The Asian Poker Tour (APT) has announced that Matt Savage has been appointed Tournament Director for its upcoming Manila Main Event next month, due to be held at the ultra-modern Dusit Thani Manila Hotel.
The APT stated that few men are as qualified for the position as Savage as he previously served as Tournament Director for the World Series of Poker, the world's blue-ribbon poker event, in 2002 after working his way up the poker ladder. He oversaw a boom in prize money for this tournament from eleven million dollars to its almost $50 million today and was awarded the inaugural Benny Binion award for outstanding service in the poker industry in 2003.
As Tournament Director for the first leg of the APT in Manila, Savage will oversee six days of all-out poker action expected to attract around 400 players from all over the world. A third of the participants are expected to come from the Philippines, which has seen poker's popularity surge in recent years.
Being held from May 27 to June 1, the Asian Poker Tour stated that the Dusit Thani Manila Hotel is the perfect venue for the event as it is in the Philippines' central business district with easy access to accommodation, shopping, tourist spots and transport.
After the Philippine leg, the tour moves to events in Macao, South Korea and Singapore, all with a buy-in of $2,500 and a guaranteed prize pool of one million dollars.
Online satellites awarding prize packages worth $6,000 including accommodation and travel expenses are being held on most iPoker-powered poker rooms such as DafaPoker.com, TilaPoker.com, ChiliPoker.com, TitanPoker.com, BetFred.com and VCPoker.com. In addition, some of the world's most popular poker rooms including PartyPoker.com and PKR.com will host satellite events for seats at the tournament.