World’s best clash in AsPac Poker Tour today

Former World Series of Poker champion Joe Hachem of Australia and 2004 WSOP Player of the Year Daniel Negreanu of the US head the stellar cast of players vying for the estimated pool of P25 million prize money in the Poker Stars.net  Asia Pacific Poker Tour starting today at the Hyatt Hotel and Casino in Manila.

Also seeing action in the three-day event, the biggest poker tournament ever staged in the country, are American Vanessa Rousso, the 2006 Borgata Open champion and, at 22,  the youngest woman to make the final table in a World Series of poker event, and Scotland’s Manlee Wan, the 2003 World Series winner.

Three hundred forty-six other players from 40 countries are in the fold, all eyeing to get a crack at the jackpot in the event sponsored by Poker Stars.net.

“We chose Manila because it’s attractive to global people and we know there are many great poker players here,” said Jeffrey Haas,  president of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour, in yesterday’s media launch at the Hyatt Hotel.

Leading the locals’ bid is Neil Arce, currently RP’s number one poker player who had an impressive stint in the recent World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, Nevada where he won over P2 million.

“I have nothing to lose and I feel this is to our advantage,” said the 26-year-old Arce, who gave up his job in a bank to concentrate on the game.

Another Filipino who has made his mark in the local scene is Philip Chua, who made it through the main event for free after topping a satellite online tournament by Poker Stars.net.

“I was just lucky,” said Chua. “It’s a big opportunity for me to play against some of the best poker players in the world and I hope to perform well.”

Other notable entries are Korea-based American Daniel “Rekrul” Schreiber, Canadian Guillaumer Patry and Australia-based Japanese Masa Kagawa.

Schreiber used to be No. 1 in the US for the strategy video game Starcraft before he shifted to poker after leaving for Korea in 2004. He has since dominated the game there.

Patry, for his part, was a former member of Quebec’s junior provincial ski team before becoming popular in Korea in 2000 for his quick thinking and poker skills while Kagawa zoomed to stardom by topping the 2007 Aussie Millions in Melbourne.