JC Tran’s Win for Charity Highlights Big Opening Day

After a long wait, the Asian Poker Tour returned to Manila and it was a familiar face who provided one of the biggest highlights of the opening day of APT Philippines 2010.

APT ambassador J.C. Tran, one of the most respected and feared poker players in the world, beat out a field of local celebrities and fellow pros to win the celebrity charity challenge.

Tran outlasted pros such as John Juanda, Quinn Do, Nam Le, Steve Sung, Neil Arce, and Amnon Filippi, as well as the representatives from the APT, including AsianLogic CEO Tom Hall, APT chairman Chris Parker, and APT CEO Jeff Mann.

The local celebrities, meanwhile, included event runner-up Jinno Rufino, Troy Montero, KC Montero, Karen Bordador, Jinno Rufino, Rajo Laurel, Khai Lim, Haji Alejandro, Priscilla Meirelles, and John Estrada.

The biggest winner of the night, though, was Tran’s chosen charity — the Kythe Foudation. The Philippine charity received Php 100,000 from the APT as a result of Tran’s win.

The charity event highlighted an eventful opening day for this year’s APT Philippines, which is being held at Resorts World Manila. Aside from the opening ceremonies, the APT also held a media event, the PKR Battle of Teams side event, and the TPC Motherboard finals.

It will be more poker action on Tuesday as the APT Accredited Performance Leaderboard event will take place in addition to the FHM MSW Head Hunter event and the usual mega and super satellites.

The much-awaited US $2,700 main event will start on Wednesday, August 25, and will go all the way until Sunday.

APT PHILIPPINES 2010

Win Your Way to APT Philippines at the Asian Poker King Tournament this August!

Want to play in a big tournament in Asia’s gaming capital AND win a seat to APT Philippines 2010?

Then look no further than the Asian Poker King Tournament this August at the StarWorld Hotel in Macau, where seats to the upcoming APT main event in Manila will be awarded as part of the prize pool!

The Poker King Club’s Asian Poker King Tournament will be held from August 5 to 8 at the eighth floor of the StarWorld Hotel. Buy-in is HK $6,000 + HK $500 for the chance to win a part of the guaranteed prize pool of HK $880,000.

The last Asian Poker King Tournament was held in April. Elton Tsang emerged from a field of 233 players to win the HK $553,600 first prize.

Join Elton among the list of Asian Poker King Tournament winners and you could also become the next APT champion!

APT Philippines 2010 will be held from August 23 to 29 at the Resorts World Manila complex in Manila, Philippines. Buy-in is set at approximately US $2,500 + US $200. For more information, click here.

Lloyd Fontillas Named APT Philippines 2010 Tournament Director

The Asian Poker Tour has officially named Lloyd Fontillas as the tournament director for the upcoming APT Philippines 2010 event at Resorts World Manila.

“We are very happy to have Lloyd head the APT Philippines event,” said APT CEO Mr. Jeff Mann. “He has done great work for us in the past and I’m personally excited to see him as the tournament director in Manila.”

Mr. Mann added that Mr. Fontillas would be introducing some new changes in the upcoming APT Philippines main event to improve the overall playing experience.

“Lloyd will be implementing some great new changes this August. Playing days will be shorter this time around to make it better for the players, with an extra day added to the schedule. Starting stacks are now deeper, too, as players will be getting 15,000 in chips to start.”

One of the most sought after tournament directors in Asia, Lloyd is fresh off another year in Las Vegas as a member of the tournament management team of the World Series of Poker (WSOP). He has worked with the APT in the past, having served as the Tour’s poker specialist in 2009.

A familiar face on the Philippine poker scene, Mr. Fontillas is the founder and tournament director of The Poker Circuit, a series of poker events that are held in different venues throughout the country.

In addition, Mr. Fontillas has worked with the World Poker Tour (WPT) and the Poker King Club in Macau.

He has considerable experience in the field of tournament directing, having trained under and worked with renowned directors such as Matt Savage of the WPT, Jack Effel of the WSOP, and Sam Quinto of Commerce Casino.

APT Philippines 2010 will be held from August 23 to 29 at the Resorts World Manila complex in Manila, Philippines. Buy-in is set at approximately US $2,500 + US $200.

Top Pros Such as J.C Tran and Nam Le Already Anticipating APT Philippines 2010

With APT Philippines 2010 around a month away, top poker pros around the world such as J.C. Tran and Nam Le have already marked August 23 to 29 on their calendars – and you should, too!

