But having established more than 80 years of history and stories of triumph and heartbreak, The Masters stands the test of time as an event as relevant today as ever.

In poker, the World Series of Poker built on a tradition established by a core of former Texas road gamblers and is today recognised as the pinnacle of success in tournament poker.

It will take time for similar traditions and legends to be established in Asia with tournament poker in its formative stages, but the PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour High Roller event has stolen a march on any challenger that may one day claim the title as most prestigious poker event on the continent.

For the second year in a row, the HKD $150,000 buy-in APPT High Roller event (already one of the world’s highest buy-in regularly scheduled tournaments and guaranteeing a prize pool of HKD $10,000,000) attracted a list of the world’s best players – 61 in all.

There were established tournament pros like WSOP main event winners Johnny Chan, Mansour Matloubi and Team PokerStars Pros Joe Hachem.

There were WSOP bracelet winners including Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein, J.C. Tran, Quinn Do, Dan Schreiber, John Phan, John Juanda and David Chiu.

There were some of the stars from the online world like Mike timex McDonald, Will cutiepie314 Ma, Tony bond18 Dunst, Shaun shaundeeb Deeb and Team PokerStars Hevad RaiNKhaN Khan.

And there were scores of accomplished tournament players including Team PokerStars Pros Isabelle “No Mercy” Mercier, Lee “Final Table” Nelson and Bertrand “ElkY Grospellier; last year’s APPT High Roller champion Eric Assadourian, fellow PokerStars Sponsored players Emad Tahtouh, Van Marcus, Terrence Chan, Ivan Tan and Celina Lin; Harry Demetriou and Nam Le.

Also making a re-appearance just hours after finishing runner-up in the APPT Macau main event was Charles Chua – albeit two hours late.

Any great event needs intrigue, drama and surprises. The 2008 APPT Macau High Roller did not disappoint in this regard.

Early in the first level, players had barely had a chance to put a dent in their start stack of 20,000 when Celina Lin found herself on the rail, her aces cracked by Russian young gun Yevgeniy Timoshenko.

In contrast, David Steicke (the third-placed finisher in this event last year), picked up where he left off after finishing 10th in the APPT Macau main event.

By day’s end, Steicke was the talk of the room as he’d charged to 160,000 and a big chip lead over Mike McDonald (95,400) and defending champion Eric Assadourian (90,500). Other players in the 28 to progress included Quinn Do, Nam Le, Van Marcus, Terrence Chan, Johnny Chan, Charles Chua, Ivan Tan and two Team PokerStars Pros – Barry Greenstein and Joe Hachem.

But there was no clue of the drama to come on day two. In last year’s APPT High Roller event in Macau, it took five hours to eliminate the last six players before the final table line-up was decided.

Play gradually slowed once the field was split between two tables but, curiously, all 10 players agreed to converge to a single table with the field one short of the TV and money bubble of nine.

Those 10 players – Eric Assadourian, Van Marcus, Ivan Tan, still chip leader David Steicke, Andrew Scott, Johnny Chan, Nam Le, Quinn Do, Will Ma and Charles Chua – turned on an enthralling session that lasted four hours until Nam Le claimed the scalp of Assadourian, who was gutted to fall short of successive APPT High Roller final tables.

The final table started with Marcus, Chan, Chua and Tan all short-stacked and under pressure – only Chua had the answers and clawed his way back as the other three became the first victims at the final table.

Will Ma, a 20-year-old from the same small Canadian town as Team PokerStars Pro Steve-Paul Ambrose and Mike timex McDonald, bowed out in sixth while Steicke’s remarkable run ended in fifth; the fearlessness that saw him lead for most of the event proved his undoing.

It would be more than two and a half hours before Charles Chua was KOed by Nam Le, ending a remarkable week for the Malaysian-based Australian in which he finished second in the main event and fourth in the High Roller.

Scott was always going to find it tough against the combination in seats one and two but progressed to the heads-up duel when he took out Quinn Do. He entered the contest against Nam Le trailing 2:1 but the final table experience of a player whose won more than USD $4 million in tournament poker proved telling.

Steadily chipped away, Scott made his final shove with J-10, but Nam Le’s K-2 connected on the board to secure the HKD $3.7 million first prize.

Assadourian, Le – already an impressive list, but one sure to include more of the game’s brightest stars as the tradition continues.

