Joe Hachem Helping Asian Poker Tour to Hit News Highs

The Asian Poker Tour (APT) continues to go from strength to strength, especially now that they have 2005 World Series of Poker (WSOP) main event winner Joe Hachem on board as their new ambassador.

The former Team PokerStars Pro decided last month to curtail his globe-trotting existence to instead concentrate on playing live tournaments closer to his home in Australia, although it is almost certain the 13-time WSOP cash finisher will return to Las Vegas for this year’s staging of the poker world’s most famous event.

In fact, as he said: “I am still going to be travelling to the major poker tournaments,” I think we can take it as read that Hachem will be at the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino this coming summer for the 43rd staging of the annual event.

As such, the 45-year-old has entered into a deal with online casino operator AsianLogic Group – and this decision will undoubtedly boost the profile of the APT in the coming years.

Joe Hachem Likely to Appear in the Philippines

Set up in 2002, AsianLogic holds a strong standing in the Asia Pacific’s land-based online and gambling markets – and in particular the Philippines – while the company is also seriously involved in developing, operating, managing and the marketing of multiplayer P2P (peer-to-peer), online casinos, online poker, and Asian Games, as well as online and land-based sportsbetting.

With Melbourne-based Hachem having decided to stay “closer to home”, there is also a good chance he will be in the Philippines next month for the nest stop on the APT when it pulls into Cebu City’s Waterfront Hotel & Casino for the Asian Series Cebu that runs from February 1 to 7.

If the Lebanon-born pro does travel to the south-east Asian nation for the seven-day event – which makes up part of the second staging of the APT Asian Series, the region’s newest poker tour – he’ll surely have his eyes on winning the PHP 50,000 buy-in main event that begins on Saturday, February 4, with the first of two Day 1 streams.

Day 1b of the main event takes place on February 5, of course, with the surviving players from the opening days returning on the sixth for Day 2 as they ultimately battle to secure the top prize that will be awarded on the seventh.

Players Aiming to Emulate Andreas Lindblom

Swedish pro Andreas Lindblom took down last year’s PHP 46,500 buy-in main event for PHP 1,875,300 ($42,201) when he defeated home favourite Gerardo Lubas in their heads-up encounter.

Lindblom survived the 126-player field that created a prize pool of PHP 5,683,200 to emerge victorious and leave Lubas with PHP 1,023,000 ($23,021) as runner-up.

No doubt there will be an even larger starting line-up for next month’s tournament, while APT chief executive officer Jeff Mann has already stated that this year will be the busiest in the tour’s history with extra tournaments being added all the time.

You can qualify for the main event of the APT Asian Series Cebu via satellite tournaments. If you need more information on qualifiers, just check them out on the Asian Poker Tour homepage.

Special Hotel Deals for Competitors

Of course, if you are fortunate enough to win a seat at the western Pacific Ocean nation’s tournament, you’ll need somewhere to stay – and where better than the APT’s official hotel partner, the Waterfront Cebu Hotel & Casino, who are offering special rates to competitors during the event.

However, you’ll only get that special rate if you book directly with the Waterfront or APT, so maybe it’s time to check out booking page of the Waterfront Cebu Hotel & Casino.

The tour will also return to the Philippines from April 19 to 25 for the APT Philippines, which will take place in Pasay City’s Resorts World Manila, with a $2,700 buy-in for the main event.

APT London Kicks Off on Saturday

Before either of those Philippines event, however, there is an APT London special event to come. This two-day event runs from January 28 to 29 at The Fox Poker Club.

Then, following on from the double date in the Philippines, there is the APT Asian Series Goa event in India, which will be held in Casino Royale from May 21 to 27.

The final stop on the tour arrives with the APT Macau from July 25 to 31 at the StarWorld Hotel & Casino.

Full schedule for the APT Asian Series Cebu (all times local, PHP stands for Philippine pesos):

• Wednesday, February 1:
  • 13:00, PHP 5,500 buy-in Sixth All-In Cebu Cup Day 1a with re-entry (Event 1a, PHP 1,000,000 guaranteed)
  • 15:00, PHP 2,800 buy-in Main Event Super Satellite with rebuys and add-on
  • 18:00, PHP 5,500 buy-in Main Event Mega Satellite with re-entry
• Thursday, February 2:
  • 13:00, PHP 5,500 buy-in Sixth All-In Cebu Cup Day 1b with re-entry (Event 1b, PHP 1,000,000 guaranteed)
  • 15:00, PHP 2,800 buy-in Main Event Super Satellite with rebuys and add-on
  • 18:00, PHP 5,500 buy-in Main Event Mega Satellite with re-entry
  • 19:30, PHP 5,000 buy-in Charity Event (20% to Philippine Red Cross)
• Friday, February 3:
  • 13:00, Sixth All-In Cebu Cup Final (PHP 1,000,000 guaranteed)
  • 14:00, PHP 2,800 Main Event Super Satellite with rebuys and add-on
  • 15:00, PHP 108,000 buy-in High Rollers (Event 2)
  • 16:00, PHP 5,500 buy-in Main Event Mega Satellite with re-entry
  • 18:00, PHP 5,500 buy-in Main Event Mega Satellite with re-entry
• Saturday, February 4:
  • 13:00, PHP 50,000 buy-in APT Asian Series Cebu Main Event Day 1a
  • 14:00, PHP 10,100 buy-in Waterfront Freezeout 1 (Event 3)
  • 16:00, PHP 2,800 Main Event Super Satellite with rebuys and add-on
  • 19:00, PHP 5,500 buy-in Last Chance Main Event Mega Satellite with re-entry
• Sunday, February 5:
  • 13:00, PHP 50,000 buy-in APT Asian Series Cebu Main Event Day 1b
  • 15:00, PHP 8,800 buy-in Waterfront Freezeout 2 (Event 4)
  • 18:00, PHP 5,500 buy-in Deep Stack Turbo 1 (Event 5)
• Monday, February 6:
  • 13:00, PHP 50,000 buy-in APT Asian Series Cebu Main Event Day 2
  • 15:00, PHP 8,800 buy-in DafaPoker Head Hunter (Event 6)
  • 18:00, PHP 5,500 buy-in Deep Stack Turbo 2 (Event 7)
• Tuesday, February 7:
  • 13:00, PHP 8,800 Six-Handed (Event 8)
  • 15:00, PHP 50,000 buy-in APT Asian Series Cebu Main Event final table