Today the PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour announced season two’s next stop at the exclusive Hyatt Hotel and Casino in Manila, which promises to attract people from all corners of the globe and boost tourism in the Philippines’ capital. The second APPT Manila poker festival will run from November 10-16, featuring the PHP 100,000 Main Event November 13-16 that is also Grand Final to the inaugural Filipino Poker Tour.
Players’ expectations are set high as APPT Manila promises an exhilarating cultural experience for the hundreds of players expected from more than 30 nations. Overlooking the city’s magnificent gateway, Manila Bay, the exclusive Hyatt Hotel and Casino will be the perfect setting for one-week action-packed poker drama and excitement.
“Manila is a great setting for Season two’s fourth leg of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour – home to the first ever APPT event last year, I look forward to witnessing first hand the growth poker has seen in the last 12 months. This major international event, coupled with the PokerStars.net Filipino Poker Tour, has positioned the Philippines as one of Asia’s leading poker markets,” commented Team PokerStars Pro and best-selling poker author Lee ‘Final Table’ Nelson.
Providing the opportunity for all people to qualify their way into the tournament for little investment, daily satellites are running both online at PokerStars.net and live at Metro Card Club in Manila in the days leading up to the highly anticipated Main Event.
“We are committed to continuing the expansion of poker tourism to Manila and this includes making the tour accessible for everyone around the world with free and affordable online and live qualifiers so they can experience first hand the sheer exhilaration of the sport in big events such as APPT Manila. Last year we had a record 255 players competing for the coveted PokerStars.net APPT Manila title – we hope to increase this number in 2008. Included in the hundreds of players assembled at the Hyatt Casino this year will be some of the sport’s finest talent,” commented APPT President Jeffrey Haas.
Joining Team PokerStars Pro, Lee ‘Final Table’ Nelson in Manila will be a host of the region’s top professional poker players, including:
· Professional billiards player and Filipino icon Alex ‘The Lion’ Pagulayan
· Korean-born poker icon Jimmy Cha
· The Philippines’ top ranked poker players Neil ‘Dirty Ice Cream’ Arce and Wally “The Dream” Sombrero
· Current PokerStars.net APPT Manila champion Brett Parise to defend his 2007 title
· Vietnamese born poker champion John Phan – the world’s no. 1 poker player in 2008. With two WSOP bracelets and one WPT bracelet, he hopes to become the first ever poker player to hold a WSOP, WPT and APPT title concurrently
· PokerStars.net APPT Macau Champion Edward Sabat
· PokerStars.net APPT Seoul Champion Yoshihiro Tasaka
· Leading Shanghai born Australian female player Celina Lin
· PokerStars.net “Team Singapore” players Ivan Tan and Bryan Huang
Committed to growing poker culture throughout the Asia Pacific region, the APPT will attract many other high profile players from Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, China and the USA to name a few. With a mix of both poker and traditional Filipino experiences, Manila provides players and their families with the opportunity to enjoy the city’s vibrancy, as well as visit the picturesque Filipino islands such as Borocay, home to arguably the best beach in the world, following their city experience.
“I am urging all players and their families to extend their stay past the Main Event and enjoy all this spectacular country has to offer,” continued APPT President Jeffrey Haas.
The inaugural EPT Budapest tournament included 71 Hungarian players and attracted players from all over the world. Hungarians have proven an increasingly impressive force on the international poker scene with players including Denes Kalo, twice runner on last season’s EPT, and Valdemar Kwaysser, who won the Latin America Poker Tour event in Costa Rica this year. Hungarian businessman Zoltan Toth, 41, carried Hungary’s hopes into the final day, ending in seventh place for $100,356 (€78,736).
A total of 157 PokerStars players played in the four-day event, including 104 who won their seats on PokerStars. Alex Kravchenko fared best out of the eight Team PokerStars Pros in the field, finishing 23rd for $13,561 (€10,640). The EPT presenter and PokerStars sponsored player Kara Scott followed her 104th place finish in the WSOP Main Event with a 52nd place showing for $9,493 (€7,448).
“The EPT has once again proved that we can move into emerging markets like Hungary and provide a sell-out tournament,” said EPT founder John Duthie. “The support from the local players has been overwhelming and players have been happy to travel from all over the world to attend the inaugural event in Budapest.
The next stop on the PokerStars European Poker Tour is the Warsaw event from November 15-19 at Casinos Poland at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.