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As the expression goes, “time flies” and it has indeed as the Asian Poker Tour has grown from its very first event five years ago to one of the most recognized tours in the world.
It was back in May of 2008 when the APT held its first event at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati, Philippines. It was a star-studded event as the “who’s who” of the gaming industry were present. To show that the APT was a legitimate poker tour, the Main Event had a guaranteed prize pool of US$ 1 Million and saw Australian David Saab take the lion’s share. The APT then upped that ante with a guaranteed prize pool of US$ 1.5 Million with its first event in what can now be considered as one of the world’s gaming havens, Macau. The last man standing would be US based poker prodigy Yevgeniy Timoshenko. The APT would then return to both venues the following year.
During the following four years, the Asian Poker Tour team worked hard to positioning itself as a major brand in the poker industry. As a respected name, the APT received numerous requests to run special events, these events adopting the APT format would be called Accredited Events. Six Accredited Events happened in 2010, all of them based on APT tournament structures and rules. These would complement the APT major tournaments like APT Philippines 2010 which moved to the then newly-opened Resorts World Manila. While a few months later, Matt Savage made a cameo appearance as the Tournament Director for the prestigious APT Macau held that year at the recently opened City of Dreams.
Throwback to APT Philippines 2008
Opening 2011, the APT introduced its Asian Series brand which was based on existing APT structures and rules but with the buy-ins set at US$1,000. The first APT Asian Series was held in Cebu, Philippines with another one held in a totally new, exotic venue – Casino Royale in Goa, India. All of these paved the way for what would become the APT’s busiest year.
In 2012 alone, the Asian Poker Tour held a total of 10 events spread across the world. The year opened with a Special Event in London followed by the APT Asian Series Cebu. The China Poker Carnival then had the APT as its main sponsor. The rest of the year saw staple events like APT Philippines and APT Macau together with Asian Series events held in Cebu, Philippine; Goa, India; Grand Bay, Mauritius; Manila Philippines, Svay Rieng, Cambodia.
This year, the APT added another new stop to its calendar – Jeju, South Korea. The island played host to the APT Asian Series Jeju which followed the APT Asian Series Cebu. Resorts World Manila again played host to APT Philippines 2013. Although half of the year has already passed, the APT is nowhere near from slowing down. There are at least four more events planned for the year.
The past five years has seen the Asian Poker Tour build not only a respected name in the poker industry but also an international brand recognized throughout the gaming Industry.