Play has wrapped on the opening day of the 2008 PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour here at the Grand Waldo Hotel and Casino in Macau, with 46 of the 125 starters able to cool their heels until Thursday.

After seven one-hour levels, the chip leader was Germany’s Andre Wagner, who ran deep into the recent PokerStars.net LAPT event in Costa Rica. On the final hand of the evening, Wagner not only ascended the top of the leaderboard, he ended the tournament of 2008 WSOP Mixed Games World Champion Anthony Rivera.

The money went in pre-flop with Wagner’s pocket 10s up against Rivera’s A-K. The board of 10c 8s 6h Jd 6c only brought heartbreak for Rivera as Wagner improved his 10s to a set. He finished the day on approximately 105,000.

Close behind is US youngster Kofi Farkye. As a 19-year-old, he finished fifth in the 2007 WPT North American Poker Championship in Canada and could well add to that record should he continue the aggressive style that delivered him a stack of 85,000 at day’s end.

On a day that saw big names like Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein (one of the first players to be eliminated), PokerStars Sponsored players Eric Assadourian, Celina Lin and Grant Levy, plus Liz Lieu and Tony Dunst hit the rail, Harry Demetriou is one of the few recognisable faces still in the field.

After a torrid day where he rarely held more than his starting stack of 10,000, the UK pro doubled-up twice late in the evening to finish on 27,000. Three-time WSOP bracelet winner John Juanda finished not far behind Demetriou on 21,000.

Watch APPT Macau 08: A trio of views on PokerStars.tv

Check out our chip count for the official day 1A tally. We look forward to bringing you all the action from the Grand Waldo again tomorrow on day 1B of the PokerStars.net APPT Macau main event. Play starts at 1.30pm local time and will again run over seven 60-minute levels, with the line-up highlighted by Team PokerStars Pros Vanessa Rousso, Isabelle Mercier, Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier and Chad Brown.

All photography © Joe Giron/IMPDI

The latest player to step up to the mark is the superbly named Thai player Veerachai Vongxaiburana (imagine what that would be worth in Scrabble). The winner of a HKD $4000 event at last year’s APPT Macau event, he’s just taken the chip lead after eliminating Charles Schweinsberg (10s against fives) in the ultimate battle of the surnames.

Perhaps because of the number of non-English speakers in the room, it’s been a strangely subdued evening session. No cries of “one time”, no “yeah babies”, not even a “sick” (we promise to have Chinese translations for all three before the week is out).

So thanks to Adelaide’s George Vassilopoulos for adding a bit of colour in keeping the lads on table four honest with a couple of all-in bets, one of which saw him double-up – he even gave us a mini-version of the “oi, oi, oi” chant!

More players to be sent to the rail in the past two levels include Alex Fitzgerald, James Honeybone (in a race between his A-Q and pocket deuces) and the only married couple in today’s field, Ira and Chintana Blumenthal (Ira won $113,858 as the runner-up of last year’s PokerStars.net APPT Manila main event).

Watch APPT Macau 08: James Honeybone on PokerStars.tv

Such has been the carnage on the tournament floor today, even the furniture is under attack. A couple of players have snapped off the back of their chairs by leaning back on them. ESPN and Bluff’s Gary Wise didn’t even need to swing back on his chair to destroy it.

The list of eliminations includes PokerStars Sponsored duo Eric Assadourian and Celina Lin, Liz Lieu and Tony Dunst.

Assadourian, last year’s PokerStars.net APPT Macau High Roller champion, found himself in a three-way hand with a flop that read 8c 4h 5h. He bet 1000, one player folded but Kofi Farkye made it 3500. Assadourian committed the rest of his chips with pocket kings, while Farkye showed 8d 7d for top pair and an inside straight draw.

The turn came Ads before the 6s came sailing down the river to fill Farkye’s gutshot and end Eric’s day after just five levels.

There was already 4000 in the pot when PokerStars Sponsored player Celina Lin watched the flop come 5h 6d 9s. Her opponent Daisy Wain checked, Celina bet 2000, the check-raise came 4000 and Lin called. The money went in on the turn of 4c, with Wain showing 5c 5d for a set, while Celina showed pocket queens and failed to hit on the river.

Celina joined her partner Tony bond18 Dunst on the rail after he his A-K was busted by John Juanda’s pocket jacks, while Liz Lieu (who reached the final table of both events here in Macau last year) exited at exactly the same moment.

Indonesia’s Steven Djingga, who finished 19th in last year’s PokerStars.net APPT Manila event, is the current chip leader on 60,000, followed by Anthony Rivera (42,000), China’s Guo Liang Xu (38,000), American Kofi Farkye (38,000) and Turkey’s Guray Turkay (35,000).

