World's top poker players vie in 2nd APPT season

Asia Pacific Poker Tour president Jeffrey Haas wasn’t bluffing when he described the Philippines as the “beating heart” of Asian poker.

“Manila occupies a very special place in Asian poker because it was here where the APPT held its first tournament in September of 2006,” said Haas at the Bayview Salon of Hyatt Hotel.

Haas spoke in yesterday’s press launch of the second season of the PokerStars.net APPT, which is expected to bring in around 300 of the world’s most recognizable poker faces.

The tournament that actually started last Monday will last until Sunday where the final table of the main event, with a buy-in of P100,000, will be played starting at 1 p.m.

Organizers of the event supported by the Philippine Amusements and Gaming Corp. or Pagcor said they expect the last man standing to bring home P10 million.

“Despite the miniscule revenue we get from this, as compared to what we get from our slot machines, we continue to support poker,” said Pagcor’s Rafael Francisco, drawing some laughter.

Among those vying for all the chips and bragging rights are APPT champions Brett Parise, Edward Sabat, Yoshihiro Tasaka, Team Poker Stars ace Lee “Final Table” Nelson and world No. 1 John Phan.

Neil Arce, a flamboyant 25-year-old; Wally “The Dream” Sembrano, a respected figure in Philippine poker; and Joshua Rivera, a call-center agent and recent winner in the local tour, will carry the fight for the Philippines.

Arce made a name for himself when he brought home $55,000 for finishing 200th in a field of 6,000 in last year’s World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.

Alan Escano, executive producer of the Filipino Poker Tour, said the growing number of poker players in the country “is just the tip of the iceberg” and that the game’s popularity “is ready to explode.”

Nelson, who earned his nickname because he’s always in the final table of every tournament he competes in, said poker is a great game that requires skills, patience and discipline.