Hey, poker playas!
The first quarter of 2022 is about to end. yet we are still trying to adapt to the new normal.
It does feel like starting from the beginning at times, but then when you have a country with a lot of poker players. It a great market to tap
With 6 poker rooms now operating in Manila legally. Which tournament did great in the first quarter and which tournament do we believe will do great this year?
So we begin with the Asian Poker Tour
The Asian Poker Tour (APT) was founded in 2008. To date, the APT has staged more than 80 major events and numerous smaller tournaments mainly in the Asia-Pacific Region.
APT offered a lot of great things to poker players, one is the structure.
APT tournaments are known to have great structures but a more Asian-friendly buy-in.
They were doing great before the lockdown. and for almost.2 years Live events could not be held in the Philippines.
But in 2022 as quarantine measures were eased. Live poker tournaments were slowly becoming available once again.
Each poker room or the organizers has a different approach to their tournaments. WIth other organizers and rooms already taking the lead, APT needed to take action. and they did. in a very innovative way.
APT RWM Mystery bounty challenge
The APT held their first tournament on March 3 this year after a long absence from the local shore.
Due to the long absence, they needed to make an impact and they did. how?
Sticking to what made them great.
If you were to ask players about APT. one thing will always come to mind with their tournaments.
Great structure.
APT was always known to have 45 minutes to hour-long blinds levels and they do not skip levels.
But since the tournament was a small one. The great thing they did was shorten the minutes to 30 minutes per level.
Why would you ruin something that is already great?
Sometimes, sticking to something that we are already used to seeing creates an air of familiarity and comfort that makes you feel more welcome.
Even the models like Nika Madrid and Carmen Radcliffe who have been regular models for the APT was truly a welcome sight. because you know they already are familiar with the questions poker players would be asking.
The player’s lounge was still there offering free snacks to the players. In so many ways, the key things that made the Asian Poker tourn a great poker experience and tour were kept intact.
Even the satellites to the main event were still player-friendly. You get to start with a decent stack and a decent structure.
Softly introducing something new.
Some organizers are so limited in what they can do. but the world is big and sometimes you do not need to reinvent the wheel.
The mystery bounty was getting a huge following in the US. so it was a great Asian poker tour was the first to introduce it to the local store.
Keeping the structure intact. having a bounty system to make the tournament a little more fast pace. and then add some thrill by not knowing what you might get as a bounty.
It was making the game fun and exciting while keeping the core stuff intact.
Two new models were introduced and they were beautiful and hot. Some players were very eager to see their faces.
Even the snacks had a few changes.
It was better.
The ham and cheese croissant was definitely tasty. the dumpling the next day was superb and the muffins and cookies did not fail to be Delicious.
There were a lot of subtle changes that were added to the mix. But in the end, one thing was delivered.
The player had a great time with the tour as it was not fast pace. Some players commented that it is nice to feel once again what a real poker tournament is.
if the battle was about breaking guarantees. APT RWM Mystery Bounty weekend did break the guarantee. but on the scale of player satisfaction. We believe they have won and players cant wait for their next event.
