As preparations continue at the Galaxy StarWorld Hotel and Casino in Macau for the Asian Poker Tour Festival Macau (which starts next Tuesday), players are beginning to flood the Chinese territory. One of those players is former World Champion Johnny Chan, who is on hand not only for the poker that will be played between August 12th and August 23rd but also for the filming of the Chinese poker film tentatively titled “Poker King.”
Chan, who also had a significant role in the seminal American poker film “Rounders”, envisions that “Poker King” could have a similar impact on China when released. “It (‘Poker King’) has the potential to be much, much bigger than ‘Rounders’ ever was,” Chan declared after arriving in Macau. “Say there are over one billion Chinese speaking people in the world”, the 1987-1988 winner of the WSOP Championship Event asked. “Now compare that to the United States and their 300 million people…you can see that this could be huge. ‘Rounders’ gave poker a new lease of life in the West – this could kick start a new poker boom in Asia.”
Chan is looking to be a part of the film – which is tentatively slated to use the Asian Poker Tour’s “Poker Pack” of J. C. Tran, Nam Le, Quinn Do, Steve Sung, David “Chino” Rheem and Kwan Soo Lee during filming – much like he was as a part of the filming of “Rounders.” Looking back at his involvement in the 1998 poker film, Chan remembered his time on the set fondly. “I had a fantastic time filming ‘Rounders’ back in the 90s”, Chan recalled. “A big part of my involvement was behind the scenes, where I helped teach Matt Damon, Edward Norton and John Malkovich how to play poker. I also played myself in the film and, to this day, it gives me recognition in the mainstream outside of poker circles.”
“The film had a huge impact on poker and gave it a new lease of life”, Johnny continued. “In fact, I was recently talking to Chris Moneymaker – who is credited by many as being a catalyst for the poker boom in the West – and he said without the influence of ‘Rounders,’ he wouldn’t have even have tried to qualify for the WSOP Main Event that he won! People got turned on by it and I can see this happening with ‘Poker King’ in the Chinese language world.”
The film, which will be directed by famous Chinese language director Chan Hing-Kai and Janet Chun and, produced by Amy Chin and Chan Hing-Kai, will use the festivities around the Galaxy StarWorld as a backdrop for their film. The film will tell the story of two poker champions – who are also bitter enemies – as they vie for the world championship of poker. Starring Chinese actors Louis Koo, Sean Lau Ching-Wan, Stephy Tang, Cherrie In and Josie Ho, the film is slated for release in China later this year.
With the excitement regarding the filming of “Poker King,” some may be distracted from the actual poker itself being played. The Asian Poker Tour Festival Macau is scheduled to have twenty official side tournaments, a plethora of high stakes cash games and the 32,000 Hong Kong Dollar (slightly over $4000 U. S. Dollars) Championship Event. Last year’s gathering – a six day event – drew such poker notables as Chan, fellow former World Champion Doyle Brunson, top female poker player Liz Lieu and others to a locale that has passed Las Vegas as the gaming capital of the world. The eventual champion was up and coming professional Yevgeniy Timoshenko, who burst upon the scene in Macau and went on to win the WPT Championship in April of this year.
