Originally scheduled to take place at Cotai’s Wynn Palace from June 18 to 24, the WPT Macau tournament was set to welcome players from around the world. However, the World Poker Tour has announced that this highly anticipated event will not move forward. While the poker company did not provide a specific reason for the sudden cancellation, they expressed optimism about hosting other events in the region in the future.
The announcement was shared on WPT’s official X account, where the company expressed regret for the inconvenience and disappointment this development might cause to professional players globally.
WPT, Wynn Macau, and Allied Gaming and Entertainment apologize to the players who were planning to travel to Macau for the event. Despite the setback, WPT emphasized its commitment to collaborating with Wynn Macau and Allied Gaming and Entertainment to bring world-class poker tournaments to the special administrative region.
As of now, no official reason for the event’s cancellation has been provided.
The tournament was expected to mark the return of international professional poker to Macau, which has not hosted such events since the closure of the PokerStars LIVE room at City of Dreams in April 2018. The planning and organization of international events were further hindered by the pandemic and China’s Zero-COVID policy, which significantly limited travel and delayed discussions about such tournaments.
Announced in March, the WPT Macau tournament promised to revitalize the poker scene in the special administrative region. According to Adam Pliska, CEO of the World Poker Tour, Macau has long been a “sought-after” destination for his team, and the company remains hopeful about future opportunities in the region.
The decision to cancel the Macau tournament follows the recent cancellation of another WPT poker event in Vietnam. While regulatory issues were believed to be a factor in the Vietnam event’s cancellation, there is no indication that this is related to the Macau cancellation.