APPT tournament director Danny McDonagh has confirmed that play will proceed for seven levels today, and with no dinner break schedule, the final hand will be dealt at approximately 9pm local time.

There’s an intriguing blend of players in action today, with the new generation of young Asian players well represented.

Names like Josh Ang Pang from Singapore, who cashed in this event last year, Filipino Derick Hernadez, who placed ninth in last year’s APPT Manila main event, and PokerStars Sponsored Player Celina Lin (born in Shanghai, China but a long-time resident of Melbourne, Australia).

Celina, who scored her first major tournament cash at last year’s APPT Macau main event (24th), has become a face of Asian poker after she featured on the cover of the Singapore-based Poker Times magazine.

She’s also a popular figure in the online world, and has been ranked in the top 10 online players in Australia for much of the past 12 months.

Young, pretty and a more than capable player: who better to carry the torch for a new generation of poker players in this region.

Watch APPT Macau 08: Celina Lin Sponsored Player on PokerStars.tv

Generation Y are already one scalp up on the rest as we bid adieu to the only Team PokerStars Pro in today’s field, Barry Greenstein, at the start of level 2.

In three-way action and with the blinds at 50/100, Greenstein checked a flop of 7d 4s 3d, there was a raise to 1000 then Jakub Dylewski popped it to 3000. Greenstein moved all-in for his last 5775, the player in middle position folded and Dylewski called.

Greenstein showed 3c 3h, well ahead of Dylewski’s pocket fives. The turn came Ac but a killer 5h sent the pot (and a signed copy of Barry’s book Ace on the River) to Dylewski. Barry will be back later in the week for the PokerStars.net APPT Macau High Roller event.

The APPT has taken a leaf out of Barry’s book (after all, he is the Robin Hood of poker) and announced a HKD $200,000 donation to Caritas de Macau, the social service organisation of Macau.

Caritas de Macau's purpose is to "provide social welfare and services to the individuals, families, communities and societies, to help them to live in the society in a more humane condition economically, morally and spiritually; to encourage them to be responsible towards their own life and activities; and to enable them to build within their environment a community based on truth, justice, fraternity, freedom and peace". Good karma for the APPT.

The Grand Waldo Hotel and Casino has burst to life with a traditional Lion Dance to kick-off the 2008 PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour, and the APPT Macau HKD $25,000 Main Event.

Despite the absence of big cats in China, the Lion Dance originated in China close to a thousand years ago. The lion is traditionally regarded as a guardian creature (poker players take note: mind your stack).

The lion dance is often confused with the Chinese dragon dance, which features a team of around 10 or more dancers. The Lion Dance usually consists of just two.

When the dancing lion enters a village or township, it is supposed to pay its respects first at the local temple, then to ancestors, and finally through the streets to bring happiness to all the people. We’re not sure how this translates in a poker room, although the lion did pay its respect to our tournament director Danny McDonagh!

The lion dance was accompanied by drums (performed by Joe Hachem), gong (performed by Johnny Chan) and cymbals (performed by APPT president Jeffrey Haas) – just the tonic for those who partied a little too hard last night.

Players in action today include Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein, last year’s APPT Macau High Roller champion Eric Assadourian, APPT Grand Final winner Grant Levy and Celina Lin (all PokerStars Sponsored players), John Juanda, Mike timex McDonald, Harry Demetriou, Ira Blumenthal, Derrick Hernandez, Tony Dunst, Alex Fitzgerald and Jin Cailin.

We’ll be playing at least seven levels of 60 minutes today, with the blinds:

Level 1: 25/50
Level 2: 50/100
Level 3: 100/200
Level 4: 100/200 (ante 25)
Level 5: 150/300 (ante 25)
Level 6: 200/400 (ante 50)
Level 7: 300/600 (ante 75)
Level 8: 400/800 (ante 100)

Another chapter in the history of Asian poker was written at this morning’s official media conference with press from Macau, Hong Kong and throughout the region eager to hear about the latest developments in the growth of poker.

APPT president Jeffrey Haas said he expected last year’s figures of 1413 players from 73 different countries to be well surpassed in 2008 – even doubled.

“We’re privileged to continue leading the growth of poker and poker culture in Asia, and expect local and regional player participation to at least double during this year’s events,” Haas said.

Team PokerStars Pro Joe Hachem echoed Haas’s comments, adding that the APPT provided an option for players in the Asia Pacific region who once had to travel far further afield in search of major events.

“The APPT has brought a quality product virtually into my backyard – where once I had to travel to Europe and the USA to play in events like this, the PokerStars.net APPT is taking poker to a new level in Asia Pacific,” Hachem said.

And having already played in some smaller events at the Grand Waldo, Hachem said he wouldn’t be surprised to see Asian players again dominate this year.

“My experience is that the Asian players have no fear. If they sense weakness, they’ll put you to the test in a heartbeat,” he said.