HomeThe Asian Poker Tour is back for its seventh festival of the calendar year, the much-anticipated APT Philippines 2016 II held at Resorts World Manila (RWM) in Newport City, Philippines. The nine-day festivities will run from July 19th – 27th with a total of 19 exciting side events and of course the $2,200 Main Event.
The festival begins early this afternoon with the highly popular APT-RWM Opening Event US$50,000 Guaranteed. Due to the enticing prize pool matched with a cheap entry fee of $275, this event has consistently attracted a large number of players eager to bag that first trophy. Last April saw this event post record-breaking numbers with the prize pool reaching past US$80,000. The event features two starting flights, one at 1pm and another at 5pm, with unlimited re-entries until the end of six rounds. Players begin with a deep 15,000 starting stack with blinds increasing every half an hour. In addition to the day’s opener, there is a Main Event Mega Satellite at 6pm. This is the first of five satellites leading up to the Main Event.
The rest of days will see a majority of the usual suspects back on the roster beginning with the Pot Limit Omaha High Rollers, the Battle of the Nations, and the Ante Up for Charity, all of them hitting the floor at different times of the day tomorrow. On the following day, Thursday, July 21st, another crowd-drawing event burns the felt with the Head Hunter US$100/Bounty first on the roll call. Running alongside will be two more fun events, the Ladies of Poker and for the heavy hitters, one of poker’s fastest growing offshoot games, the High Roller Open Face Chinese Pineapple Shootout 12 Max.
Then it is Friday! The weekend kicks off at 1pm with the Open Face Chinese Pineapple Shootout 36 Max followed by the main course at 4pm, the APT Philippines 2016 II $2,200 Main Event. This is the first of two day one flights with the second running on Saturday at 1pm. Back in April, the Main Event had a revamp on its structure, providing players with a much deeper format. Due to its success and demand, players will be happy to know that their call has been answered as this will be back on the oval felt.
The weekend will also hold a variety of side events, the No Limit Hold’em 1 Day, the Queen Cards Ante Only Turbo, and on Sunday, the Pot Limit Omaha Hi. After the highlights of the weekend, the poker grind begins with the remaining three days filled with a slew of events: the Monster Stack on Monday; on Tuesday the No Limit Hold’em event and the last High Roller event; and on the final day, the 6 Handed Turbo w/Antes. There will also be a Deep Stack Turbo event running every night starting Sunday.
The Black Box has been set up which means, the RFID table will be broadcasting live some of the action at the festival (with a 30-minute delay). There will be a total of 15 events featured including the Final 8 of the Main Event. These can all be viewed at APT Twitch.tv. We will also have daily highlights of the festival on APT’s Youtube channel.
Iori Yogo is currently leading the APT POY 2016 leaderboard
One thing to keep a close eye on throughout the festival is the APT Player of the Year 2016 rankings with Japan’s Iori Yogo in the lead trailed by the four-time APT POY 2012-2015 champion UK’s Samad Razavi. We will have an update on how that progresses throughout the week.
For players still making their way to the APT Philippines 2016 II, there are several hotels located in and around the vicinity of RWM with discounted rates for APT guests. Connected to the venue is the luxurious Manila Marriott Hotel, across the street is the newly opened Belmont Hotel, and for budget travelers, the Remington Hotel. Prices vary depending on hotel and occupancy.
For those new to Manila, RWM is directly across Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3. There are free shuttles from the airport to the venue and to any of the hotels mentioned above. While in Manila, you can use the US dollar currency inside the casino and also for the tournament however it is highly advisable to carry the country’s currency, the Philippine Peso, everywhere else.
For all the information on the APT Philippines 2016 II including full schedule, structures, and hotel accommodations, head to the event info page.