Local boy Neil Arce won the 2009 Asian Poker Tour Philippines held at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Manila.
Mr Arce beat a field of 262 players representing more than 40 countries to scoop the first prize of US$185,000. The runner-up was Steve ‘joonhee’ Yea from South Korea who also finished second at the 2008 Asian Poker Tour Macau in August 2008. Tournament Director Matt Savage oversaw the action in the US$2,500 + US$200 Main Event which had a total prize pool of US$635,500.
Chris Parker, CEO of the Asian Poker Tour, said: “We would like to congratulate Neil on his fantastic win and thank all the players for making the 2009 Asian Poker Philippines such a successful event. We’d also like to thank all our partners for making this all happen, including the regulator PAGCOR.”
Coverage of this year’s Main Event will be televised and distributed internationally later in the year.
The Asian Poker Tour is supported by the iPoker Network, Titan, DafaPoker, PKR, PartyPoker, JBet Poker, Everest Poker, Microgaming Network, 888, 32Red Poker, National Poker League and the Japanese Poker League.
The Tour is owned and operated by AsianLogic Ltd., a leading online and land-based gaming company focusing on the Asia-Pacific markets and listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange.