The Asian Poker Tour Sails into Goa

Online, November 29, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Over the last two years, Goa's floating casinos have embraced poker rooms and hosted tournaments that seem to be getting more and more popular. The passion of their players and the work of local poker tournament organisers have led to the region developing a name for itself in the poker community. As India wakes up to the worldwide poker boom, international poker brands were sure to follow...

That's exactly what happened when the Asian Poker Tour held the inaugural APT Asian Series Goa tournament at Casino Royale Goa on November 8-14, 2011. As the first international poker tour to hold a stop in India, the APT Asian Series Goa Main Event attracted a record-setting 158 entries - the most amount seen in a poker tournament in India. While it's not a huge number compared to other APT events held in Macau and the Philippines, it does signal the rise of poker in a country where just a few years ago you couldn't even find a legal game.

At the start of the tournament, Asian Poker Tour CEO Jeff Mann, commented, "We are extremely pleased with the player turnout for this first event of APT Asian Series Goa. Normally, local tournaments start in the evening so with a 4 PM start we were not sure of player participation, but we were overwhelmed by the amount of players from all over India that are here for APT week."

The arrival of APT in India also brought players all the ceremony and glitz of a big poker tournament normally only witnessed in places like Las Vegas or Macau. A contingent of media were there covering the event and gorgeous APT models looking like they were straight out of a beauty pageant were on hand to help with official proceedings and add glamour to the scene.

Well-known overseas poker players also made the journey to Goa to participate in the tournament. Las Vegas poker pro Nam Le made an appearance. He has collected over USD $6 million in tournament prize money over the course of his career and clearly knows the feeling of winning life-changing amounts of money for just a few days of "work" on the felt of a poker table. It's a feeling no doubt shared with two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Mel Judah, who was also there for APT Asian Series Goa. Judah was actually born in Kolkata, India but lives in Australia and has been playing poker all over the world for decades.

APT Asian Series Goa featured eight side events for a range of different player types. With names like "Greed" and "Head Hunter", these one-day tournaments created a fresh batch of APT champions such as local player Aditya "Mastermind" Agarwal who bested a field of 78 players in Event #3.

However, the highlight of the week was the Main Event held over four days of play. India's Sangeeth "Samohh" Mohan was the eventual victor after he defeated a tough final table that included China's Cindy Wang, England's Martin Elliot and the USA's Nam Le who busted out in 6th place. At one stage, Mohan was down to just a small amount of chips but was able to claw his way back with successive double ups and go on to bust out the last four players of the tournament. The man who came closest to stopping Mohan was fellow Indian player Sameer Rattonsey who was the chip leader coming into the final table and finished as runner-up to Mohan.

In an interview after the event, Mohan said, "I was really excited when I came in today and I think I played the best poker of my life... In such a big tournament everyone is playing scared and you can kind of use that to your advantage."

Mohan became the first Indian player to win an APT Main Event title and will likely inspire his fellow countrymen to do the same when the APT returns for another Goa tournament in May 2012.

For more information on the Asian Poker Tour you can visit their website www.TheAsianPokerTour.com.