As the Asian Poker Tour (APT) marks its landmark 20-Year Anniversary, the tour continues to shatter records across the region, evolving into the world’s fastest growing poker tour.

But to truly understand the sheer scale of today’s APT Taipei 2026 (the tour’s largest-ever festival) or the record-breaking APT Championship 2025 (which awarded over USD 34 million in prize money), one must look back at the man who set the first cornerstone: Antanas "Tony G" Guoga.

The inaugural winner of the 2006 Betfair APT Singapore Championship—a historic event that holds the distinction of being the first international poker tournament ever to take place in Asia—Guoga remains one of the game's most enduring and polarizing icons.

Two decades later, the showman of the felt sat down to reflect on a journey that began with sewing machines and lawnmowers and led to the pinnacle of the high-stakes world.

The First of Its Kind: Singapore 2006

Before the sprawling arenas and multi-million dollar guarantees, the APT was a bold experiment. Held in the Meritus Mandarin hotel in a then-casino-less Singapore, the 2006 Betfair APT Singapore Championship Event was the gateway for international poker to enter the East.

"When it came to the Asian Poker Tour, I was in Lithuania. And then, you know, it's on the way to Australia. Singapore is an amazing country," Guoga recalls. "It was just before the global financial crisis then... I came in with my kids and family and said, ‘We'll have a week, we'll play a poker tournament and have a bit of fun in Singapore.’"

What began as a stopover turned into a historic victory. "It was very different than what you typically see nowadays... in a good way—more leisure and fun and relaxing. There were a lot of satellite winners, probably 200 or 300 players. A lot of people coming in and having a lot of fun."

Winning that event required more than just showing up; it took a specific brand of fearlessness: "I was actually bluffing a lot, you know, a lot of bluffs, a lot of very great bluffs got through," he admits. "I definitely didn't play perfect, but it was meant to be."

True to his larger-than-life persona, Guoga’s victory wasn't just a win for his bankroll. He donated half of his USD 450,000 first-prize payout—a staggering sum in 2006—to local charities.

"I tend to support from money that I gain sometimes—probably more than I deserve. Even when I was the Asian poker champion, I put half of the winnings to charity... supporting the Singapore charities. That was always important to me."

In a final act of respect for the host nation, Guoga famously handed his Merlion trophy—the official mascot and national personification of Singapore—to runner-up Joshua Ang, ensuring the symbol of the first-ever Asian international championship stayed on home soil.

Tony G hands Singapore’s Joshua Ang the Merlion Trophy from the Betfair APT Singapore Championship

The Hustle: From Sewing Machines to High Stakes

To understand Tony G’s "not afraid of work" mentality, you have to look at his roots. Born in Kaunas, Lithuania, long before he became his country’s #1 ranked tournament player on the Hendon Mob with over USD 11 million in earnings, he was a young immigrant in Australia doing "whatever it took."

"When I came to Australia as a kid, my mother was cleaning houses, and I'd help and mow lawns," he says. "As a kid, we had to work to pay the bills and support the family. I even used to fix sewing machines. It’s been a very fruitful life endeavour, but it took hard work."

A young Tony G

That same tenacity translated to the poker table, a game he picked up during evenings at a family summer home on Phillip Island. "We didn't have chips, so we'd have a lot of coins. We played in coins, which was fun. We used to play $0.01/$0.03, and I would win some little dollars."

From those micro-stakes games, Guoga graduated to the Crown Casino in Melbourne when it opened in 1994, though he famously never viewed the game as his sole identity.

"I never took poker as a full-time profession. I never encouraged people just to be poker players, because if you were very good at poker, you could do a lot of other things in life... Poker is a supplement in life. Now poker is there for you, you’re not there for the poker."

From "The Mouth" to the Family Office

While the poker world knows him for his aggressive table talk and "on your bike" catchphrases, the modern-day Tony G is a refined strategist. Now a professional investor based in Dubai, Guoga manages a family office focused on energy, base metals (like copper), and early-stage crypto.

"My job now is as a professional investor. I invest in everything I can," he explains. Yet, the competitive fire remains. While he admits he isn't one of the "super geniuses" who spend all day with solvers, his results in the world's biggest games speak for themselves.

"I don't really use solvers. I've had some coaching from the best players just to improve my game a bit, but I've been competitive against the best players in the world all my life in cash games.”

“Now, I’m playing more Pot Limit Omaha or Hold’em with 'Squid' or 'Super Squid' stakes. I sometimes play $1 million buy-in games with progressive squids that multiply the stakes. If we're playing a 5,000 squid that's progressive, and it's seven squids, it can really be a lot of money."

Tony G continues to compete at the highest level

Legacy and the "New Era"

Guoga’s fingerprints are all over the poker industry. As the founder of PokerNews, he innovated the live reporting models that fans now rely on to track APT results in real-time.

"My legacy is building PokerNews. I built the live reporting model, we did the coverage of the World Series... it’s something I really innovated with, giving people in poker media a chance. That’s one of my legacies that I did from the start."

His second legacy is his philosophy on the game itself. He views the recent explosion of the APT—and the "New Era" of massive fields—as a natural result of the game's role as a leisure service.

"There’s a lot of demand. It's a leisure entertainment industry. You're providing a service that's essential for people to stimulate their mind... that was important in 2007, it’s important today, and it’s going to be important in the future."

Return to the Lion Hunt: APT Championship Taipei 2026

APT Championship Trophies

The champion’s journey is coming full circle. With the APT Taipei Championship 2026 season-ending showpiece running from November 12-29 and offering a USD 5M guaranteed Main Event, Guoga has said he would love to return to the felt where his Asian legacy began.

"I haven't been to Taipei for 20 years. I would love to come and take them on. I want to be a champion again to show that it can be done, even when you're 50 plus. I want to destroy those young kids. Yargh!" a tongue-in-cheek Gugoa said half-jokingly.

Despite the bravado, his message for the next generation is one of balance: "It's very important that poker's a hobby. It's a good stimulant for life. If you really put a lot of work into it, you'll have an advantage, but keep in mind the standard deviation in tournaments is very large. You have to win some tournaments to make a career worthwhile."

As the APT continues its record-breaking run, the first-ever champion’s final word is a tribute to the tour's enduring spirit:

"Keep going another 20 years, another 40 years, and 100 years. Keep doing a good job and letting people participate. Create engagement and fun and great moments like the one that I was fortunate enough to have. Hopefully, a lot of people from all over the world come and play—and have a party."

For more information on the APT Championship 2026 please CLICK HERE.

Check out the highlights of the Tony G interview here: