Zhu Guan Fai

Zhu Guan Fai was born in Hong Kong in 1980. He began playing poker in 2001 during his university years, starting on Party Poker with tiny $2-$4 limit stakes. Even as a student, Zhu believed poker was primarily a game of skill, not luck. In an interview with the Hong Kong Poker Players Association, he explained that his development as a player came from speaking with and learning from experienced professionals, watching and reviewing recorded hands, implementing strict bankroll management, and reading poker literature. He singled out Gus Hansen's "Every Hand Revealed" as the book that most influenced him, saying it was the key to his eventual win in the Asian Poker King Tournament.

After returning from Canada to Hong Kong, Zhu visited Macau hoping to play Texas hold'em. To his surprise, none of Macau's casinos offered poker at that time. Realizing the opportunity, Zhu decided to introduce the game to the Chinese community. With the Grand Waldo Casino supplying the venue and PokerStars providing sponsorship, he succeeded in organizing the first legal poker tournament in Macau, founding what became the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT). He brought in Matt Savage, one of the world's most respected tournament directors, to oversee the event. The APPT quickly grew into a series of international tournaments, and its success convinced Macau's casinos to spread live poker games. Zhu is widely recognized as a key figure behind the explosion of Texas hold'em in Macau and across Asia.

Zhu's first live tournament was the Pan-Asian Poker Tour in 2006, where he placed fourth. After that, he regularly cashed in events around the region and abroad. In April 2010, he captured his first individual championship at the Asian Poker King Tournament in Macau, beating 233 players to win $71,307. His live earnings steadily accumulated, reaching nearly US$13 million by the middle of the 2010s. He has also cashed multiple times in WSOP series events and reached several final tables. Observers have described Zhu as a solid, patient player, particularly strong in deep-stack situations and late tournament stages. He pays close attention to table dynamics and opponent analysis, using his experience to make well-timed decisions when the pressure is highest.

Zhu's career-defining result came in October 2016, when Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté personally invited him to play the Monte Carlo One Drop Extravaganza. The tournament had a €1,000,000 buy-in, making it the priciest event in poker history at that point. It was set up by Laliberté and the One Drop Foundation to highlight global water problems and raise money for clean-water projects. Zhu outlasted 25 other high-stakes players, many of them among the world's most famous professionals, to win the title. First prize was €11,111,111, about US$12,248,912 at the time. That payout ranked as the third-largest single tournament prize ever awarded in poker, behind only the two $1,000,000 buy-in One Drop events held in Las Vegas.