By Sean Callander

The impact of PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour Macau: Asian Poker Open is being felt around the world, but it’s easy to forget that the arrival of poker to the world’s biggest gaming market has made a significant impact locally.

News of the tournament winner was splashed across the front page of the Macau Daily Times and widely reported through the region.

There’s also been plenty of excitement for the team at the Grand Waldo Hotel and Casino, where the arrival of the world’s best poker players and has been greeted with great excitement.

No-one was more excited than 24-year-old Angie Tang, who was one of the dealers at yesterday’s APPT Macau main event final table.

Angie, who’s been dealing at the Grand Waldo for the past three and a half years, didn’t know anything about poker prior to this tournament but is rapidly increasing her knowledge of the game.

“I’d barely heard of poker but after four weeks of training had picked up most of the basics,” Angie said.

Talk about the star pupil: Angie’s poise and professionalism earned her a spot under the TV lights on the final table.

“It was so exciting for me, the players were all great and treated me very kindly. Dealing in front of the cameras and to the biggest stars of poker was a clear highlight of the tournament for me,” she said.

So any plans to swap roles and try her luck on the other side of the table? “I don’t think so – I don’t have the patience needed for long hours at the table and the mind games that go with the game,” Angie said.

She’s currently dealing a sit ‘n’ go near our reporting table, as the players in the $15,000 Macau High Roller Event prepare to take their dinner break.

One player who’s stoked to have survived the last level is Canadian Christopher Piche. He’s just spent the last two hours at table one along side Nick Schulman, Jeff Lisandro, Scotty Nguyen, Liz Lieu, Guillaume Patry (reach the final table of the APPT Macau Main Event), Vanessa Rousso and John Juanda. Good story for the grandkids!



Approximate chip count

• John Juanda (USA) 93,000


• Emad Tahtouh (Australia) 62,000


• Tony Ng (Hong Kong) 58,000


• Yosh Nakano (Japan) 42,000


• Daniel Schreiber (USA) 41,000

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Alsion interviews players from the 15k event