Tony Guoga took control of the final table on day three of the Betfair Asian Poker Tour in Singapore with a combination of sharp banter (you know Tony!) and aggressive play. He fought off challenges from top pro Lee Nelson, overnight chip leader Samuel Lehtonen and local player Joshua Ang.
Tony won $451,700 and will give half of it to Asian and Australian charities to be nominated by the tournament promoter. “His offer of a fifty per cent donation to charity is extraordinarily generous,” said Betfair’s Head of Poker Ben Fried .
Tony G said, “I want people to know that poker is sport. This is not a large amount compared to what people like Bill Gates give to charity but it is a gesture to show that it’s not all about the money, it’s about the competition as well.”
Tony also won a Merlion trophy as a symbol of Singapore which he promptly gave to local player Joshua Ang, who finished second, so that the trophy would “stay in Singapore .”
Final table finishers:
1. $451,700 – Tony Guoga
2. $233,200 – Joshua (Ang Pang Leng)
3. $116,600 – Lee Nelson
4. $102,000 – Samuel Lehtonen
5. $87,400 – Jeff Kimber
6. $72,900 – Mark Whent
7. $58,306 – Hans Vogl
8. $43,700 – Hendrik Dahlgaard
9. $29,200 – Brendan Walls
10. $17,500 – Neil Yong
Final Table for today (Friday) in the First Asian Poker Tour event in Singapore.
Final table:
Samuel Lehtonen - 897,500
Tony G – 717,500
Ang Pang Leng – 309,000
Lee Nelson – 257,000
Hans Vogl – 250,500
Jeff Kimber – 240,000
Brandon Walls – 243,000
Mark Wheat – 101,000
Neil Yong – 98,500
Henrik Dahlgarrd – 74,000
Pay out structure:
1. $451,700
2. $233,200
3. $116,600
4. $102,000
5. $87,400
6. $72,900
7. $58,306
8. $43,700
9. $29,200
10. $17,500
End of Day One. Fifty-six players remaining from the 313 starters.
Tomorrow, well today (international date line), they will play down to ten players. These players will make the final table which will be filmed for TV and will be held Friday.
Most of the big names have been knocked out. Gus Hansen, Liz Lieu, Mel Judah, and John Phan among others are gone. Harry Demetriou remains, so does Tony G.
First prize will receive $451,000, 36 places will be paid.
Liz Lieu said just after her bustout:
“It’s a really great event, even though I went out. A player went all in behind me and I knew I was in trouble.”
While U.S. players and online poker providers wrestle with the meddling of the U.S. Congress, the rest of the world continues to expand the poker possibilities for themselves. Two major poker tours in Asia will launch this month.
The PanAsia Poker Tour debuts today with the Philippines Open at the Airport Casino Filipino in Manila. The event will be hosted by poker personalities Linda Johnson and Jan Fisher, who have once again comped themselves one fine little vacation. Tony G, Gavin Smith and Lee Nelson are onsite to play in the event.
The Philippines Open will feature a $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Championship, which will be a televised event. The PanAsian Poker Tour is planning to host ten different events across in 2007. In addition to the Philippines, events are schedule for Macau, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, New Zealand and Australia.
Then there is the new Asian Poker Tour, which kicks off November 12-17 at the Meritus Mandarin in Singapore. Gus Hansen, Liz Lieu and John Phan head up the ranks of players who will be playing this event.
The Main Event at the BetFair Asian Poker Tour Singapore event will be a $5,000 NLHE tournament and it is also a televised event.
While the U.S. online poker world is in turmoil, the bricks and mortar casinos and card rooms are experienceing a boom and not just in the U.S. The Asian Poker Tour is set to launch in Singapore next month and I am happy to say I will be there to cover the tournament.
Nearly everyone believes that Asia will be the next big hot spot for poker and the APT is just the first step in moving Singapore, Macau and other Far East venues onto the international poker stage. Already the APT is associating itself with top flight Asian-American players.
John Phan and Liz Lieu will go to Singapore to take part in the Betfair Asian Poker Tour. They are good friends and two of the hottest names in poker. Originally from Vietnam , they have built their poker careers in America .
John “The Razor” Phan has close to $3m in tournament winnings. With numerous results on the World Poker Tour (WPT) and at the World Series of Poker (WSOP), he was inches from being poker player of the year in 2005.
Liz “The Poker Diva” Lieu is a regular winner at high stakes cash game tables in Las Vegas . For several years she has been playing on the WPT, European Poker Tour (EPT) and other circuits around the world.
Both are engaged in charity work and have pledged 20 percent of future tournament winnings to charity. If either player wins the Asian Poker Tour event in Singapore, this could mean up to $100,000 for their designated charities.
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