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APT Udpate: Tetsuya Tsuchikawa leads APT POY, Sam Nee returns, APT Philippines up next

The Asian Poker Tour has been very busy these past weeks with two events already held since mid-June. The latest one finished up this past weekend, the APT Southeast Asia, held at a new destination in Poipet, Cambodia. Although the attendance may have been on the lighter side, there were several players that stole the stage, but none more so than online pro Sam Nee and Japanese pro Tetsuya Tsuchikawa.

Under different categories, both of these players finished at the top of their game with Nee winning his first-ever APT Main Event title and Tsuchikawa sliding into the lead in the APT Player of the Year 2017 race. Nonstop poker action continues with the APT Philippines 2017 coming up within the next several days. Here’s a look at all the latest news in the APT circuit.

Tetsuya Tsuchikawa frontrunner of the APT POY 2017 leaderboard

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Tetsuya Tsuchikawa – Photo APT

Ever since the APT added the APT Player of the Series race, the APT Player of the Year hasn’t been given that much attention. Still, it is the highest recognition for any APT player who has achieved this in a given year. Last year saw Japanese pro Iori Yogo dethrone quadruple APT POY champion Samad Razavi, however this year, both of these players are nowhere near the leader’s range. With half a year gone by, their chances of repeat glory are getting slimmer but for Japan’s Tetsuya Tsuchikawa, victory is peeking at the horizon.

At the recently concluded APT Macau 2017, Tsuchikawa ran extremely well in several events to earn him the crowning glory of the APT POS title. One week later, he brought this A-game to the APT Southeast Asia festival and continued where he left off in Macau. He finished the series with two side event trophies and slid into the lead of the APT POY 2017 race.

Tsuchikawa is one of the most active players in the APT circuit which naturally means, he is very well known. But in addition to his stats, he is also one of the biggest promoters of the game in Japan. The Japanese contingent at the APT circuit is largely due to his influence. At the APT Championships Philippines back in April, Tsuchikawa came with a 100 strong posse of Japanese players.

APT Player of the Year 2017 Standings (Top 5)

RANK NAME POY
1 TETSUYA TSUCHIKAWA 631.84
2 Yoichi Uesugi 579.85
3 Hung Sheng Lin 495.88
4 Sano Mitsuru 424.45
5 Hailong Huang 368.84

Sam Nee Aik Chuan returns to the felt and wins the APT Southeast Asia Main Event

Sam Nee - Photo APT
Sam Nee – Photo APT

For nearly two years, online pro Sam Nee has been absent from the live tournament scene but not anymore. He was spotted at the APT Southeast Asia where he was seen wreaking havoc at the Main Event felt. With only 50 contenders in the field, Nee charged in like a racehorse and when it came down to the final table, he overpowered his opponents to win his first APT championship title and the US$14,790 cash prize.

This  is a strong comeback for the young online pro whose performance in the live tournament circuit back in 2014 earned him his largest cash of US$58,111 for his 2nd place finish at the WSOP Asia Pacific $2,200 No Limit Hold’em event in Melbourne, Australia. Hopefully we see more of him for the rest of the year.

Upcoming APT Philippines 2017

APT Poker Room
APT Poker Room

In just several days time, the APT will be launching its sixth festival of the year, the APT Philippines 2017. This upcoming event will be held on July 19th-27th at the newly established Winford Casino & Hotel in Manila, Philippines located in the Greater Chinatown area. The venue has a five-star rating and is the only luxury hotel located in that section of the grander metropolis.

Through the years, the APT Philippines has been one of the most popular festivals of the APT brand, traditionally held at Resorts World Manila. While the recent change in venue will likely take some getting used to, the festival itself will remain to be very familiar. It will feature a PHP 110,000 buy-in Main Event – roughly around US$2,163 – along with 17 APT mainstay side events.


More: APT Philippines 2017 – Schedule


Last April, the APT opened up their newest poker room at the Winford, and since then has held small tournaments and daily cash games. The Winford Hotel and Casino is located on MJC drive corner Consuelo st., San Lazaro Tourism and Business Park, Sta. Cruz, Manila.

Article by Triccia David

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Tricia David

Tricia David has long experience as a recreational poker player and has been covering poker events since 2010 for numerous outfits in Asia. She spent one year working part time with Poker Portal Asia then became editor and lead writer for all event coverage of the Philippine Poker Tour (PPT). Under the PPT, she overlooked content for their website, and produced live updates on all their events. In addition, she served as the live and online events website content writer for the Asian Poker Tour. Currently, she does live events reporting in Asia for online news site Somuchpoker and is also one of their news contributors.

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