$$ Cash 4 Seat $$

A good friend of mine once said any home improvement project should be planned by the Rule of Threes.

It will be three times more difficult to complete than you expect.

It will cost three times as much as you budget for it.

It will take three times as long to complete as you schedule.

While I’ve always lived by that rule at home, I’ve never built on to a casino. Apparently it’s even more difficult.

The Asia Pacific Poker Tour announced this week that it has been forced to postpone the Seoul event scheduled for September 17-20, 2009 at 7-Luck Casino. We’re told that the casino is renovating its third floor for the tournament and, well, it’s not quite ready.

Fear not, of course. As always, there are some very smart people working behind the scenes to reschedule the event.

As soon as we have any more details on the new dates, we’ll let you know. In the meantime, we encourage you to check out the coverage of the APPT Macau event already in progress.

My, they grow up so fast.

Just a few short years ago, the Asia Pacific Poker Tour was a smattering of events in the Far East, a short series of tournaments that looked to test the poker waters in that part of the world. Today, even we folks in the West are looking at the schedules and saying, “Wow, how can I get over there for that?”

We’ve just had a peek at the schedule for the kickoff of the APPT’s third season in Macau, and it rivals the rundown for just about any series we have ever seen. There’s little question why.

The Season 1 APPT Macau main event drew more than 300 players. Just a year later, more than 200 new players showed up to build a field of 538. It was a record then, and one that could very well be beaten this year.

APPT president Jeffrey Haas announces the broken record in 2008

Now, we’re looking at an APPT schedule that kicks off in just a little more than two weeks and will run for 15 straight days. During that time, we’re going to see 20 (count’em 20!) poker tournaments with buy-ins for every bankroll. Short-handed events, knockout tournaments, charity events, and high roller tourneys are all over the schedule. That’s not to mention to potentially record-breaking main event that kicks off on August 25th.

If you’re anything like us, you’re now thinking, “Well, surely I can find some way to get myself over there.” Fortunately for you, PokerStars is always running APPT qualifiers. Just click on EVENTS and APPT in the tournament lobby.

In the meantime, see APPT.com for more details or check out this schedule below (and put in a good word for us…and maybe one of us will see you there!)

Saturday August 15th

14:15 - Satellite to 100K Guarantee HKD$550

18:00 - No Limit Holdem HKD$2,500 HKD ($100,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool)

Sunday August 16th

14:15 - No Limit Holdem w/ Rebuys HKD$500 (HKD$20,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool)

17:00 - Satellite Main Event Phase 2 HKD$900

19:00 - Satellite Main Event Phase 3 HKD$4,200

Monday August 17th

12:15 - Satellite Main Event Phase 2 HKD$900

14:15 - No Limit Holdem HKD$1,000

Tuesday August 18th

12:15 - Satellite Main Event Phase 2 HKD$900

14:15 - No Limit Holdem HKD$1,500

Wednesday August 19th

12:15 - Satellite Main Event Phase 2 HKD$900

14:15 - Knock-Out Bounty No Limit Holdem HKD$2,000 (HKD$500 cash for every player you eliminate)

18:00 - Satellite Main Event Phase 3 HKD$4,200

Thursday August 20th

14:15 - Free to Enter Mega Satellite w/ HKD$500 Rebuys HKD$0 (1 APPT Macau MAIN EVENT SEAT GUARANTEED - Entries open at 10am)

18:00 - APPT Macau Charity Event w/ max 2 Rebuys HKD$1,000 (HKD$50,000 added value prizes)

Friday August 21th

14:15 - No Limit Holdem Deep Stack HKD$1,500

18:00 - Satellite Main Event Phase 3 HKD$4,200

Saturday August 22th

12:15 - Mega Satellite to 10k HKD$2,150

15:30 - No Limit Holdem Day 1 HKD$10,000 (HKD$500,000 GUARANTEED Prize Pool)

