Zhang Dan Peng

Poker players from all over the world will be converging in Asia as the Asian Poker Tour (APT) holds events in various locations around the region.

After three successful events in the Philippines, the APT is back with its next event: The ASIAN POKER TOUR PHILIPPINES 2011! Held from March 28 to April 3, the tournament will be held at the luxurious Resorts World Manila complex. Buy-in is set at US $2,500 + US $200.

In 2010, the Asian Poker Tour Philippines Main Event was won by local poker player Michael Cua, who took home US $176,700.

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Zhang, who only began playing poker six months ago, qualified for the 161-player Main Event in one of the APT Macau’s satellite events. Zhang steadily worked his way through the Main Event to land himself in a heads-up battle against Germany’s Bjoern Wiesler in Sunday’s Final Table. In the very first hand, Zhang went all- in, with his Ace-Deuce beating the 34-year old’s Pocket Sevens. As the runner-up, Wiesler will take home HKD$920,000 (approximately USD$117,000).

“I’m incredibly happy and really, really lucky to have won in my first tournament, especially as so many great players were here,” Zhang said. “I joined APT Macau to accompany my friend who lost, but I managed to progress. I honestly had no expectations before the final table and would have been happy with any result.”

Asked what he planned to do with his earnings, Zhang replied that he would save the money first.

With a total prize pot of HK$5.075 million (approximately USD$650,000), this year’s APT Macau was comprised of the most competitive field ever assembled for a poker event in Asia. The field included legends such as Phil Ivey, with eight World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets, 10 WSOP bracelet holder Johnny Chan, and online master specialist Tom Dwan.

Said APT Chief Executive Officer Mr. Jeff Mann: “The Final Table was thrilling to watch and it was great to see a young, Chinese poker player do so well in his first tournament. The 2010 APT Macau was a great success, our players from all over the world enjoyed themselves and this tournament has really set the bar in the region for the caliber of players.”

A host of side events accompanied the Main Event during the nine-day festival of poker. Among the most notable side events was the APT Macau Celebrity Charity Challenge, which saw model and actress Grace Huang come out on top, winning MOP100,000 for Caritas Macau.

City of Dreams, in collaboration with APT is hosting The Asian Poker Tour in Macau. The last leg of the Asian Poker Tour for 2010 is one of the biggest events in Asian poker and the nine-day festival offers a jam-packed schedule of poker events and tournaments at City of Dreams, an integrated entertainment resort that is the newest “must experience” destination in Macau.

Visit the Asian Poker Tour for the complete tournament details.

Also in attendance were actress-models Ankie Belkie, Liu Dan, Jennifer Marconi, Irene Wang, Winfred Yu, Grace Wang with professional poker players Tommy Le, J.C. Tran, David Steicke, Johnny Chan, Chau Giang, Quinn Do, Amnon Filippi, Nam Le, Brandon Wong and Chino Rheem. VIP’s and executives present were Hakan Dagtas, Andrew Wong Kee, Kim Lawn, Mike Fenwick, Michael Wong, Berlyn Ching, Tom Hall, Jeannete Tan, Nick Wong, Justin Litterelle, Andrew Lee and Chris Parker,

Model and actress Grace Huang came out on top winning 100,000 MOPs for the Caritas Macau charity.

The APT Macau Celebrity Charity Challenge, in pictures:

Within three hours of constant poker action, the list was dwindled down to the last eight who remains in contention for the Main Event title.

Leading the pack is 36-year old Sunny Jung, a poker pro from South Korea. He has a total of 602,500 chips. Zhang Dan Peng of China and Bjoern Wiesler of Germany complete the top three.

How does each of the final eight stack up against each other? Here’s a quick look. 

Name: Elton Tsang
Seat No: 1
Chip Count: 117,000 (4th)
Country: Hong Kong
Age: 30
Affiliation/Team: Poker King Club
Work: Poker Pro
Notes: Busted out Phil Ivey, Jeff Lisandro and Chau Giang in the early rounds!

Name: Bjoern Wiesler
Seat No: 2
Chip Count: 205,000 (3rd)
Country: Germany
Age: 34
Nickname: Dr. Eldoradon
Affiliation/Team: Asia Poker Academy
Work: Poker Pro/ Poker Coach

Name: Zhang Dan Peng
Seat No: 3
Chip Count: 394,000 (2nd)
Country: China
Age: 18
Work: Student
Others: qualified in one of the satellite events earlier this week.

