New chapter for Asian Poker Tour: APT Hanoi 2023 revamped schedule and five-year sponsorship deal with Natural8

01/20/2023

2023 marks a new chapter for the Asian Poker Tour with new owners, APT Events Private Limited, aiming to take the brand to greater heights. This past week revealed some of those changes starting with a revamped APT Hanoi 2023 schedule. Following the release, the APT also announced an agreement with Natural8 that will see the online brand as title sponsor for five years. The tie-up begins with an APT Online series featuring $10,000,000 in guarantees.

APT Hanoi 2023

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APT, the longest running land based poker organizer in Asia, opens its 2023 season at the Vietnam Series of Poker (VSOP) in Hanoi, Vietnam. Viewed as the coolest looking poker room in the capital, the festival runs from February 3 to 12. It features 41 events and VN₫ 20 Billion (~$852,900) in guaranteed prize pools. Amateurs and pros are in for a thrill with a variety of games priced from VN₫ 4,400,000 (~$185) to VN₫ 107,000,000 (~$4,560). Here are the highlights.

Guaranteed Events

Event	Guarantee	Dates	Buy in
AP MAIN EVENT	VN₫ 10,000,000,000	February 6-11	VN₫ 27,500,000
Super Star Invitational	VN₫ 1,500,000,000	February 4-5	VN₫ 107,000,000

APT Kick Off	VN₫ 1,500,000,000	February 3-4	VN₫ 8,800,000
Mystery Bounty Hunter	VN₫ 1,500,000,000	February 4-5	VN₫ 9,900,000
Sunday Special	VN₫ 500,000,000	February 5	VN₫ 6,600,000
Monster Stack	VN₫ 1,000,000,000	February 10-11	VN₫ 11,000,000
APT High Roller 8-Max	VN₫ 3,000,000,000	February 10-12	VN₫ 55,000,000
APT Mini Main Event	VN₫ 1,000,000,000	February 11-12	VN₫ 8,800,000

The star of the festival is the APT MAIN EVENT which weighs in at an ambitious VN₫ 10 Billion (~$426,400) guarantee. This is double the amount of its first visit. Significant changes have also been made to the starting day formats.

Day 1A retains its 60 minutes per level
Day 1B will see blinds increase every 45 minutes
Day 1C and Day 1D will see blinds increase every 30 minutes
Day 2, Day 3, and Final Table retain its 60 minutes per level
Day 1 flights play ten levels

High Roller Events

The Vietnam high roller scene is vibrant and players worldwide have taken notice. At each festival, demand increases, therefore for the series, nine are scheduled with the Super Star Invitational (Open Event) peaking at VN₫ 107M buy in.

Event	Guarantee	Dates	Buy in
Super Star Invitational	VN₫ 1,500,000,000	February 4-5	VN₫ 107,000,000
APT High Roller 8-Max	VN₫ 3,000,000,000	February 10-12	VN₫ 55,000,000

Single Day HR 8-Max		February 2,5,7,8	VN₫ 44,000,000
NLH/PLO Single Day HR 8-Max		February 6	VN₫ 55,000,000
Single Day HR 8-Max		February 9	VN₫ 66,000,000
High Speed High Roller		February 12	VN₫ 44,000,000

Unique Events

Aside from staple tournaments, the APT introduces new events and gives space to past favorites such as the Women’s Event and Crazy Pineapple.


Event	Dates	Buy in
Event 3: Holdem – Hyper Turbo	February 3	VN₫ 16,500,000
Event 4: Omaholic (PL Pre/NL Omaha High – Hyper Turbo	February 3	VN₫ 4,400,000
Event 22: NLH – Super Holdem (3 holecards) – Hyper Turbo	February 7	VN₫ 4,400,000
Event 24: Women’s Event	February 8	VN₫ 4,400,000
Event 26: Tick Tock (levels decrease every hour 20/15/10/5)	February 8	VN₫ 4,400,000
Event 30: NLH – Crazy Pineapple – Hyper Turbo	February 9	VN₫ 4,400,000

For more information, head to the APT Hanoi 2023 schedule. Along with this release, the APT also included the full schedule for APT Phu Quoc 2023. The event takes place from March 24 to April 2 at the Corona Resort & Casino Phu Quoc. Details can be found here.

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In line with its season of progression, the APT has also announced a five-year agreement with online platform Natural8. In the official announcement, APT Chief Executive Officer, Fred Leung said,

“2023 is going to be a transformative year for the Asian Poker Tour and inking this deal with Natural8 is a massive step towards reaching our new era initiatives. This collaboration with N8 will greatly improve our live event offerings and provide opportunities for players that didn’t previously exist.”

Linking up with N8 will no doubt cast a larger net. To kick off the deal, N8 is sponsor for several events in the released live schedules and plans to host a massive Asian Poker Tour Online (APTO) $10,000,000 guaranteed festival some time in February. Details have yet to be announced.