18:00 - Satellite Main Event Phase 3 HKD$4,200

Sunday August 23th

12:15 - No Limit Holdem Day 2

14:15 - Terrence Chan Limit Hold’em 6 Handed HKD$2,500

18:00 - Satellite Main Event Phase 3 HKD$4,200

Monday August 24th

12:15 - Satellite Main Event Phase 3 HKD$4,200

14:15 - Turbo Shoot-out No Limit Holdem HKD$1,500

16:30 - Satellite Main Event Phase 3 HKD$4,200

21:00 - APPT Macau Welcome Party

Tuesday August 25th

12:15 - APPT Macau Main Event Day 1 Flight 1 HKD$40,000

15:00 - No Limit Holdem HKD$4,000

Wednesday August 26th

12:15 - APPT Macau Main Event Day 1 Flight 2 HKD$40,000

15:00 - No Limit Holdem 7-Handed Event HKD$5,000

18:00 - Last Chance Mega Satellite to Main Event HKD$4,200

Thursday August 27th

12:15 - APPT Macau Main Event Day 1 Flight 3 HKD$40,000

16:00 - Knock-Out Bounty No Limit Holdem HKD$4,000 (HKD$1,000 cash for every player you eliminate)

18:00 - Ladies Event No Limit Holdem HKD$1,500

Friday August 28th

12:15 - APPT Macau Main Event Day 2

15:00 - No Limit Holdem Teams Event HKD$5,000

18:00 - Mega Satellite to High Roller Event HKD$9,400

Saturday August 29th

12:15 - APPT Macau Main Event Day 3

14:15 - APPT Macau High Rollers Event Day 1 HKD$88,800

15:00 - No Limit Holdem HKD$2,000

18:00 - Satellite to APPT Seoul w/ Rebuys HKD$500

Sunday August 30th

12:15 - APPT Macau Main Event Final Table

13:00 - APPT Macau High Rollers Event Day 2

14:15 - No Limit Holdem w/ Rebuys HKD$1,000

18:00 - Mega Satellite to APPT Seoul HKD$4,000

It’s only be a couple of years since we first talked about a little poker tour. The Asia Pacific Poker tour was in its infancy. No one knew exactly what would happen with it.

PokerStars had a pretty good idea, though, and it predicted the APPT would become poker’s biggest tour in that part of the world. PokerStars was right.

Now, just a couple of years later, the APPT has announced the dates for its third season.

According to information just released on APPT.com, the tour is going to kick up again in Macau August 24-30. The event will return to the scene of its other successes at the Grand Lisboa. The $5,160 buy-in event can handle up to 700 players over three Day 1 flights. Last season, Eddie Sabat played a marathon 12-hour final table to take down the Macau championship. Now it’s time for another group of people to have a shot at Macau glory.

The APPT has four other events on its Season 3 schedule. After starting in Macau, the APPT will wind its way across Asia and the Pacfic, from Seoul, to Auckland, to Cebu, and finally to Sydney for the Grand Final.

It was there that Martin Rowe became Australia’s newest million-dollar man in Season 2 of the APPT. Just six months ago, Rowe won the Season 2 Grand Final for AUD $1,000,000.

Keep your eye on the Events > APPT section of the PokerStars tournament lobby. Before too long, you should be able find a full array of satellites for the APPT. And, as always, you can get full details on that tour over at APPT.com.

See you in Macau!

A couple of years back, somebody in Las Vegas whispered to me, “Why do you think PokerStars hasn’t opened a live poker room yet? Just imagine…”

I spent the next couple of years imaginging just that. Of course, there are a lot of logistics to deal with and such. Still, just imagine.

Today we learned that it’s no longer just a flight of fancy. This week, Pokerstars is opening PokerStars Macau, Macau’s first live poker room. The Grand Waldo Hotel and Casino room will have seats for 160 players, offer cash games, and boast of a pretty nice weekly tournament schedule.

The new poker room opens this Friday with a charity tournament to raise money for the victims of the recent earthquake in Western China. Players will be fighting for $150,000 HKD in prizes, including entries to the $25,000 HKD buy-in APPT Macau event in Spetember.

The charity event will be the first event of the “Macau Poker Cup” – a series of poker tournaments scheduled during the May 23-25 weekend, including a $1,000 HKD buy-in Deep-Stack event, the $10,000 buy-in Red Dragon event and the first of many satellites to the Asia Pacific Poker Tour.

If you open up your PokerStars tournament lobby, you will also now see a PSM tab. There you will find a few satellites to the above events.

The Asia Pacific Poker Tour’s is still working out the full schedule for its second season. One thing is for sure, though. It will kick-off at the Grand Waldo Casino with the September 1-6 APPT Macau Main Event, a $25,000 HKD buy-in No-Limit Hold’em poker tournament with a guarantee of $10,000,000 HKD.

For more information on the live poker room, visit: PokerStars Macau

For more information on the APPT, visit: Asia Pacific Poker Tour.