The first sanctioned poker tournament is slated for mid-November at the Titan King Casino, which sits on the border with Vietnam in Bavet City, located in the southeast province of Svay Rieng.
“We are developing poker in Cambodia,” Denis Pham, development director with PSW Asian, told pokerfuse in an email. The game’s popularity has picked up in the past year, he said, “and is growing fast.”
It is a relatively small buy-in no-limit hold’em event, at $550, but there is a $100,000 prize pool if the tournament attracts 200 players.
For an additional $100, the casino also offers a package that includes the entry fee, a night at the hotel and a breakfast buffet. A luxury room is an additional $29.
Registration for the November 17-18 event is available at the casino’s site.
If less than 200 players register, the prize pool could drop to $75,000, according to Pham.
Officials are still uncertain whether any well-known poker players will attend the event, and Pham said the tournament will be something of a trial for poker in the once war-ravaged nation with a population of more than 14.8 million.
“We are trying to generate some interest in this country,” he said. “So that’s why we started with a small buy-in—then we’ll see how they like it.”
