Home2020 is just around the corner and to help players plan early, the Asian Poker Tour is thrilled to announce its schedule of events for the coming year. At this time 12 events are scheduled. The tour returns to popular destinations Vietnam, Taiwan, Philippines, and Korea. Exciting new stops have also been added. APT General Manager and Executive Tournament Director, Lloyd Fontillas expressed,
“This 2019 we have laid out the foundation to make 2020 a fun and exciting year. Players can expect larger guarantees, new events, new destinations, and more players attending each and every event.”
Asian Poker Tour 2020
January 8 – 19: APT Vietnam Ho Chi Minh
Venue: Pro Poker Club, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
In January 2017, the APT was the first international brand to host a full-fledged poker festival in Ho Chi Minh City. It produced the largest tour Main Event attendance of 664 entries. Since then, the APT has visited an additional four times, each one attracting an average of 2300 entries. For 2020, the tour will once again host its annual kickoff event at Pro Poker Club for a third consecutive year.
February 12 – 23: (To be announced)
March 4 – 15: APT Taiwan
Venue: Chinese Texas Hold’em Poker Association (CTP Club), Taipei City, Taiwan
The APT’s inaugural visit to Taiwan in February remains as the tour’s richest festival of 2019 with over USD 2.1 million in prizes paid out. To date, the Main Event holds the country record prize pool of TWD 15,219,300, approximately USD 494,000.
April 7 – 18: APT Vietnam Da Nang (To be confirmed)
Venue: VSOP, Da Nang, Vietnam
New stop to be confirmed.
April 27 – May 10: APT Philippines (Subject to regulatory approval)
Venue: Resorts World Manila, Newport City, Philippines
The Philippines is the tour’s main hub with events taking place at the highly popular Resorts World Manila. This year drew an average of 3,300 entries per event with grand prize pools averaging USD 1.8 million. In September 2019, the Main Event set a tour country record of 515 entries.
June 3 – 14: APT Vietnam – Ho Chi Minh
Venue: Pro Poker Club, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
July 1 – July 12: (To be announced)
July 25 – August 11: APT Korea – Seoul & Incheon (To be confirmed)
Venue: Paradise Casino, Grand Walkerhill, Seoul, South Korea
Venue: Paradise City Incheon, South Korea
(First APT event with 2 local stops)
For 2020, the tour merges the Seoul and Incheon together for the first-ever back-to-back APT poker festival. The event is an 18 day swing starting at Seoul for 7 days then Incheon for 11 days.
APT Korea – Incheon was first held in 2017 and has since become a regular stop in the yearly lineup. Seoul was added to the list in 2018. Despite locals prohibited from participating, this year saw both stops smash their advertised guarantees. It also produced the richest APT Incheon of over USD 1.3 million in prizes paid out.
September 10 – 21: APT Philippines (Subject to regulatory approval)
Venue: Resorts World Manila, Newport City, Philippines
October 7 – 18: APT Taiwan
Venue: Chinese Texas Hold’em Poker Association (CTP Club), Taipei City, Taiwan
November 4 – 11: APT Korea – Busan (To be confirmed)
Venue: Paradise Casino Busan, South Korea
New stop to be confirmed.
December 2 – 13: APT Finale (To be announced)
Venue to be announced.
A gentle reminder to everyone, for events listed ‘To be confirmed’ (TBC), we highly recommend players to wait until the status is confirmed before booking flights and accommodations.
APT 2019 in review
2019 has indeed been a fantastic year for the APT. Two new stops were added – APT Taiwan and APT Tokyo Japan. Currently running is the second installment of APT Taiwan 2019, the 9th festival of the calendar year. Here’s a look at the incredible poker year thus far:
APT 2019 current numbers
Completed: 8 events
Grand total prize pool: USD 11 Million (approximate)
Grand total entries: 19,169
Average # of entries: 2,400
Main event entries ranging from: 180 to 523
Main event prize pools ranging from: USD 177,000 to USD 493,000
Number of participants for full event ranging from: 1200 to 2800
Number of countries represented: 30 to 65
Overall prize money awarded per series ranging from: USD 900,000 to USD 2.1 million
For more details, visit APT Event Results
Three events remain before the tour wraps up the season- APT Taiwan 2019 – currently running, APT Vietnam 2019 and APT Finale Taiwan 2019.