APPT Proving to be Popular in Asia

Maybe that’s because it’s the Asia Pacific Poker Tour, and the tournaments have been in Asia. Just a hunch…

After its launch in the Philippines with 255 players and a successful follow-up in Korea, the APPT just finished up its stop in Macau with the first ever international poker tournament in China. Haley over at PokerNews did a great write-up on it.

The $2500 main event drew 352 players, and the final table was an interesting one with Joe Hachem and Liz Lieu, though neither made it to heads-up play. A Vietnamese player by the name of Dinh Le won the tournament for $222,640.

The second event was a $15,000 High Roller event that only drew 64 players but the larger buy-in gave it a bigger prize pool than the main event. Big names flew in from around the world to play, and the final table included John Juanda and Liz Lieu. Australian player Eric Assadourian won the $368,640 first prize.

Two interesting notes about the APPT Macau events:

• Liz Lieu made both final tables.
• Dealer abuse is so strictly forbidden in China that it can result in arrest and imprisonment.

On December 7th, the APPT hits Sydney, Australia for the Grand Final.