Asia Pacific Poker Tour

Macau to Manila, and room for more - APPT overview

Founded in 2007, the Asian Pacific Poker Tour epitomises poker’s global appeal.

Once a game confined to the seedy, back alley streets of the American mid-west, poker now seems ready to tap into its biggest potential market: Asia.

The Asian population possesses an inherent love for ‘mind’ games. Every year, the World Mind Sports Games (which poker is now a part of), descends on Beijing, where participants dabble in bridge, chess, draughts, go and Chinese chess.

The Chinese have a penchant for gambling (perhaps down to superstition and belief in ‘luck’), which manifests itself in the game mahjong, or extensive, in-play betting circles. Couple this with the intensity Asian people can play games (people have died playing strategy game Starcraft), and you get a market worth tapping in to.

It is therefore no surprise PokerStars have taken bold steps to entice the massive Asian population into playing poker. 1.3 billion Chinese people generating rake sounds lucrative to say the least.

The rise of Asian Poker

A couple of factors have contributed to the growth of poker and pokerstars in Asia.

Macau, the first place to offer legal gambling in China, has established itself as a rival to sin city Las Vegas. Once notorious for its network of spies and drug lords, thousands of eager gamblers now descend on the Cotai Strip to enjoy slots and baccarat.

The success of popular icons such as Scotty Nguyen and Johnny Chan has also captured the hearts of the Asian population. The animated Nguyen left his native Vietnam in pursuit of the American dream, and achieved fame by clinching the 1998 WSOP Main Event crown.

Chan, dubbed the ‘Orient Express’ for his aggressive, steamrollering style, is a WSOP legend with ten bracelets to his name. Other noteworthy names from the Asian peninsula include Men Nguyen and JC Tran. All emigrated from their native lands at an early age to seek greener pastures in America.

Also a new generation of Asian players is coming to the mainstream such as Celine Lin.

The APPT, currently in Season 4, features five stops – Manila, Macau, Cebu, Auckland and Sydney. Buy-ins are understandably lower (no more than $6k for the main events), given some of Asia’s rural, impoverished areas.

This didn’t stop Aaron Benton picking up a handsome $580k at the 2009, APPT Sydney. Poker’s profile has blossomed in Australia since Joe Hachem won the WSOP Main Event and the Melbourne Crown Casino started the Aussie Millions.

The APPT’s most recent winner was Victorino Torres, as he bested 342 players in Macau to scoop the $416k jackpot. All APPT stops are essentially festivals – they offer a diverse range of events and formats including 6-max, bounty and shootout.

The APPT is a great opportunity for a solid online player to make a smooth transition to live, tournament play. Without the monster WSOP fields and hefty WPT buy-ins, the APPT provides an easier baptism. Players also get the chance to sample Asia’s unique culture, and come face to face with the likes of Johnny Chan, Marcel Luske and Joe Hachem.

PokerStars offers satellite tournaments to the APPT and other major events like the WSOP and Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure. Qualify for these satellites with your Frequent Player Points (FPPS) and discover Asia or The Bahamas for free!

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