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PokerStars Macau’s new room in Cotai’s Studio City

In May this year, the PokerStars LIVE poker room in Macau was shut down, owing to non-renewal of the contract from either party. That being done, it was highly unlikely that it would mean the end of the road for PokerStars LIVE in Macau. There was every chance that they would find a new venue, as their presence in Macau is vital to PokerStars’ expansion in the Asian market.

PokerStars and City of Dreams were associated with each other for a period of 5 years. Now, less than three months after this surprise closure of its poker room at City of Dreams, the company has announced its return to Macau, with discussions underway for Cotai’s Studio City to become their new home. 

PokerStars LIVE has hosted some of the biggest poker tournament series in Macau, including the likes of the Macau Poker Cup (MPC), APPT Macau, Macau Millions and the Asia Championship of Poker (ACOP). They will now return to Macau and will be preparing for the upcoming edition of the MPC.

Also in May this year, PokerStars announced having outsourced its Asia live poker operations to Hong Kong-listed International Entertainment Corporation (IEC), to host live poker tournaments in locations like Macau, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, and others.

High-stakes poker player and IEC Chairman, Stanley Choi, told Inside Asian Gaming that the company is ‘likely’ to use Studio City for the upcoming MPC tournament series. The Red Dragon event is the highlight of this series and the last tournament held in February attracted a massive field of 1,122 players.

While this news hasn’t been confirmed, it is likely that IEC will go ahead with this partnership with Studio City. Recently, Macau also got its first ever e-sports stadium called the Macau E-Stadium and this is also located at Studio City. Keep reading GutshotMagazine.com for similar updates on poker in Asia and around the world.

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