MACAU, CHINA, September 6 2010 – PokerStars Macau at Casino Grand Lisboa held a hugely successful Macau Poker Cup (MPC) from September 1-5 awarding a record HKD $4,512,353 in prize money through the 5-day poker celebration. Three tournaments set personal record prize pools and total player entries crossed the 4-figure mark for the first time with 1060 players registering into the 7 cash tournaments.

314 players entered the Red Dragon main event making it the second largest ever and awarded HKD $2,859,912 in total prize money. The Red Dragon offered a handsome prize of HKD $643,000 for the winner. “PokerStars and Grand Lisboa are always striving to offer the ultimate poker experience for the players.” said PokerStars Macau Operations manager Danny McDonagh, “The team has worked hard and it’s rewarding to see the three biggest Red Dragon events this year.”

After 14 grueling hours on Sunday’s Day 3 Final it would be James McCarty from Japan coming out the victor. When the Red Dragon was down to the final three players it appeared as if local hero Ginger Keong was destined to bring home the title to Macau for the first time. Keong had over half the chips in play and seemed to be grinding down the competition. However, McCarty had a key hand where his pocket aces not only eliminated a player but simultaneously decreased Keong’s stack to 400,000 chips.

The two remaining players entered heads up play with McCarty holding a commanding 7-to-1 chip lead. Keong made some progress moving all-in each hand where McCarty folded. Eventually, McCarty made the call on the fourth shove and showed a dominating Q9 vs. Keong’s Q2. The board wouldn’t improve either player’s hands which meant McCarty would take down the pot and main event.

“I come here (to PokerStars Macau) every couple months and specifically like the deep tournament structure.” said the 27-year old winner, “I feel I played well but also got lucky at the right time .” Photos copyright of PokerStars Macau.