Asian Poker Tour announces 2021 season opener with over US$ 1 Million guaranteed at India exclusive online site PokerBaazi

One of Asia’s well established land based brands, Asian Poker Tour, recently announced a tie-up with India online client PokerBaazi for the first ever APT India Online Series. The inaugural festival takes place from January 15 to 26 and will officially kick off the APT’s 2021 season. Big cash prizes await players with ₹ 8 crores promised, which is equivalent to over one million dollars across 48 tournaments. In a statement by founder & CEO at Baazi Games, Navkiran Singh,

“The Asian Poker Tour is one of the world’s most valuable poker properties and we’re honoured to bring the Tour back to Indian shores. After having held over 80 major events and numerous small tournaments across the Asia-Pacific Region, we’re delighted to join hands with the tour and add another landmark IP to India’s growing poker landscape. This truly is an exciting time to be a professional poker player in India.”

While the APT’s many patrons scattered around the world would certainly like to participate, the event is exclusive to players in India. However, there’s no need to fret as there will be more to come as confidently stated by APT General Manager and Executive Tournament Director Lloyd Fontillas in the official announcement,

“What excites me the most about our partnership is the fact that PokerBaazi also operates a live poker room. So on top of the action-packed online schedule we are putting together, players can expect us to bring back a live APT event to India before the end of 2021,”

So for those able to attend, the APT India Online Series 2021 opens the year with a loaded lineup of custom crafted games matched by very affordable price tags. Buy ins range from ₹ 550 to ₹ 55,000 (US$ 7.45 to US$ 745) with tournament guarantees from ₹ 2 lakhs to ₹ 2 crores (~US$ 2,700 to US$ 271,400). The event everyone should set their sights on is the headliner APT Main Event ₹ 2 crore (~US$ 271,400) guaranteed.

Main Event info

Buy in: ₹ 11,000 (~US$ 150)
Guarantee: ₹ 2 crore (~US$ 271,400) GTD
Day 1A: Wednesday, January 20
Day 1B: Thursday, January 21
Day 1C: Friday, January 22
Day 1D: Sunday, January 24
Final Day: Tuesday, January 26

At every live APT stop, all event champions receive an APT Trophy. For this online series, only 12 event trophies will be awarded. To lock one up, you would need to win one of these events listed below:

APT Main Event ₹ 11,000 (~US$ 150) buy in – ₹ 2 crore (~US$ 271,400) gtd
APT Championship Event ₹ 22,000 (~US$ 300) buy in – ₹ 40 lakhs (~US$ 54,300) gtd
Mini Main Event ₹ 5,500 (US$ 75) buy in – ₹ 50 lakhs (~US$ 67,846) gtd
Super High Roller ₹ 55,000 (~US$ 745) buy in – ₹ 80 lakhs (~US$ 108,500) gtd
PLO High Roller ₹ 11,000 (~US$ 150) buy in – ₹ 25 lakhs (~US$ 33,900) gtd
Kickoff ₹ 2,200 (~US$ 30) buy in – ₹ 10 (~US$ 13,560) gtd
Sunday Major ₹ 5,500 (~US$ 75) buy in – ₹ 30 lakhs (~US$ 40,700) gtd (two scheduled)
Monday Major ₹ 5,500 (~US$ 75) buy in – ₹ 30 lakhs (~US$ 40,700) gtd (two scheduled)
Tuesday Major ₹ 5,500 (~US$ 75) buy in – ₹ 25 lakhs (~US$ 33,900) gtd
Wednesday Major ₹ 5,500 (~US$ 75) buy in – ₹ 20 lakhs (~US$ 27,140) gtd

The APT Main Event, APT Championships Event, and Mini Main Event will also award the champions a fine piece of merchandise, the solid silver APT Championship Ring. Two players from India have already earned one, WSOP bracelet winner Abhinav Iyer for his victory at the APT Kickoff Vietnam 2019 Main Event, and Akshay Nasa for his triumph at the APT Vietnam 2019 Main Event.

APT Player of the Series & Daily Leaderboard

In January 2017, the APT added the Player of the Series incentive wherein the top three players in points at the end of each festival received special prizes. Due to its popularity, it has become a mainstay. For the upcoming series, ₹ 28 lakhs (~US$ 38,000) in real cash bonus is guaranteed across the top 25 players in points. The winner will receive a bundle of prizes: the APT Player of the Series Trophy, customized APT Player of the Series Ring, luxury watch, and ₹ 5.5 lakhs (~US$ 7,460) in real cash bonus. Runner up and third placer will also receive trophies.

In addition to the APT Player of the Series is a Daily Leaderboard to help pad up the pocket. ₹ 2 lakhs (~US$ 2,700) is guaranteed per day across the top ten players in points.

India APT past events

Going through the back pages of APT history, only two live events were hosted by the brand. The APT Asia Series Goa 2011 featured 8 events with Sangeeth Mohan becoming the first India Main Event champion. Returning the next year, the roster was bumped up to 11 events. India’s Manan Khetan was denied the Main Event crown by Swedish player Martin Nilsson.

Although the APT hasn’t returned to India’s shores since then, 2019 was a good year for Indian players with two of their own winning APT Main Event titles in Vietnam. At the start of that said year, Abhinav Iyer became the first player from India to win it outside of his home country then mid-year Akshay Nasa accomplished the same.

APT 2020 events

2020 turned out to be a very challenging year for all land based operators and live poker players. For the APT, what was supposed to be a vibrant year of 12 festivals around Asia, the brand was only able to host two live events before the world locked down – APT Vietnam Kick Off 2020 and APT Taiwan 2020. To answer the call of their patrons, the APT held the first ever APT Online Series at Natural8 on the GG Network. Due to its tremendous success, a second one was held in June, this one with a stunning US$ 1 million dollars guaranteed at the APT Championships Event. It was the first time ever a pot this size was offered for this particular event.

In October, the APT returned to the live scene with a single tournament held at the CTP Club (Chinese Texas Hold’em Poker Association) in Taichung, Taiwan. This was the brand’s first visit to this location and first live event since March. Later that month, the APT sponsored five live games at the Taiwan Millions Tournament (TMT) festival held at the popular CTP Club in Taipei.