Japan

Japanese gambling laws are among the strictest in the world. So strict, in fact, that casinos are not even allowed to operate in the country of Japan. This has not stopped the second annual All Japan Poker Championship underway in Tokyo.

The tournament can be held because it does not make participants pay an entry fee and, in fact, no money is gambled at all. Poker tourneys that require an entry fee are illegal in Japan. The winner will get a bracelet and a $10,000 buy-in to the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event in Las Vegas.

The tournament is so popular that there is even a Ladies and Senior tourney which take place before the Main Event on May 18th. Last year, Kunihiro Sakamoto won the Main Event, and the $10,000 buy-in to the WSOP, after outlasting a field that included over 2,000 people.

The first Japanese Poker Tournament is set for June. Finally, Japan will have its own poker tournament. The All-Japan Poker Championship Committee has announced the first annual All-Japan Poker Championship (AJPC).

The no-limit Texas hold’em event will take place June 2 and 3 in Tokyo, Japan. The winner of the AJPC will receive an entry into the 2007 World Series of Poker, as well as travel expenses to and accommodations in Las Vegas. A portion of the sponsorship funds will be donated to charity.

The Dusk Till Dawn poker club is about to open in the U.K. in Nottingham to be specific. With £4 million already spent building Europe's biggest poker club (46 tables) and another £3m plunged into a 15-year lease, entrepreneur and club owner Robert Yong believes:

"We will be making Nottingham one of the world's biggest poker centres."

With poker professional Dave Colclough as the club's ambassador and over 3,600 club members before even opening the doors, it would seem they are well on their way. Dusk Til Dawn should open by mid-summer.

The World Poker Tour and Grup Peralada, the largest casino group in Spain, have announced an agreement to bring the first ever WPT stop in Spain to the Casino Barcelona. The event has been added to the Tour line-up in October 2007.

Steve Lipscomb, President of World Poker Tour Enterprises said:

“This is a very important move for us as we continue to expand our business in the European market."

Oliver Zugel, CEO of Grup Peralada´s Casino Division said:

“This agreement further reinforces our leading position in poker and will create a new standard for premium, televised poker events in Europe and lay the groundwork for an Iberian tour involving other leading casinos in Spain and Portugal.”

As I write this blog, Guy Laliberte, the "richest man in Canada" has just finished 4th in the Five Diamond World Poker Tour Championship in Las Vegas. Guy, the co-founder of "Cirque du Soleil," is playing in only his third tournament after picking up the game less than 18 months ago. Perhaps he was visiting the five "Cirque" shows now playing in Las Vegas and just stopped by the Bellagio to win $696,220.