Name: Aaron Lim
Seat No: 4
Chip Count: 60,000 (7th)
Country: Australia
Age: 24
Nickname: Magure
Work: Student

Name: Li You Nan
Seat No: 5
Chip Counts: 49,000 (8th)
Country: China
Age: 48
Work: Poker Pro

Name: Sparrow Cheung Park Yu
Seat No: 6
Chip Count: 108,500 (5th)
Country: Hong Kong
Age: 29
Nickname: Sparrow
Work: Property Developer

Name: Sunny Jung 
Seat No: 7
Chip Counts: 602,500 (1st)
Country: South Korea
Age: 36
Work: Poker Pro

Name: Daniel Neilson
Seat No: 8
Chip Count: 73,000 (6th)
Country: Australia
Age: 23
Work: Dolphin Trainer
Notes: Ranked #1 in Australia Poker Rankings

Charles Chua, Daniel Chee and K.C Lee took the team prize of HK# 67,600 for their efforts even as Dave Lo of Holland placed first for HK$ 14,500, Chee at second for HK$ 8,700 and Ken Hartono of Indonesia at third for HK$ 5,725.

Meanwhile, in the APT Macau 2010 Main Event, 18 players remain going into Day 3 set today. Daniel Neison of Australia finished with 254,000 chips to become the chip leader. Completing the top five are Zhang Dan Peng, Sunny Jung, Bjoern Wiesler and Xavier Jacquet-Duval who all had over a hundred thousand chips.

High profile players who fell on the wayside were Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Tommy Le, Winfred Yu, APT Philippines 2010 champion Michael Cua and Macau Poker Cup champion James McCarty.

APT Macau 2010 Main Event
Chip Counts after Day 2

1. Daniel Neison (AUS) – 254,000
2. Zhang Dan Peng (CHN) – 151,000
3. Sunny Jung (KOR) – 131,000
4. Bjoern Wiesler (GER) – 126,000
5. Xavier Jacquet-Duval (FRA) – 105,000
6. Paul Judge (ENG) – 97,000
7. Sekiya Yosuke (JPN) – 94,000
8. Anthony Roux (FRA) – 90,000
9.  Liz Jin Hua (CHN) – 88,000
10. Li You Nan (CHN) – 83,000
11. Voctor Zebei Hon (AUS) – 83,000
12. Michael O’Grady (CAN) – 63,000
13. Elton Tsang (HK) – 51,000
14. Sparrow Cheung Park Yu (HK) – 47,000
15. Alex Huynh (US) – 45,000
16. Tan Tai Zheng (SIN) – 45,000
17. Jack Lee (AUS) – 34,500
18. Aaron Lim (AUS) – 26,000

The Main Event, with a buy-in of HK$ 32,500 + HK 2,500, has a total prize pool of HK$ 5,075,250 with HK$ 1,678,000 going to the champion.

For more news and updates visit the Asian Poker Tour website.

Said APT Chief Executive Officer Mr. Jeff Mann: “I’m very excited by the quality of the players in our Main Event this year and without a doubt, it is the strongest player field ever for a poker event in Asia.”

After Day 1, David Steicke from Hong Kong is the chip leader with 68,700 chips. Anthony Roux and Jesper Houcaard are not far behind to complete the top three.

Accompanying the Main Event is a host of diverse and exciting side events, including tomorrow’s Battle of the Nations and Saturday’s 7-Handed side event. A special celebrity tournament will take place on Saturday night from 7 p.m., benefitting Caritas Macau.

City of Dreams, in collaboration with APT is hosting The Asian Poker Tour in Macau. The last leg of the Asian Poker Tour for 2010 is one of the biggest events in Asian poker and the nine-day festival offers a jam-packed schedule of poker events and tournaments at City of Dreams, an integrated entertainment resort that is the newest “must experience” destination in Macau.

Visit the Asian Poker Tour website for the complete tournament schedule and details.

APT Macau 2010 Chip Counts
After Day 1

In the highly-anticipated High Rollers event attended by the likes 10-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Johnny Chan, 4-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winners John Juanda and David Chiu, Australian poker legend Joe Hachem and last year’s High Rollers champion David Steicke it was Nicholas Wong from Hong Kong who grabbed the title as he went home with the first prize of HK$ 942,000. Four other players placed in the money.

