Top Asian Poker Pros To Play APT Macau
Thursday, 24 July 2008
The list of renowned poker pros participating in the Macau leg of this year’s Asian Poker Tour (APT) has just gotten longer.
With 2008 APT Philippines champion David Saab already placing 46th at the World Series of Poker and confirming hi
The list of renowned poker pros participating in the Macau leg of this year’s Asian Poker Tour (APT) has just gotten longer.
With 2008 APT Philippines champion David Saab already placing 46th at the World Series of Poker and confirming his participation in the main event of the next stop on the Asian Poker Tour, four big-name poker pros of Asian lineage have been added to the list of players looking for a chance to win big at the upcoming tournament in late August. They are J.C. Tran, Nam Le, Quinn Do, and Steve Sung – the latter three pros returning for another shot after coming up short in the APT Philippines main event.
Of the four, J.C. Tran may be the most prominent poker player at present. A Vietnamese-American living in Sacramento, J.C. is currently the top-ranked player on the Bluff Magazine/ESPN power rankings. After starting out by playing in local card rooms, he has become well-respected in the poker world. He has topped various poker tournaments and has total winnings of more than $6.7 million to date. His most recent victory was at Event #49 of the 39th World Series of Poker 2008, where he won $631,170 for placing first. He’ll be looking to leave Macau with yet another title under his belt.
At only 25, Vietnamese-American Nam Le is already considered by many to be a major threat at live tournaments. He will be out for redemption after his early exit at the APT Philippines main event. Nam already has a couple of first place finishes under his belt – the 2006 Bay 101 Shooting Star WPT Championship and the 2006 Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge II, as well top place finishes in several WSOP and WPT events. His most recent finish was at 4th at the 2008 LA Poker Classic WPT Championship where he earned $411,770.00. Le’s total winnings to date exceed $4.3 million.
Quinn Do, on the other hand, fared much better at APT Philippines. He finished 20th overall and won $7,500 in prize money. He will be looking to top that accomplishment by grabbing first place at APT Macau. Quinn decided to play poker full time in 2004 after his time at the University of Washington and after dabbling in the restaurant business. Since turning pro, Do has been a regular at major live poker events and has won a WSOP Gold Bracelet at the 2005 WSOP Limit Hold’em Event. Other notable finishes by the Vietnam-born Do includes a 2nd place finish at the Bellagio Challenge Cup Championship in 2005 and most recently, a 2nd place finish at the 2008 LA Poker Classic WPT Championship where he went home with $909,400.00. Quinn Do’s total poker winnings to date are close to $2 million.
Like Nam Le, Korean-born Steve Sung will be looking to do better than his early finish at APT Philippines. While still lacking a major tournament title, he has been a top placer in several World Poker Tour (WPT) and World Series Of Poker (WSOP) events, his best finish being second place in the recent 2008 Bay 101 Shooting Star WPT Championship. Before playing at live tournaments, Sung has been an avid online poker player under the moniker ‘MuGGyLiCiOuS”. To date, his total poker winnings amount to over $1.4 million.
APT Macau, the second leg of the 2008 Asian Poker Tour, will be held at the Galaxy StarWorld Hotel and Casino in Asia’s gambling mecca from August 27 to 31, 2008. The APT is home to Asia’s largest guaranteed prize pool with $1,500,000 in cash. The winner of APT Macau is guaranteed at least $500,000, which is sure to attract the top poker players from all over the world.
The buy-in for the Macau leg of this year’s APT is set at $5300 ($5000+$300). Players can also win seats to the event by qualifying through various online satellites being held all over the world on top poker rooms such as DafaPoker, Titan Poker, PartyPoker, and PKR.
After the Macau leg, the Tour moves on to South Korea and Singapore where even more poker action awaits. Further details about APT Macau and subsequent legs will be available on the official website at www.asianpt.com.