PROJECT POKER: Bouncing from Barcelona to Macau

I spent most of September at home, playing the WCOOP and chilling after EPT Barcelona.
Barcelona was great. They always seem to draw bigger fields year after year there, and this year was no exception. The side events were huge and were often sold out, and of course you’ve heard all about all of the records broken in Barcelona this year in terms of field sizes and prize pools.
It’s kind of the perfect combination for EPT Barcelona, the way it is scheduled at the end of the summer and the break that comes after the WSOP and also the way it provides such a great destination for players. It’s pretty cool on a break to be able just to walk out and be right on the beach.
There’s always a lot to do during your free time in Barcelona. There are lots of good restaurants and the night life is good, and because there’s so much to do it ends up being one of those stops where players can bring their friends and families as well, if they like. Combine all of that with the EPT’s prestige, and the Barcelona stop becomes a very attractive stop for many players.
I only had a min-cash in one of the events this time, and I missed the Super High Roller because I had to make a quick trip back to Boston for a get-together with a group of friends. But it was great to be there and enjoy what has become one of the fastest growing stops on the circuit.
Speaking of fast-growing stops, I’m now looking forward to going to another big one, the Asia Championship of Poker in Macau which starts in late October and will run into November.
I’ve been to Macau twice before. The last time I went was last summer when they had a HK$ 1,000,000 event. The field was so big — they ended up with more than 70 entries. I got off to a good start in the event but couldn’t keep it going, but it was still a terrific tournament.
For the ACOP the Main Event has a HK$ 100,000 buy-in — that’s about $13,000 USD — and there should be a big turnout, so the prize pool and first prize will be huge there, too. There will be a HK$ 250,000 High Roller and a HK$ 500,000 Super High Roller as well.
Satellites have already started for the ACOP on PokerStars, and you can buy in via the client which helps a lot for people traveling over there. It’s a long trip over, but once you get to the Hong Kong airport it’s easy to take the ferry over to Macau.
I know already a lot of people who will be making the trip over to Macau, so I’m looking forward to seeing them and everyone else at the City of Dreams. We’ll see how well Macau matches Barcelona this year — I have a feeling it’s going to be another great series. Jonathan Duhamel