Singaporean poker players like Joshua Ang will soon have two new casinos
Historically the Asian city-state of Singapore has been heavily anti-gambling, but the government has finally decided it can't afford to miss out on a potentially big boost to the country's economy. Thanks to a change in its laws, Singapore is ready to open its doors to gambling with two new casinos set to open this year - and poker at those casinos probably isn't far away.
Yesterday the Singaporean government granted a gambling license to Malaysia's Genting Group to operate a casino at its $4.5 billion Resorts World complex. Later in the year the Marina Bay Sands resort, owned by the Las Vegas Sands Coroporation, will open up - and that's where the poker should come in. Sands also owns the Venetian, the home of the new North American Poker Tour and one of Las Vegas' most popular poker destinations.
The game of poker already enjoys a degree of popularity in Singapore. Ivan Tan, Bryan Huang, Joshua Ang and Nathanael Seet have all enjoyed success on the numerous Asian tours, and the Asian Poker Tour originally kicked off back in 2006 with an event in Singapore. Add in a home-turf poker room at one of the new casinos for these guys to build their bankrolls off fat-walleted foreign tourists, and in a few years Singapore could become Asia's newest poker center. Just remember that your read it here first!
