Poker's Top Asian Pros Eye Top Plum at APT Manila

Manila, Philippines - The top professional poker players with Asian heritage are aiming for nothing less than the top prize at the upcoming Asian Poker Tour Philippine leg this coming May 27 to June 1.

Korean-born Steve Sung, Vietnam-native Quinn Do and Vietnamese-American Nam Le are all hoping to be the last man standing at the finals table of the 2008 Asian Poker Tour's first leg to be held at the Dusit Thani Manila Hotel. The three poker pros of Asian-descent will duke it out with over 400 other pros for a chance to win the first prize chunk of the guaranteed prize pool of US$ 1 million.

Korean-born Steve Sung has been playing in major live tournaments for several years now since turning pro. While still lacking a major tournament title, he has been a top placer in several World Poker Tour (WPT) and World
Series Of Poker (WSOP) events, his best finish being second place in the recent 2008 Bay 101 Shooting Star WPT Championship. Before playing at live tournaments, Sung has been an avid online poker player under the moniker 'MuGGyLiCiOuS". To date, his total poker winnings amount to over $1.4 million.

Quinn Do decided to play poker full time in 2004 after his time at the University of Washington and after dabbling in the restaurant business. Since turning pro, Do has been a regular at major live poker events and has won a WSOP Gold Bracelet at the 2005 WSOP Limit Hold'em Event. Other notable finishes by the Vietnam-born Do includes a 2nd place finish at the Bellagio Challenge Cup Championship in 2005 and most recently, a 2nd place finish at the 2008 LA Poker Classic WPT Championship where he went home with $909,400.00. Quinn Do's total poker winnings to date are close to $2 million.

Vietnamese-American Nam Le is only twenty-five years old but is already considered by many to be a major threat at live tournaments. He already has a couple of first place finishes under his belt - the 2006 Bay 101 Shooting Star WPT Championship and the 2006 Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge II, as well top place finishes in several WSOP and WPT events. His most recent finish was at 4th at the 2008 LA Poker Classic WPT Championship where he earned $411,770.00. Le's total winnings to date exceed $4.3 million.

While Sung, Do and Le are favourites to win the top plum at the APT, they will face stiff competition from other poker pros, most notably, Filipino poker players who are expected to perform well on their native soil. Filipino poker players are expected to make up a third of the total number of entrants to the biggest poker event to hit Manila.

If neither Sung, Do and Le take home the APT Championship title in Manila, they will have three other chances to try this year as the APT moves to Macau in August, Seoul in October and Singapore in December. Each tournament will offer a US$1 million guaranteed prize pool, which is sure to attract poker players from all over the world. There will also be internet qualifiers which will ensure that online players can rub shoulders with some of the world's leading poker pros at each live tournament.

The opening APT leg in Manila will be a poker tournament of world class standards - more than 400 players will battle it out during six days of thrilling poker for a share of the guaranteed $1 million prize pool. The buy-in is $2,500 - but there's the chance of winning one of the online satellites, which includes an all-expense paid trip as well as the buy-in. You can also expect similar fare at the other three events - huge prize pools will be up for grabs as well as fantastic tournament packages for online qualifiers.

The Asian Poker Tour Philippine leg is sanctioned by the Philippine Amusement Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR). For more information about the event and registration details, please visit www.asianpt.com

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News Added: 14 May, 2008

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