A baccarat event held last Tuesday by the Sands China Ltd Cotai Central property ended up setting a Guinness World Record for the largest ever first place prize awarded for a baccarat tournament. The event took place at the Sheraton Macao Hotel and consisted of six top players, who made the final round of the event from the field of over 100 competitors from around the world.

The final six met to finish out the tournament, which paid out HKD100 million, $12.9 million USD, to the first place winner. Not only did the tournament set the record for the largest baccarat first place tournament prize but also earned a record for the biggest ever combined prize pool for the tournament type, which was HKD129 million.

The event was created by the Suncity Group, a Macau casino junket investor, who stated that the overall winner, known as Lam of Hong Kong, was able to outlast the field to earn the massive first place prize. The tournament started with two qualifying events, one at the Crowne Plaza Melbourne located in Australia and the second taking place at the Sand China’s Venetian Macao. The Cotai property Galaxy Macau then hosted the semifinals before the final round took place at the Sheraton Macao.