Liang 13,000
11 Gu Bin 13,000
12 Cai Xianguo 13,000
13 Dong Xiaoqiang 11,000
14 Zhao Bin 11,000
15 Huang Wenkai 11,000
16 QuZheng 8,000
17 Liao Guangsheng 8,000
18 Tang Jing 8,000
19 Cai Zhuoliang 6,000
20 Li Hang 6,000
21 GuoHai 6,000
22 Wang Li 6,000
23 Liu Lixiong 6,000
24 Li Zhe 6,000
25 Fang Yong 6,000
26 Sun Jianguo 6,000
27 He Yangfan 6,000
Total 1,000,000

 Despite an international contingent of 74 players including some big names in the poker world, it was an all-Chinese final table. Ma Chao went into the final table in third position, and despite being nearly eliminated at one stage he doubled up through chip leader Wen Hui with the mighty starting hand of 96 of hearts! Ma shoved for 330,000 chips and Wen called with A8 of diamonds. A miracle all-heart flop saw Ma get the chocolates. Close to the headsup bubble Ma again doubled up through new chip leader Zhang Mengmeng. Ma three-bet pre-flop on the button with pocket jacks, Zhang called with QJ, and all the money went in the middle when the case jack hit on the flop. The turn and river made no difference to the outcome of the hand.

Heads-up was brief. On the last hand Zhang chose the wrong moment to run a bluff with air, as Ma had top two pair and insta-called Zhang’s shove. The meaningless river gave Ma a full house but more importantly the title, with Zhang taking home a still very respectable RMB 150,000 second prize.

Ma not only received RMB 300,000 for his efforts, he earned himself the champion’s trophy and ring.

2012 CPC champion Chao Ma

2012 CPC champion Chao Ma

In addition to the main event the CPC ran a healthy program of side events and also four special events: a ladies invitational, a teams event, a poker celebrity invitational and also a Battle of the Nations team event between China and Japan, which China won.

The CPC received media coverage from CCTV, Sino Sports, GTV and Hainan TV, reflecting its growing status. This event has now firmly put itself on the map and is set to become a regular stop on the Asian poker tour.

Mr Jeff Mann, CEO of the APT said, “We have had a close working relationship with the CPC for the past two years and are delighted that we can now formalize our arrangement and contribute a lot more to the continued success of this unique event. The event was an APT sanctioned tournament and was run to international poker standards with the APT providing three of its most experienced Tournament Director staff. The event was a tremendous success!”

Prior to the CPC the poker culture within mainland China was relatively isolated from the global poker scene. The CPC provides a wonderful opportunity for Chinese players not only to soak up some international poker culture, but also to test their skills and have an influence on the world poker stage.

No doubt next year’s carnival will be even bigger and better than this year’s. This is a fantastic event for anyone who enjoys warm weather, glorious beaches, the opportunity to play televised poker for a hefty cash prize, and the glory of being the CPC champion.

Become an instant expert on Sanya
  • The southern-most city in China
  • The second largest city in Hainan Province
  • Hainan is an island almost the size of Taiwan
  • Warm, tropical climate with clean air
  • Regularly holds the Miss World pageant
  • Training site for the Chinese beach volleyball team
  • Fly direct to Sanya’s Phoenix International Airport (SYX) from numerous cities including Beijing, Busan, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macau, Moscow, Seoul, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Taipei and Tianjin
  • The fashionable Yalong Bay area is considered the best beach and is home to international standard five star beach resorts such as the Holiday Inn, MGM Grand, the Marriott, the Ritz-Carlton and the Sheraton


Photos by: Poker Portal Asia