I flew into Japan, and I spent the whole week there, and played in three tournaments, which were the most successful tournaments they ever had. Having said that, they only had a capacity of 50 players for each….only five tables. The poker room was only a total of 65 square meters big!
Space in Japan is extremely expensive, and very difficult to get. Every centimeter in Japan is calculated, and reserved for various things….they don’t waste anything. And, since they cannot rake poker games….games can only be for fun. Obviously, poker is a struggle to be an offline game at the moment in Japan. But, people really do love poker, there, and I think there is a big future for poker there. The three PokerNews Japan tournaments I played in were really enjoyable, and I look forward to going back.
