American Student Takes 1st Place at Asia-Pacific Poker Tour

Brett Parise, a 22-year-old university student from Indiana USA, won the first event of the inaugural PokerStars Asia-Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) in Manila on Sunday, being awarded a first prize of $179,775 and a solid place in December’s grand final in Sydney Australia.

Parise proved to be the top of a field with more than 250 players at the Hyatt Hotel and Casino in Manila, Philippines. He took home one of the largest tournament prizes awarded to date in Asian poker. More than 250 players from 30 countries had started the three day event.

Parise is a student of political science and economics at the University of California, and has been playing poker since he was 18. Currently at 22 years old, he was the youngest out of the final nine.

Parise said he saw the game as a good way of making money but he doubted he would take it up full time. He had won his seat in the APPT through a free online competition, surprising even himself in the process.

The PokerStars blog reported that Parise, was holding a 2:1 chip lead when the head to head battle with Thailand-based US lawyer Ira Blumenthal began. Gradually Parise wore down his more experienced opponent. For the final hand, Parise called the all-in bet of Blumenthal with a pair of 10s. Blumenthal’s hand of J 5 was in trouble and did not get any help from a community spread of .

Nicholas Bamman, another US student, cashed in at third place, PokerStars’ Supernova Van Marcus (Australia) took fourth, and Maor Feldinger, an Israeli student playing in his first major poker tournament cashed at fifth place.

The next APPT event is September 26-30 at the Paradise Seoul Casino at the Walker Hill Hotel in Seoul, South Korea. Two other venues in Asia have yet to be decided before the APPT finishes with the grand final at Star City Casino in Sydney from December 13-16.

Pokerstars are running satellites to all the APPT events now, so why not secure yourself a trip of a lifetime to play in a big poker tournament in Asia.

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