So who won the grand prize at the Asia Pacific Poker Tour Macau? The winner of the poker event was Victorino Torres. The grand prize was $3.2 million in Hong Kong currency, which equaled to $416,000 USD. Victorino Torres is a 33-year-old attorney who lives in the Northern Mariana Islands. This is his biggest win in his poker career.

What is so amazing about his grand prize win is that as he was going into the final table in the poker tournament, he was the second lowest in poker chips. Most poker players would lose hope at that point if they were last or second to last in poker chips. The blinds are so high, and there is too much pressure, but Victorino was able to remain calm the whole entire time. Patience was the biggest factor that helped him get through the struggle at the final table.

In the four-year history of this Asia Pacific Poker Tour, the runner-up Chong Cheong won $2,088,000 in HKD, and that made him the the biggest winner for Chinese players in the event.

The other players who were in 3^rd to 9^th position in the respective order: Cole Swannack, Jeppe Drivsholm, Kenny Nielsen, Brian Green, Kai Danilo Paulsen, Albert Kim, and Keith Hawkins.

What’s the lesson that you can learn from the grand prize winner? He remained calm and patient throughout the whole tournament. Regardless of his situation, he was always playing the same as if he just first joined the game. Poker is not just all about luck!

At the start of the final table in season 4 of Asia Pacific Poker Tour, Swannack was leading with the highest amount of chips. He started the final table with 1,262,000 in poker chips. The most interest thing about it is that he was only 20-years old student. He was the youngest player at the final table.

The runner up in chips is Jeppe Drivsholm who is from Denmark. He loves to travel all over the world and enjoys playing poker on his spare time. Some of the legendary Team PokerStar players were knocked off early in the tournament, such as Marcel Luske who got eliminated on Day 3 of the poker tournament. He finished the tournament in 27^th place. Another PokerStar player Mikhail Mazunin from Russia was knocked off by Timothy Cherep.

The notable players that did not make it to the final tables were Jonas Kronwitter who finished at 11^th place, Binh Nguyen in 13^th position, Brendon Rubie who finished 16^th, and Henrik Gwinner who finished 29^th. Even at 29^th place, Gwinner was able to take home $76,400 in Hong Kong denominations.

The complete stats and seat order of the final table:

Seat 1: Victorino Torres with 396,000 poker chips

Seat 2: Kai Paulsen with 528,000 poker chips

Seat 3: Jeppe Drivsholm with 1,223,000 poker chips

Seat 4: Keith Hawkins with 174,000 poker chips

Seat 5: Albet Kim with 436,000 poker chips

Seat 6: Chong Cheong with 904,000 poker chips

Seat 7: Cole Swannack with 1,262,000

Seat 8: Brian Green with 970,000

Seat 9: Kenny Nielsen with 791,000

Poker is not something that you just sit down at the table and expect to learn everything on the first day. There are lots of betting strategies and playing styles to follow. You will have much better odds of winning when you begin to play with proper strategies. One of the biggest problems with beginners is that most of them do not have patience. Playing poker without patience is like going downhill in a car without brakes.

In the game of poker, you always have to stay calm no matter what situation you are in. If you start making reckless decisions, you’re not going to succeed. Certain days, you will have all the luck in the world, and some days, you just wish you have never started playing poker.

When it comes to poker, you need to learn two things: theoretical knowledge and experience.

Theoretical knowledge – You must know the odds and the difference between right and wrong. For example, if you see three clubs on the table, then your opponent might have a flush, or your opponent might not have anything, and so on. You can read and re-read lots of poker books to further your knowledge. Do not think that you are too good to read them because there is always something to learn.

Experience – Poker has a lot to do with experience. You have to be able to study betting patterns, and if you are playing in person, you have to be able to read faces and reactions. There are always signs to look for in opponents whether it is online or in person.

The Asia Pacific Poker Tour is becoming more and more popular. There are more players and prize pool is increasing as the event grows. People enter the event by joining freeroll tournaments in PokerStar, and the people who qualify will join the Asia Pacific Poker Tour event. It is easy to join the tournament. You just have to download PokerStar, and then read the directions to start playing in the freeroll tournamenet. There are no fees to join as it is completely free.

