When Pokerstars decided to launch the 2014 Beijing Millions tournament in mainland China, there were mixed reactions as this was the first time an event of this scale was being put together and the response was a critical factor in the success of the tournament. The tournament was part of the Asia-Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) and proved to be an enormous success.
The 2014 Beijing Millions had a buy-in of approximately $480 which created a total prize pool of around $1,195,000. The tournament was won by Chinese poker player Chen Qin who defeated a playing field of 2,732 entries and won close to $109,000 in prize money. The remaining prize money was distributed between the top 202 players, making the 2014 Beijing Millions the biggest tournament ever held outside the United States.
Danny McDonagh, the president of the APPT was extremely pleased with the success of the tournament. He stated that he was confident the tournament would be successfully but in the end it exceeded expectations and both PokerStars and the APPT were thrilled to be a part of history.
McDonagh also stated that the success of the tournament will change the landscape of poker in China and it won’t be long before China hosts events of this scale.
Mainland China has strict laws concerning gambling and authorities always keep a close watch on all gambling activities. This tournament however was promoted and approved by the Beijing Sports Competitions Administration Centre, which is a division of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports. The tournament took place over a 10 day period and also enabled PokerStars to create a new record for being the biggest live tournament, as the 2014 Beijing Millions surpassed the 2013 Brazilian Series of Poker which had a record of 2,446 entries.
The top 9 players came from China ensuring that the 2014 Beijing Millions champion and title will remain in Mainland China. AoBoTe principal Jian Yang said
I’m so happy to run such a successful event in Beijing and have the support of APPT and the event organizers from the Beijing Sports and Administration Centre. The APPT is a professional event management group capable of running major international poker tournaments and together we created a miracle with the Beijing Millions. I hope the cooperation between APPT and Star Poker will strengthen and develop poker further in China.
