Asia Pacific Poker Tour Season 2

Martin Rowe from Sydney wins APPT Grand Final

Local player Martin Rowe had his best ever day at the poker table when he won the Asia Pacific Poker Tour Season 2 Grand Final at the Star City Casino in Sydney, Australia taking home AUD$1 million ($663,959) for first place. The 34-year old insurance worker from Sydney played some excellent poker and negotiated at field of 477 players during the five day tournament. Cheered on by friends and family, Rowe beat fellow Aussie Jason Gray in heads-up play when his Ac-Qh out-flopped Gray’s 9h-5h.

Rowe continued his hot streak into the Tournament of Champions, a ten player Sit & Go that pitted the previous APPT Season 2 tournament winners against each other and members of Team PokerStars Pro . Rowe nearly added to his Main Event triumph, as he finished in second place, losing out to Vanessa Rousso, who won AUD$45,000 ($29,884) for the charity of her choice, No Limit, No Profit Intiative.

In the High Roller Event, South Australian online star Jarred Graham overcame Melbourne veteran ‘Colonel’ Sam Korman’s big chip lead to take home the AUD$222,000 ($147,344) for first place. Graham plays online at PokerStars and is definitely one to watch.

The glittering finale in Sydney was a fitting end to a hugely successful Season 2 for the APPT. The star-studded Main Event field included Team PokerStars Pros Joe Hachem and Chris Moneymaker as well as 2008 World Champion Peter Eastgate from Denmark. The APPT has been superbly supported throughout, attracting big fields and prize pools wherever it has stopped on its way from Macau to Sydney.

APPT Season 2 - The story as it happened

Season 2 of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour has been a huge success. The four month, five stop tour attracted 1,295 players to its tournaments and has given away a total of $3,088,515, making it one of the world’s richest poker tours. The tour goes from strength to strength, incorporating many firsts in the poker world including staging the first major poker tournaments in South Korea, the Philippines, Macau and Sydney.

The first event was held in Macau - incorporating both a Main Event and a High Rollers tournament. A total of 538 players entered the Main Event and 61 entered the High Rollers tournament. Edward Sabat took home HKD 3,540,040 (USD $453,851) for winning the Main Event, while Nam Le walked away with HKD $3,700,000 (USD $475,359) for his victory in the High Rollers.

The Paradise Walker-hill Casino in Seoul hosted the second stop of Season 2, with the Main Event attracting a field of 165 players from 33 different countries. Yoshihiro Tasaka from Japan, a poker veteran of 30 years, scooped KRW 148,896,000 (USD$ 128,230) in first place prize money, after beating fellow Japanese player Hidenari Shiono in heads-up play.

Event 3 of the APPT Season 2 was played in the splendid surroundings of the SKYCITY Casino, high above the city of Auckland. The Main Event was the largest ever tournament staged in New Zealand, with 306 players. Kiwi local Daniel Craker took it down, winning NZD$257,040 ($154,574), while US player Carter Gill won the High Rollers Event, netting NZD$83,300 ($49,613).

Manila in the Philippines was the venue for the fourth event , as the Hyatt Hotel and Casino opened its doors to 285 eager players who produced a total prize pool of PHP26,789,818 ($542,853). The tournament was won by Australian pro Van Marcus, who won PHP8,037,000 ($162,857) for his efforts, getting the better of Tae Jun Noh from Korea in heads-up play.

See the PokerStars Blog for full reports, and PokerStars.tv for video blogs and highlights.

See the Asia Pacfic Poker Tour site for more details.