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.

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.