City of Dreams opens 2nd live poker room in Asia

MANILA, Philippines - The operator of the world’s biggest online poker sites has launched operations at the City of Dreams Manila, its second live poker room in Asia after Macau.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Melco Crown (Philippines) Resorts Corp, said PokerStars opened  on the second level of the City of Dreams Manila casino, last Dec. 14, offering cash games and tournaments at 14 tables.

Melco said the 14 tables may be expanded for special events such as the Asia Pacific  Poker Tour (APPT) Manila Poker Festival. Tournaments run every Friday, Saturday and Sunday with a variety of special events planned for 2015.

“Our relationship with City of Dreams has been nothing short of amazing in our poker room in Macau. I have the utmost confidence that our continued collaboration in Manila will take poker in the Philippines to new heights,” said Danny McDonagh, PokerStars’ director of live operations for Asia-Pacific.

PokerStars is a member of The Rational Group, which operates gaming-related businesses and brands, including PokerStars, Full Tilt and the European Poker Tour.  Since its launch in 2011, it has become the first choice of players all over the world, having dealt with  more than 120 billion hands, which is more than any other site.

It  operates globally under licenses from the Isle of Man and Malta governments, respectively. PokerStars also holds separate government licenses in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.

The $1.3 billion City of Dreams Manila is a joint venture between Macau casino giant Melco Crown Entertainment and tycoon Henry Sy’s Belle Corp.   It opened its doors last Dec. 14 with the high-roller gaming areas, an indoor Dream Works theme park, hotels,  and a shopping mall due to open before the Chinese New Year in 2015.