High Rollers Event Results:
1. Nicholas Wong (HK) – HK$ 942,000
2. Chris Parker (UK) – HK$ 602,000
3. Hoi Cheung (HK) – HK$ 384,000
4. David Chiu (CHN) – HK$ 298,000
5. Chau Gian (CHN) – HK$ 150,000

Meanwhile, in the DafaPoker 6-Handed, a total of 79 players registered for the tournament, which was won by Yong Choi of Chile. For his efforts he won HK$ 63,000 as he edged out Australian Michael Comer, who also won the APT Welcome event during the first day, in the heads-up battle.

DafaPoker 6-Handed Event Results:
1. Yong Choi (CHI) – HK$ 63,000
2. Michael Comer (AUS) – HK$ 37,800
3. Dennis Huntly (AUS) – HK$ 19,800
4. Sam Razan (ENG) – HK$ 14,400
5. Scott Weissman (USA) – HK$ 12,600

(From left to right): APT Founder and Chairman Chris Parker; Nicholas Wong, the High Rollers champion and Hoi Cheung

6. Yashuro Waki (JPN) – HK$ 10,800
7. Wang Dong (CHN) – HK$ 9,000
8. Yann Pauchon (AUS) – HK$ 7,200
9. Teo Jia Hao (SIN) – HK$ 5,283

Three events are scheduled tomorrow starting with the APT Macau 2010 Main Event Day 1B at 1PM. Expected to be in attendance are APT Philippines 2010 champion Michael Cua and recent Macau Poker Cup champion James McCarty among others. The PKR Head Hunter event is set at 5PM with another Main Event Mega Satellite at 8PM.

APT Macau 2010 Main Event buy-in is pegged at HK$ 32,500 + HK$ 2,500.

For news, updates and complete schedule visit the Asian Poker Tour website.

Following the popular format of this year’s APT events, the 2011 APT Philippines will be hosted in an identical format with heavy satellite action, a host of side events, and the Main Event. The Main Event buy-in will be set at US$2,500 + US$200.

Making the announcement at APT Macau, which runs from November 6-14, 2010 at the integrated entertainment complex, the City of Dreams, APT Chief Executive Officer Jeff Mann said: “We are delighted to return to the Resorts World Manila for a second straight year and to confirm our dates as early as possible as to provide partners and some of the world’s premier poker players time to prepare.”

In the lead-up to the APT Philippines, Mann also announced the launch of the “APT Asian Series”, in partnership with the All-In Sports Club and PAGCOR Casino at the Waterfront Hotel and Casino in Cebu. The first event in this new series will take place from January 10-17 during the Sinulog Festival.

“The APT Asian Series is aimed at expanding the APT calendar with events designed to suit the Asian poker community as well as by working with local partners,” Mann said. “I am delighted that our first event will be hosted with All-In-Sports Club and I’m looking forward to what should be a fun and popular event.”

Visit the Asian Poker Tour for the complete tournament schedule and details.

Held yesterday in addition to satellite events throughout the day was the third side event of the festival the No Limit Hold’em Freezeout .

With a buy-in of HK$ 2,300 + HK$ 200, the event attracted 69 players and was won by Singaporean Tan Zhong Wei. Nine other players placed in the money:

No Limit Hold’Em Freezeout Results:
1. Tan Zhong Wei (SIN) – HK$ 51,900
2. Melik Buyuklyan (RUS) – HK$ 30,500
3. Illanion Kosyak (RUS) – HK$ 16,800
4. Mao Chen Xiang (CAN)- HK$ 12,200
5. Scott Weissman (USA) – HK$ 10,700
6. Pedro Zagalo (POR) – HK$ 9,200
7. Kenneth Leong (HK) – HK$ 7,600
8. Ashley Perkins (UK) -HK$ 6,100
9. Gordon Hontly (UK) – HK$ 4,600
10. Anson Wong (HK) – HK$ 2,960

The poker festivities continue today with more satellite action events and the highly-anticipated High Rollers event, which is expected to be attended by high-profile players like Tony Hachem and David Chiu among others. High Rollers buy-in is set at HK$ 150,000 + HK$ 3,000. Completing the day is the DafaPoker 6-Handed event with a buy-in of HK$ 2,300 + HK$ 200.

For more news, updates and complete schedule visit the Asian Poker Tour website.