Pan Asia Poker Tour, Manila

Marcus Collins, an Australian poker player, made Asian poker history by winning the inaugural Pan Asia Poker Tour (PAPT) event held at Airport Casino Filipino in the Philippines.

The first ever Pan Asia Poker Tour brought in 75 players who had come from around the world to compete in the $2,500 two-day NLHE tournament held between November 4 and November 5.

Collin was short-stack throughout most of the tourney. That all changed once he finally reached the final table though. Collins was the big blind and was very pleased to find pocket Aces in the hole. He had two players go all-in before him and he made an easy call. His pocket rockets held up and gave Collins some chips to play with.

Jonny Vincent’s, another fellow Australian, and Collins were the final two left standing at the end. It was a back and forth war between the two. The last hand came when Collins called Vincent’s all-in with AQ. Vincent had AT and was dominated.

“You need a little bit of luck on your side to win tourneys and I’d be kidding myself if I told you that I outplayed the final table,” Collins said.

Collins took home more than $26,000 for his first place finish. Collins, who has had an excellent year, also had three cashes in the 2006 World Series of Poker including a $43,000 payday at the Main Event.

Those two were not the only Australian’s having a strong showing. WSOP bracelet-winner Mark Vos also had a strong showing in Manila. In addition to finishing fifth in the main event, Vos also managed a first and third place finish in two $500NL events. Ironically, Vos, a Full Tilt Poker sponsored poker pro was playing two live events at the same time just like he probably does when he plays online.