The Asian Poker Tour (APT) has been one of the most notable events throughout the eponymous region. However, the organizers are now adding a new precursory location in anticipation of the APT Philippines. Japan is on the cards for poker and the rules of the game are slightly different this time around. Participants in the Japanese leg of the festival will be awarded tournament packages instead of real money.
The Asian Poker Tour (APT) will make a minor detour before kicking off in full in the APT Philippines between April and May 2019. The hosts have decided to bring the country of the rising sun into the equation by staging a precursory satellite-styled event, which will allow participants to win tournament packages and join a variety of events at the Philippines event.
The Tokyo tournament will take place at Casino Stadium Tokyo and this specific poker tour will coincide with the upcoming Japan’s Golden Week held in February 2019. A number of packages will be allocated to the winners of different events. For instance the Main Event winner of the APT Tokyowill qualify directly to the Main Event in the APT Philippines and get quick access to the Championship and High Roller installments of the tournament.
The APT has been active all throughout and most recently concluding a string of events. Bringing a different format of competition is important to revitalizing the landscape and introducing a potentially higher class of events that focus exclusively on rewarding player’s merit and providing them with the opportunity to join even more rewarding competitions.
The Vietnamese poker competition distributed over $250,000 in ready cash money and it concluded recently, between October 5 and October 11 2018. The first-place winner got $70,000 to his name and brought home the solid prize.
With an already packed 2019 schedule, the Asian Poker Tour has also set its sights on the Land of the Rising Sun – APT Tokyo, Japan 2019!
The event will take place at Casino Stadium Tokyo on February 1-11, 2019!
Full event schedule: https://t.co/fZ5qGWNrbn#APTTokyo2019 🇯🇵️ pic.twitter.com/nrCI6utZHj
— Asian Poker Tour (@AsianPokerTour) October 19, 2018
Here is the full schedule of the APT held in Japan:
- Friday 1 February 2019
- 18.30 Event #1: Kickoff (30 minutes) ¥ 10,000
- Saturday 2 February 2019
- 11.00 Main Event Day 1A ¥ 30,000
- 12.00 Kickoff Day 2
- 15.00 Event #2: No Limit Holdem 1 (30 minutes) ¥ 12,000
- Sunday 3 February 2019
- 11.00 Main Event Day 1B ¥ 30,000
- 12.00 No Limit Holdem Day 2
- 15.00 Event #3: No Limit Holdem Turbo 1 (20 minutes) ¥ 10,000
- Friday 8 February 2019
- 18.00 Event #4: No Limit Holdem Turbo 2 (20 minutes) ¥ 10,000
- 18.30 Event #5: High Rollers (40 minutes) ¥ 50,000
- Saturday 9 February 2019
- 11.00 Main Event Day 1C ¥ 30,000
- 13.00 High Rollers Day 2
- 16.00 Event #6A: Championships Event Day 1A ¥ 25,000
- Sun, 10 February 2019
- 11.00 Main Event Day 2
- 13.00 Event #6B: Championships Event Day 1B ¥ 25,000
- 15.00 Event #7: No Limit Holdem 2 (30 minutes) ¥ 20,000
- Monday, 11 February 2019
- 11.00 Main Event Final Day
- 12.00 Championships Event Final day
- 13.00 Event #8: No Limit Holdem 3 (30 minutes) ¥ 15,000
The event will run rom February 1st and spawn the period between then and February 11th 2019. The highest tournament package that can be obtained via the event is ¥ 50,000 (which currently is more than $443,000) and the smallest ¥ 10,000 (currently more than $88,000). There are 20-odd competitions that the APT has decided to introduced to lead the competitors towards the more exciting APT Philippines round.
The point of hosting an event before the Philippines round is to whip up excitement and also provide players with a meaningful incentive to continue and pursue a variety of events part of the larger schedule of the APT in Asia.