Donaco International has announced the signing of a three-year deal with King Consulting Ltd, owner of the Poker King Club (PKC), to stage international tournaments at Star Vegas in Cambodia.
In an announcement on the Australian Securities Exchange, Donaco said it would run a minimum of three international poker tournaments at Star Vegas under a range of potential brands including the Asian Poker Tour (APT) and World Poker Tour (WPT).
Poker King Club, which is managed by high stakes player Winfred Yu, operates three poker rooms – Poker King Club Macau at the Venetian, Poker King Club Manila at Solaire and Poker King Club Korea at Maison Glad Hotel Jeju.
The Manila room also plays host to “The Big Game” – the world’s biggest cash game which is frequented by renowned Asian businessmen Paul Phua and Richard Yong as well as professional players Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan and Patrik Antonius among others.
Donaco said the deal, which commences on 1 July 2017, “represents the first step in Donaco’s strategy of increasing the utilisation of available capacity at Star Vegas and increasing visitation from players located in Thailand and across Asia.”
It follows Donaco’s earnings announcement – also released this week – in which it reported unaudited Group EBITDA for the nine months to 31 March was up 10.5% to AU$56.7 million thanks largely to improved results at Star Vegas.
Star Vegas reported EBITDA of THB566.6 million (US$16.4 million) for the first three months of 2017, up 47.1% year-on-year.
“Casino visitation and gaming turnover recovered in January, when VIP players began returning to the property after observing a 100 day royal mourning period in Thailand,” Donaco said.