The Asia Pacific Poker Tour

The Asia Pacific Poker Tour is a recent addition to the international professional poker tour circuit. Set up to take advantage of the meteoric rise in popularity of poker in the last decade, the Asia Pacific Poker Tour is the Asian incarnation of the popular World Poker Tour and European Poker Tour televised tournaments.

Asia Pacific Poker Tour History

It’s premature to talk about the Asia Pacific Poker Tour’s history, due to the fact that the first season of the event was played as recently as 2007. However, the popularity of poker in Asia has a long history, with many historians crediting China as the birthplace of pokerlike games.

With gambling being one of the most popular recreational activities in Asia, the recent surge in public interest in poker in Europe and the United States was destined to cross over into Asia, particularly with the advent of live broadcasting of poker tournaments by major sports networks such as ESPN.

In 2007 a leading online poker room made the decision to sponsor the first ever Asia Pacific Poker Tour. The inaugural season of the event was a massive success as five tournaments were held in the following Asian and Pacific countries - Australia, Macau, China, the Philippines and South Korea.

The Asia Pacific Poker Tour event held in Macau was the largest poker tournament in Asian history, with over 300 hundred entrants paying the $2,500 buy-in to the tournament.

Asia Pacific Poker Tour Format

The Asia Pacific Poker Tour is a series of televised Texas Hold ‘em poker tournaments played in several countries in the Asia Pacific region. At present the Asia Pacific Poker Tour comprises only five poker tournaments, with the Australian tournament finale held in Sydney offering the biggest prize of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour at AS$1 million.

Asia Pacific Poker Tour Winners

2007 – Grant Levy