Two of the world’s top players of Asian descent, J.C. and Nam will be bringing their A-game to Resorts World Manila to try and become the next APT champion. They’ll have some tough competition, though, as defending APT Philippines champion Neil Arce and plenty of the region’s top poker players will also be there to capture the coveted crown.

A Vietnamese-American living in Sacramento, J.C. Tran is currently one of the most consistently successful players on the world poker circuit. After starting out by playing in local card rooms, he has become well-respected throughout the poker world.

Tran’s many accomplishments include winning the $1,500 No Limit Hold ‘Em event at the 39th World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, winning the $75,000 Party Poker.com Premier League III in London, as well as being named the World Poker Tour Season 6 Player of the Year. His latest accomplishment, winning the $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha event at the 40th World Series of Poker, earned him his second career bracelet.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese-American poker pro Nam Le is considered by many to be a major threat at live tournaments. With his cool-as-ice demeanor on the felt, it’s no surprise that Nam has over $6,000,000 in career earnings.

Undaunted even by the most pressure-packed of situations, Le’s patient and methodical approach to poker has allowed him to cash in a lot of tournaments, the biggest coming in the 2006 World Poker Tour Bay 101 Shooting Star event. By outlasting 500 players, Nam took down the first-place prize of more than $1.1 million.

APT Philippines 2010 will be held from August 23 to 29 at the Resorts World Manila complex in Manila, Philippines. Buy-in is set at approximately US $2,500 + US $200.

Aside from the main event, there will be eight exciting side events at APT Philippines 2010, including a high-rollers tournament, a Pot-Limit Omaha tournament, and the APT’s very own Greed tournament.

Neil Arce to Defend Title at APT Philippines 2010

The Asian Poker Tour is proud to announce that APT Philippines defending champion Neil Arce will be back to defend his title at this year’s event in Manila.

Arce will be looking to become the first back-to-back APT champion as he confirmed his attendance at this year’s APT Philippines 2010 main event.

Considered one of the best poker players in the Philippines, Arce defeated a field of 262 of the top players from the country and around the world to win the APT Philippines 2009 main event.

His skill helped him build his stack throughout the tournament and good fortune would help him finish off runner-up Steve Yea. After a raise and re-raise, Arce got his money all-in with king-queen but was in trouble as Yea tabled ace-king. Fate would be on Arce’s side, though, as he spiked a queen on the turn to win the US $185,000 first prize and the title of APT Philippines champion.

The victory was a big boost to poker in the country as Arce became the first local player to win an international poker tournament on Philippine soil.

An accomplished player in both the tournament and cash game arena, the PokerStars-sponsored Arce is also a former Filipino Poker Tour (FPT) champion and placed third in the high-rollers event at the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Macau in 2009.

APT Philippines 2010 will be held from August 23 to 29 at the Resorts World Manila complex in Manila, Philippines. Buy-in is set at approximately US $2,500 + US $200.

Aside from the main event, there will be eight exciting side events at APT Philippines 2010, including a high-rollers tournament, a Pot-Limit Omaha tournament, and the APT’s very own Greed tournament.

For more information about the event, click here.

PKR Gives Players First Shot at Winning APT Philippines 2010 Package

With APT Philippines 2010 less than two months away, players looking to win seats are in luck as online poker room PKR has already begun running a wide selection of qualifiers to the big event.

Players from all over the world will be able to choose from a wide range of options in their bid to qualify for the APT Philippines 2010 main event. For as low as US $2.08 + $0.20, they can win their way to a seat through a series of satellites.

In addition, players can also enter PKR’s lottery satellites for as low as 31 cents for a shot at an APT Philippines 2010 main event seat.

PKR will be giving away at least one US $5,000 package to the APT Philippines 2010 main event each Monday starting from June 21. For more information about the qualifiers on PKR, click here.

PKR is the world’s most advanced poker room. It features state-of-the-art graphics and realistic 3D gameplay, giving you the experience of actually playing in a live poker room.

APT Philippines 2010 will be held from August 23 to 29 at the Resorts World Manila complex in Manila, Philippines. Buy-in is set at approximately US $2,500 + US $200.

Last year’s APT Philippines main event won by Filipino poker pro Neil Arce, who took home US $185,000 for finishing first. The win gave poker a big boost in the country as it was the first time a local player had won an international poker tournament held in the Philippines.

Aside from the main event, there will be eight exciting side events at APT Philippines 2010, including a high-rollers tournament, a Pot-Limit Omaha tournament, and the APT’s very own Greed tournament.

For more information about the event, click here.