HomeWith the steady growing number of poker players fueling the Asian poker market and the long term host partner venues of the Asian Poker Tour, 2018 is marked as our best year to-date. We kicked it off by opening the floodgates of Vietnam, hosting the first-ever international poker festival in Ho Chi Minh City. At the close, the APT held 9 successful events in various parts of the region.
Before we look ahead to the upcoming 2019 season, we take a brief look back at the year’s featured events – Main Event and Championships Event. These events amassed approximately US$4,2 Million in combined prize pools. Listed below are all of the glorious victors and their achievements.
APT Kickoff Vietnam
Date: January 19 to 28, 2018
Location: Pro Poker Club, Ho Chi Minh City
MAIN EVENT winner: Adrian Esslen
Entries: 664
Prize pool: VND 9,661,200,000 (~US$423,000)
1st prize: VND 1,313,920,000 (~US$57,700)
APT Philippines Championships
Date: March 21 to April 2, 2019
Location: Resorts World Manila, Newport City
MAIN EVENT winner: Lester Edoc
Entries: 325
Prize pool: PHP 15,762,500 (~US$300,500)
1st prize: PHP 2,674,900 (~US$51,000)
CHAMPIONSHIPS EVENT winner: Iori Yogo
Entries: 100
Prize pool: PHP 9,700,000 (~UD$185,100)
1st prize: PHP 2,402,500 (~US$45,800)
APT Macau Championships
Date: April 25 to May 6, 2018
Location: Macau Billionaire Poker, Babylon Casino
MAIN EVENT winner: Hung Sheng Lin
Entries: 377
Prize pool: HKD 3,619,200 (~US$461,100)
1st prize: HKD 587,000 (~US$74,700)
CHAMPIONSHIPS EVENT winner– Sparrow Cheung
Entries: 108
Prize pool: HKD 2,095,200 (~US$266,900)
1st prize: HKD 428,000 (~US$54,500)
APT Korea-Seoul
Date: June 15 to 24, 2018
Location: Paradise Casino Seoul Walkerhill
MAIN EVENT winner: Jin Woo Kim
Entries: 170
Prize pool: KRW 164,900,000 (US$149,000)
1st prize: KRW 26,225,000 (~US$23,700)
APT Vietnam Ho Chi Minh Championships
Date: July 11 to 22, 2018
Location: Pro Poker Club, Ho Chi Minh City
MAIN EVENT winner: Dang Xuan Canh
Entries: 499
Prize pool: VND 9,680,600,000 (~US$422,000)
1st prize: VND 1,636,770,000 (~US$71,300)
CHAMPIONSHIPS EVENT winner: Cao Ngoc Anh
Entries: 213
Prize pool: VND 6,198,300,000 (~US$269,700)
1st prize: VND 1,304,030,000 (~US$66,700)
APT Korea Incheon Championships
Date: August 8 to 19, 2018
Location: Paradise City, Incheon, South Korea
MAIN EVENT winner – Iori Yogo
Entries: 192
Prize pool: KRW 186,240,000 (~US$166,500)
1st prize: KRW 40,463,000 (~US$36,100)
CHAMPIONSHIPS EVENT winner: Geoffrey You
Entries: 148
Prize pool: KRW 215,340,000 (~US$190,700)
1st prize: KRW 49,770,000 (~US$44,000)
APT Philippines Championships II
Date: September 13 to 24, 2018
Location: Resorts World Manila, Newport City
MAIN EVENT winner: Lester Edoc
Entries: 306
Prize pool: PHP 14,841,000 (~US$275,100)
1st prize: PHP 2,849,600 (~US$52,800)
CHAMPIONSHIPS EVENT winner: Lim Yohwan
Entries: 174
Prize pool: PHP 12,658,500 (~US$234,500)
1st prize: PHP 2,819,900 (~US$52,200)
APT Vietnam
Date: October 5 to 11, 2018
Location: Pro Poker Club, Ho Chi MInh City
MAIN EVENT winner– Tetsuya Tsuchikawa
Entries: 498
Prize pool: VND 9,661,200 (~US$415,800)
1st prize: VND 1,638,200,000 (~US$70,500)
APT Finale Philippines
Date: November 27 to December 6, 2018
Location: Resorts World Manila, Newport City
MAIN EVENT winner: Mikiya Kudo
Entries: 307
Prize pool: PHP 14,889,500 (~US$283,400)
1st prize: PHP 2,844,200 (~US$54,100)
CHAMPIONSHIPS EVENT winner: Iori Yogo
Entries: 71
Prize pool: PHP 10,330,500 (~US$196,700)
1st prize: PHP 2,872,800 (~US$54,700)
New events in 2019 and new pay table
With 2019 already upon us, we’ve made sure to release our schedule well ahead to give everyone plenty of time to prepare. It is going to be another big year at the APT. 12 events are lined up with 10 stops confirmed. Two new destinations have been added, Tokyo, Japan and Taipei, Taiwan. Both will take place in February. Full schedules can be found on the home page of the website.
One modification to expect in 2019 is the APT’s pay table for the Main Event and Championships Event. Players have argued that the “dream of winning big” was lost with the “1 in 6” scheme. Therefore, the featured events will now see a payout structure of 10% of the field with bigger prizes awarded to the top 3 places. As for the side events, which includes the High Rollers events, these will maintain the “1 in 6” payout.
We look forward to seeing all of you in 2019! We wish you all a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year! The Asian Poker Tour kicks off the new season back in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The festival takes place from January 9 to 20 with VND 14 Billion in guaranteed prizes. Full APT Kickoff Vietnam 2019 schedule.