During the Macau Main Event in second year, it had 88 great poker players. In 2010, the Asia Pacific Poker Tour was held in PokerStars Macau poker room that is located in the Grand Lisboa Hotel and Casino. The poker event ended on Sunday, May 23. The buy-in for the 88 poker players were just $5,128 USD each.

There were many former poker stars that were at the poker event, such as, Celina Lin, Bryan Huang, and Raymond Wu. Many of them were in Team PokerStars. Last year, the Asia Pacific Poker Tour Macao had 429 players, and that was a record for the richest Asian poker tournament with a prize pool of $2,067,930 USD. Last year, the grand prize winner was Dermot Blain, and he won $540,000. The prize pool in Hong Kong currency is $16,130,400.

The 88 players in the event ended with just 43 remaining after the first day. Out of the 43 players, Team PokerStar Celina Lin and Raymond Wu were still in the poker tournament.

Many beginners make the mistake of getting too excited when they see pairs on the preflop. They would see a pair of 7’s, and then they get excited so they go aggressive on the bets before the flop. When the flop comes out with no 7’s, but see lots of face cards, that is when this person will start to sweat. What happens next? This person might start calling or checking, and the opponent will start raising on you.

Do not make that same mistake next time! When you see hands like this, you need to be one of the last to bet before the flop. You want to see how your opponents are betting first. If somebody goes crazy with high bets or all-in, then you need to fold it. You should just call it if the bet is quite low.

If you decide to play the hand, and you cannot catch triples on the flop, then you will have to see what the opponents are betting. If they are going aggressive here, then it is time to fold. Do not call on raises at this point.

If you do catch triples on the flop, do not get too excited yet. Simply do a small raise because if you go crazy, people will assume you have a very nice hand and they will just fold. You want everyone on the poker table to add some money in the pot. Poker has a lot to do with psychology so keep things subtle.

I have been following this winning strategy for a long time. This has made me earn over $100 per day on profits easily just by playing a few tournaments a day. Follow along as I explain my strategy of how I win money in poker.

I usually start the day with $220 to play. That is just my own little rule that I follow. You don’t necessarily need to follow that, but if you like then go ahead. Every day, I only play 10 sit n’ go tournaments, and I will not play more than that because I have discipline. Most poker players do not have any discipline so they end up losing a lot of money.

You can’t expect to win in every tournament, but even 2^nd and 3^rd places usually got a bit more than what you have put in. I play in tournaments that are $20 + $2 buy-ins.

When there are 7-10 players in the beginning, always play aggressively with AA, KK, and QQ hands. You can also play wired pairs and suited connectors, but not as aggressive.

When there are 5-7 players left, continue to play aggressively with high pairs. Do not call or check as this shows signs of weakness, and your opponents are reading you!

When 4-5 players left, this is when you knock out the short stack players so do not let them chase cards. Raise big on these people!

Do not start to relax when there is 3 people left. If you end up as 3^rd place, you usually just get back your buy-in money. You need to go all-in with high cards. Pair of AA, KK, QQ, or even AK, etc.

If you get to heads-up, and you are the chip leader, make sure you keep putting pressure on your opponents with raises and all-in.

Never lose focus in poker and always stay calm. Good luck!

If you are a beginner in poker , you might be very excited when you see AA, also known as Pocket Rockets, and KK on the pre-flop. Most people are just as excited as you because you have a very high chance of finish to win this poker hand.

Should you aggressively raise the pot when you see this? Some people would say no, because they want opponents to stay in. If you just raise a little bit, you can slowly suck your opponents to put their chips in more and more, and then later in the end, you either continue to raise more, or you just go all-in. Now, if opponent backs down, then that person will lose lots of chips that they have already put in.

How many times have you notice everyone folds when you go crazy on the raises in before the flop? Almost every time! This is why it is to get subtle and pretend like you have a mediocre hand. After the flop, you should do a check, or just call. Now, your opponent will think that you don’t have anything good in your hands, and think that you are just chasing after cards.

On the river, if you catch an Ace and you are the first to bet, then you can start off with a check. Your opponent might try to scare you with a bluff. Always check to see if there are any possible straights and flushes on the table. If not, then this is when you raise whatever your opponent puts out, and possible go all-in. When you win the pot, your opponent will know better next time to try something like that to fool you. A lot of times, winning in poker has a lot to do with psychology.

Bluffing is not an easy task in poker. If you do it too often, people will just call you out on it. If you do it too careless, then you will screw yourself over. You can follow these poker tips to help you become a better bluffer.

