APT Manila Event Set for Late May

While the end of May brings the general focus of the poker world to Las Vegas and the World Series of Poker, not everyone the world over can make the pilgrimage. It's especially true in the Pacific Rim, which is undergoing a poker boom like that in the States several years earlier. No better proof of that comes than with the Asian Poker Tour (APT), which will offer a major event in Manila, Philippines from May 27th to June 1st.

The Asian Poker Tour -- not to be confused with the PokerStars-sponsored Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT), which markets to the same region -- has set up four major Pacific Rim events to date, with future tourneys in Seoul, Macau and Singapore joining the upcoming one in Manila. The Manila event, to be held at the Dusit Thanai Manila Hotel, offers a $2,500 buy-in and includes an impressive lineup of players looking for a final tuneup before the heart of the WSOP season. The field will have a 400-player cap.

Among the players already listed as participating are Brandon Cantu, Tex Barch, Marsha Waggoner, Steve Sung, Nam Le, Quinn Do, Brad Daugherty, Roy Winston, Layne Flack, Evelyn Ng, Michael Gracz, Michael O'Malley, Monsour Matloubi, Huck Seed, Paul Darden, Chip Jett, Karina Jett and Isaac Galazan. The APT has also retained renowned tournament director (and PokerNews contributing writer) Matt Savage.

Several online poker rooms, including PartyPoker and the iPoker network, are running satellites to APT Manila and the three other APT events. More information on APT Manila and the Asian Poker Tour is available at www.asianpt.com.