PokerStars.net APPT Macau High Roller event

1 Nam Le (USA) HKD $3,700,000
2 Andrew Scott (Australia) HKD $2,100,000
3 Quinn Do (USA) HKD $1,200,000
4 Charles Chua (Malaysia) HKD $900,000
5 David Steicke (Hong Kong) HKD $700,000
6 Will Ma (Canada) HKD $500,000
7 Johnny Chan (USA) HKD $400,000
8 Ivan Tan (Singapore) HKD $300,000
9 Van Marcus (Australia) HKD $200,000

• On behalf of Jeremy, Jenn, Ted, Joe, Mad and JP, thanks for following our coverage of the PokerStars.net APPT Macau from the Grand Waldo Hotel and Casino. We'll be back on September 26 for the PokerStars.net APPT Seoul main event from the Walker-hill Casino in Seoul, South Korea.

All photography © Joe Giron/IMPDI

Andrew Scott’s great run in the PokerStars.net APPT Macau high-roller tournament has come to an end at the hands of Nam Le. Scott began the heads-up battle with a 2-to-1 chip disadvantage, and saw that ratio only increase in his disfavour. Le expertly whittled away at Scott’s stack until his opponent had little more than 100,000 in front of him, compared to Le’s own 1.1 million. At this point, after another button raise from Le, Scott took a stand holding JT of clubs to the American’s K2 of the same suit. As the media gathered around for the board to be dealt out, Scott’s friend, David Steicke joined him on stage. “Apart from a ragged ace, this is the best hand I’ve had this whole heads-up session,” Scott told his fellow Australian.

However he did not discount Le’s performance, giving the American credit for not allowing him back in the contest… all this before the board cards were dealt. When they did arrive, the board cards showed 6s-Jd-Ks-As-9d, unfortunately not providing Scott with the lead on the hand… despite the “suitedness” of his cards. The HKD $2.1 million (USD $269,230), Scott has earned for his performance at the APPT Macau high roller tournament, is his best ever finish at a major poker tournament.

12.50pm: Quinn Do eliminated in third place (HKD $1.2 million)

Quinn Do’s brave run at the PokerStars.net APPT Macau high roller event has come to an end. Following a fold from Nam Le on the button, Do limped from the small blind, and then came-over-the-top of Andrew “Suited” Scott’s raise. Scott sat there and started chatting away to Do, although it was evident from his opponent that no reaction or response would be forthcoming. Scott was talking quite animatedly, mostly to himself, but then stood up, and moved all-in. Do called and turned over TcTd, while Scott tabled a “Suited” AT (hearts).

David Steicke, who finished fifth earlier last night, approached the table at this point to lend a supporting good luck charm to Scott; as they are good friends outside of poker. Do went to stand his support group of J.C. Tran, Liz Lieu, and Steve Sung. They watched the flop appear 6c-8s-Qc, which was no help to the Australian, but an Ad on the turn meant Do only had one out, the Ts, to stay alive in the high roller event. However, a Kd was dealt, meaning Do leaves Macau with increased credibility as a poker player, and HKD $1.2 million (USD $153,846).

12.15am: Charles Chua eliminated in fourth position (HKD $900,000) – after finishing runner-up in the APPT Macau main event, Chua’s brave run in the APPT High Roller ended after he pushed all-in from the small blind in response to Nam Le’s raise to 29,000, with Le making the call.

Chua showed jacks, but Le held the edge with queens. The board ran out 3d-Ac-7h-Ad-2d, sending Chua on his way. We’re down to three players – Nam Le (808,000), Quinn Do (245,000) and Andrew Scott (175,000), with the blinds at level 18 (5000/10,000 with a 1000 ante).

Watch APPT Macau 008: Nam Lee on PokerStars.tv

11.45pm: Charles Chua's "Chuck Truck" obviously has a return service operating, as he has just given 110,000 of the chips he won from Quinn Do, back to the Vietnamese-born American.

With the blinds and antes becoming more expensive, at 5,000/10,000/1,000 respectively, Do moved his remaining chips into the middle with pocket sevens, and was called by Chua's pair of fives in-the-hole. The board gave some chance of a split when it turned 9h-Th-Qh-Jd, but a black 2 on the river kept Do in the 2008 APPT Macau high roller tournament.

11.25pm: Quinn Do has doubled-up Charles "Chucky" Chua once more. After Andrew "Suited" Scott and Nam Le folded to Do in the small blind, he raised it to 25,000. Chua re-raised it to 70,000 and Do came along with a call.

On the flop of 6s-3s-5s, Do sensed Chua may have been trying to steal the pot from position, and put him to the test with an all-in. Do's read on this occasion was incorrect however, and Chua showed he wasn't bluffing this time by showing pocket kings, including the Ks.

His opponent was going to need running cards, because his Ts9h were well behind. An Ad on the turn and the Js on the river completed "The Chuck Truck's" loaded flush. Do is now down to 120,000 and is the short stack.

11pm: Charles "Chucky" Chua has just doubled-up thanks to an attempted squeeze play that went wrong initially, but turned out oh so right. Andrew "Suited" Scott raised it up first, was called by Quinn Do, and Chua, sensing opportunity knocking, moved all-in from the big blind.

The man in the black suit gave up his hand, but Do called, showing pocket eights. Chua rapped the felt: "nice call, Quinn," and flipped over 10-4 offsuit. "Chucky" looked almost resigned to his fate, but PokerStars sponsored player, and last year's winner of the APPT Macau High Roller tournament, Eric Assadourian, lent him some support: "you gotta want it Chucky," he cheered, "call for that 10!"

"Gimme a 10 please, dealer," Chua requested, and although the flop came 9x-2x-5x, when a 10 peeled-off on the turn, Chuck had ridden the "Luck Truck" once more to double-up land.

10.45pm: Andrew Scott has been wearing the same black, pin-striped suit for all three days of this tournament. When quizzed about it, Scott said that he feels lucky wearing it while playing, so it's staying on until he's eliminated ... or wins.

So far Scott's unchanging apparel is working like a charm, even if that "new suit smell" has worn off somewhat. His making the final four players of the PokerStars.net APPT Macau High Roller event, is the best performance of his short poker career. Imagine if Scott wins? He'll probably never take it off and be forever known as Andrew "Suited" Scott.

Oh dear ... we can already see some of the poor humour that could result from this... "Scott eliminated ... at least he was suited..." *groan*

Watch APPT Macau 008: Andrew Scott on PokerStars.tv

9.45pm: Andrew Scott has just announced that it’s “all-out war” – only half-jokingly – between himself and Charles Chua and the players in seats one and two, Nam Le and Quinn Do.

“This end against that end,” he said with a big smile. Charles Chua seems to be on the same frequency as Scott. The current chip counts are Nam Le 436,500, Quinn Do 294,500, Andrew Scott 265,500 and Charles Chua 232,500.

9.30: David Steicke (Hong Kong) eliminated in fifth place (HKD $700,000) – “The Machine” has broken down. David Steicke, chip leader for almost two full days of this PokerStars.net APPT Macau High Roller tournament, has been eliminated by Nam Le.

Steicke, who was cruising at the top of the chip leader board only 30 minutes ago, went from chip-hero to chip-zero holding the same cards on both occasions. After losing the chip lead a short while ago with pocket tens against Charles Chua’s A-Q, Steicke again put it all on the line with the same holding against Le.

Le had raised from under-the gun for 17,000, folding Quinn Do, but Steicke came over-the-top for 51,000. The blinds folded and Le three-bet for another 100,000, making it 151,000 to go.

Steicke pushed all-in immediately, and Le insta-called, showing two kings in-the-hole. Things were not looking good for the Hong Kong resident, but some hope came with the flop, which showed Jx-9x-8x, providing Steicke with an up-and-down straight draw.

However an 8h on the turn and a 4d on the river ended an otherwise very good week for the trader. He earns HKD $600,000 (USD $89,743).

9.15pm: As a result of the recent carnage, the five stacks are all now remarkably even. Quinn Do leads on 315,000, Nam Le has 260,000, Andrew Scott is on 210,000, David Steicke is down to 210,000 and Charles Chua holds 200,000. Play has reverted to small pre-flop raises with very few flops as the chips are shuffled from player to player.

Watch APPT Macau 08: Final Table Verdice Lee Nelson on PokerStars.tv

9pm: The action has been running thick and fast between Steicke, Chua and Scott.

Steicke has lost the chip lead for the first time in two days after he called Chua’s all-in with pocket 10s. Charles showed A-Q and spiked the Ad on the river to win a pot worth more than 300,000.

Chua hadn’t even stacked his chips when Scott pushed all-in from the big blind, Quinn Do folded and Chua called. Scott showed pocket jacks to Chua’s As-Qc, and the low board (9d-3d-2s-7c-2h) saw Scott’s stack back up to 200,000.

8.45pm: Andrew Scott was one of the players who spent time as the short stack when play went 10-handed last night. The Aussie is now under pressure again after losing a race with A-Q against Nam Le’s pocket sevens.

On the next hand, it was Steicke’s turn to double-up Nam Le when he pushed all-in with K-6 on a board of K-Q-3 only to find the 2006 WPT Shooting Stars champion holding K-Q. As quick as that, Nam Le is up to 260,000. But the roller coaster ride continues, with Le’s A-3 up against Andrew Scott’s A-9. Scott made a pair of nines on the flop, ensuring his stack received a much needed injection of%