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HEADLINE: Brett Parise Claims Victory at Asia Pacific Poker Tour Event

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Brett Parise has beaten 254 other players to take home the title of the inaugural event on the PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour, just under $180,000 and a seat to the APPT Grand Final in Sydney.

Parise, a 22-year-old Californian student, qualified for the tournament for free on PokerStars.net, winning his tournament entry, flights and accommodation.

Currently studying Political Science in California, Parise graduated from online poker amateur to a spot in the poker record books as the first APPT champion.

“It’s so exciting to become the APPT’s first ever champion, especially as I won the trip and my seat in the Manila APPT event from a free tournament online at PokerStars,” Parise said.

“This gave me not only a great opportunity to test my poker skills, but also to visit Asia and experience this totally different culture. It was also an awesome bonus to take down my first professional poker title in front of my mother who was also able to come as part of my package.”

The tournament kicked off with an impressive field of 255 players from more than 30 countries, creating a prize pool of almost US$600,000. The tough field included three Team Poker Stars players: 2005 world champion Joe Hachem, multiple WSOP bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu, and Vanessa Rousso.

The last two players fighting it out were Brett Parise and Thailand-based US lawyer Ira Blumenthal. On the final hand, Blumenthal pushed all-in and Parise called with 10s 10d while Blumenthal showed Jh 5h. The flop is Ks Qc 9c, the turn Kh and river 9h, giving Parise two-pair and the title.

The final table was truly international: Parise and Nicolas Bamman from the USA, local Filipino Derrick Hernandez, Tokyo native Sato Kazuhiro, Israeli PokerStars’ qualifier Maor Federling, Dutch PokerStars’ qualifier Bas van Liere, Australian professional player Van Marcus, Swedish businessman Roger Spets, who resides in Malaysia, and Blumenthal, who makes his home in Bangkok.

From Manila, the PokerStars.net APPT travels to South Korea on September 27, when the $2500 buy-in no-limit Texas Hold’em main event will be held at the Sheraton Walker Hill Hotel and Casino in Seoul.

The Grand Final of the tour will be played in Sydney, Australia, at the Star City Casino from December 13-16.

Final results (APPT Manila, Hyatt Hotel and Casino, Manila, Philippines)

1. Brett Parise (USA) $179,775
2. Ira Blumenthal (Thailand) $113,858
3. Nicholas Bamman (USA) $62,921
4. Van Marcus (Australia) $44,940
5. Maor Feldinger (Israel) $35,955
6. Roger Spets (Sweden) $26,966
7. Bas van Liere (Netherlands) $20,974
8. Kazuhiro Sato (Japan) $14,981
9. Derrick Hernandez (Philippines) $11,386

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