Asia Pacific Poker Tour underway

The first day of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour stop in Manila, Philippines has come and gone and already the tournament has seen some big stars fade.

Among the 255 who showed up to play were Team PokerStars members Daniel Negreanu and Vanessa Rousso, neither of whom survived the first day of play.

Negreanu has been more preoccupied with golf lately, as readers of his MySpace blog well know. He was seen practicing his golf swing next to his seat just before busting out of the poker tournament.

He was taken out by American Brett Miller, who had pocket kings up against Negreanu's ace-eight.

Rousso didn't fare much better. She went all-in pre-flop with ace-eight as well and ran into pocket 10s. A 10 on the flop was enough to seal her fate and leave her just a tourist in Manila.

Adding some former World Champion power to the event, Joe Hachem also took a seat in the tournament. He too didn't last past the first day.

Less than an hour after the dinner break, Hachem ended up in an all-in situation with pocket nines against Mortin Kaspersen's pocket 10s, and Kaspersen had made a set when a 10 dropped on the flop.

According to PokerStars, at the end of the day it was Australian player David Saab who was sitting atop the chip leaderboard. He is the reigning Australian Heads-Up champion, and was the first player to break the 100,000-chip barrier during Day 1 of the Manila tournament.

The final table will be decided at the end of Day 2 with Day 3 crowning the first Asia Pacific Poker Tour champion.

There are two more stops on the tour after Manila - one in Seoul, South Korea and the other in Sydney, Australia.

The Seoul event will take place Sept. 28-30 at the Sheraton Walkerhill Hotel. The buy-in will be $2,500, and there is a 250-player limit.

The tour will head to Australia Dec. 13-16 with the $6,000+$500AUD event at the Star City Casino in Sydney.

For more information about the tour, visit APPT.com.

courtesy of Sarah Polson

News Added: 25 August, 2007

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