How many people are in the pot? If you have more than 2 opponents to worry about, then you might want to avoid bluffing. Most likely one of your opponent has a very good hand. The more players there are, then the more likely it is that someone has a good hand.

Assuming you are playing in person instead of online, just look at your poker hand casually. Do not give away any weird faces or expression. People tend to read your faces in poker.

In the pre-flop, you must raise, but do not go aggressive when somebody is raising you back. You can almost be sure that the person has a very good hand. It is time to fold when that happens, and your bluff will not work out. Do not be a fool by continuing.

The bet after the river card is very important. If there is a possible full house/flush/straight on the table, then you can possibly pull a very good bluff at this point. If your opponents were not betting aggressively through the round, then you can almost be sure that the person was just chasing after cards. If they are all checking at the end, then it is time for you to put raise the pot. Almost 90% of the time, your opponents will all just fold.

The final table in a poker event is always the most exciting to watch. The final table consisted of 9 poker players:  Victorino Torres, Kai Danilo Paulsen, Jeppe Drivsholm, Keith Hawkins, Albert Kim, Chong Cheong, Cole Swannack, Brian Green, Kenny Nielsen.

Victorino Torres is from Northern Mariana Islands. He is a 33-year-old attorney, and he has been playing poker for three years. He prefers to play cash games over tournaments. He had very little experience with poker tournaments.  Besides practicing law and spending time with family, he enjoys his spare time with the farm.

Kai Danilo Paulsen is from Norway. He is one of the more experienced poker player at the final table. He has six years of experience in his poker career. A 26-year old poker player who enjoys sports such as football, snowboarding, and skiing.

Jeppe Drivsholm is from Denmark. He enjoys traveling around the world, and he calls Macau his temporary home as he spends time there every now and then for poker.

Keith Hawkins is from England. He has a nickname “The Camel”. He is 42-years old with many years of experience in poker.

Albert Kim is from United States. He is a professional poker player from Staten Island. His biggest win was in 2008 for $257,334 in prize money. His hobbies are drinking, traveling, and reading.

Chong Cheong is from Hong Kong. A successful businessman who enjoys playing poker on his free time. He prefers tournaments over cash games.

Cole Swannack from New Zealand. He was the youngest person to be in the Asia Pacific Poker Tour’s final table.

Brian Green is from Costa Rica. Another successful businessman at the age of 48. He loves to go to the gym besides playing poker.

Kenny Nielsen is from Denmark. He is a physical therapist, and has 8 years of experience in poker.

When the Asia Pacific Poker Tour first started its first season, it wasn’t there many people who joined. The event was hosted in four different locations: Manila, Seoul, Macau, Sydney. In Manila, there was 255 people who bought in, 186 for Seoul, 352 for Macau, and 561 for Sydney.

The buy-ins for each location was a bit different, but it was close to an average of $2,500.The poker prize pool was different for each location because of the number of poker players who were playing.

Here are the results for Asia Pacific Poker Tour season 1:

In Manila, the names are listed in order from 1^st place to 9^th: Brett Parise ($179,775), Ira Blumenthal, Nicholas Bamman, Van Marcus, Maor Feldinger, Roger Spets, Bas van Liere, Kazuhiro Sato, and Derick Hernandez. The winning hand for this poker tournament was 10 of spades and 10 of diamonds, and the number of payouts were 24.

In Seoul: Ziv Bachar ($139,000), Jozef Berec, Shinhan Sid Kim, Michel St-Pierre, James Honeybone, Seval Hegeland, Roger Spets, Dan Schreiber, Paul Adams. Winning hand for this poke tournament was King of diamonds and 10 of clubs with a 16 payouts.

In Macau: Dinh Le ($222,640), Ivan Tan, Sangkyoun Kim, Guillaume Patry, Bertrand Grospellier, William Tam, Liz Lieu, Joe Hachem, Simon Randall. Winning hand was 8 of diamonds and 8 of spades with a payout of 40.

In Sydney: Grant Levy ($875,542), Jeremiah Vinsant, Lei He, Sol Bergren, Jai Kemp, Barry Kohlhoff, John Matwey, Vijayan Nagarajan, and Larry Wright. Winning hand for this poker tournament was Queen of spades and 6 of spades with payout of 56.