Asian Poker Tour Adds PLO Event to APT Manila

The Asian Poker Tour has announced the addition of a pot-limit Omaha tournament to the upcoming APT Manila tournament series to take place January 27th-February 1st at the Dusit Thani Manila Hotel in Makati, Philippines. The PLO event, one of six preliminary events on the 2009 APT Manila schedule, is being touted as the first-ever Omaha event for a major poker tour in Asia.

The APT returns to the island country located off the continent's southeast coast after a successful initial stop there last spring. That event featured three preliminary tournaments plus a $2,500+200 buy-in Main Event. All four of last year's tournaments were no-limit hold'em.

Aussie David Saab took down last year's APT Manila Main Event, outlasting a field of 316 players to earn the first prize of $280,000. Saab defeated Korean Chris Roh heads up to take the title. PokerNews was on hand to cover all of the action at last year's APT Manila Main Event, which you can read about here.

The PLO event is not the only bit of variety that has been added to the APT Philippines schedule this time around. Four of the other five preliminary events are no-limit hold'em, although some of those also feature variations from the regular full-table, freeze-out format. One is a "Head Hunter" or bounty event, another is a rebuy event, and a third will be played six-handed. Also among the preliminary events will be a tournament in 13-Card poker, a favorite game in Asia.

As was the case in 2008, this year's APT Philippines Main Event has a $2,500+200 buy-in and again features an expected $1,000,000 prize pool. If last year's event is any indication, expect a number of recognizable pros to make the trip to Manila. Last year saw many notables make the trek, including Huck Seed, Brad Daugherty, Quinn Do, Layne Flack, Dan Schreiber, Michael O'Malley, Paul Darden, Chip and Karina Jett, and Ron Kluber.