Asia Pacific Poker Tour Season 2

The PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour is back for Season 2, with new events and bigger guaranteed cash prizes than before.

Next stop in Season 2 will be APPT Auckland, October 9-12 2008. After that, the tour will move on to Manila, and the Grand Final in Sydney this December.

This is your chance to play poker for huge cash prizes in some of the world’s most luxurious places.

See full event schedule below.

Season 2 - The story so far

The first event in Season 2 was held in Macau - incorporating both a Main Event and a High Rollers tournament. The event broke all previous records, with 538 players entering the Main Event and 61 entering the High Rollers tournament. Edward Sabat took home HKD 3,540,040 (USD $453,851) for winning the Main Event, while Nam Le walked away with HKD $3,700,000 (USD $475,359) for his victory in the High Rollers event, beating a star-studded field that included Team PokerStars Pro members Joe Hachem, Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier and Lee Nelson.

The Paradise Walker-hill Casino in Seoul hosted the second event of the PokerStars APPT Season 2, with the Main Event attracting a field of 165 players from 33 different countries.Yoshihiro Tasaka from Japan, a poker veteran of 30 years, scooped KRW 148,896,000 (USD$ 128,230) in first place prize money, after beating fellow Japanese player Hidenari Shiono in heads-up play. Tasaka, playing in his first ever live poker tournament, negotiated a final table that lasted 12 hours, and featured three PokerStars online qualifiers.

See the PokerStars Blog for a full report, and PokerStars.tv for video blogs and highlights.

Season 1 - Highlights

The groundbreaking APPT Season 1 attracted over 1,400 players, generating a prize pool of over $5,000,000. The action brought together the game’s greatest players, including Team PokerStars Pro members Joe Hachem, Greg Raymer, Chris Moneymaker, Isabelle Mercier and Lee Nelson.

The first event in Manila was won by 22-year-old American Brett Parise, who took the title and first place prize money of $179,775. After besting a field of 255, Parise saw his pocket 10’s beat the J-5 of runner-up Ira Blumenthal. In Seoul, 25-year-old Israeli player Ziv Bachar won $139,000, for beating Jo Berec with K-10 vs. K-9.

Next up was Macau, where first place prize money of $222,640 was won by 25-year-old English player Dinh Le, when his 8-8 held up against Ivan Tam’s A-10. A few days later, 28-year-old Australian Eric Assadourian took down the High Rollers event, walking away with $368,640.

The tour climaxed with the prestigious Grand Final in Sydney, where Australian player Grant Levy, a 28-yearl old teacher, triumphed over a field of 561 to become the first ever APPT champion, earning a payday of $875,542. After a mammoth 67 hands of heads-up play, Levy saw his Q-6 develop into a full house, securing victory against Jeremiah Vinsant. 

Team PokerStars Pro member Joe Hachem also scored big, winning the APPT Season 1 Tournament of Champions event. Hachem beat a table full of top pros to take first prize of $50,000, which he donated to charity.

Visit the PokerStars blog for a full report from each APPT Season 1 event.

See the APPT site for full details of Season 2.