First Europe, and now Asia.
PokerStars, which is the main sponsor of the
European Poker Tour, has launched the
Asia Pacific Poker Tour (
APPT). The first $5,000 event will take place at the Hyatt Hotel and Casino Manila in the Philippines from Aug. 23-26.
Other events take place at the Walkerhill Hotel and Casino in Seoul, South Korea (Sept. 27-30, $2,500), and the $5,000 grand final of the tour takes place at the majestic Star City Casino in Sydney, Australia (date TBA).
These events will be recorded for broadcast and at least three more events will be added to the schedule. Danny McDonagh, who ran the
Aussie Millions, will be the tour's tournament director.
PokerStars already started running satellites to all the events. Players can qualify for the events for as little as $22, and frequent player point freerolls will soon take place. Please click
here to take advantage of a deposit bonus offered through CardPlayer.com.
PokerStars says it plans on working closely with local tourism groups to promote the areas among players, and hopes that the local boards will take advantage of the dollars the online site wants to use to promote the areas.
Here's what Jeffrey Haas, president and cofounder of PokerStars, said about the
APPT.
"Poker is still at an early stage in many of the countries we hope to visit with the
PokerStars APPT, but for those forward-thinking authorities that embrace the opportunities it offers, the
APPT also promises to kick-start a whole new type of tourism in the region," he said. "The
APPT tournaments will be the first major events of their kind in Korea and the Philippines, and we believe players from all over the world will come to take part. This in turn will help stimulate tremendous local economic benefit, because one of our key aims is to ensure players and their friends and families enjoy the local sights and experiences. To this end, we are working closely with local tourism boards to provide all our visitors with some amazing opportunities to enjoy these beautiful destinations."
