Online Poker Press

After four days of play and a total of 262 players, renowned Filipino rounder Neil Arce claimed first place at the 2009 Asian Poker Tour Philippines and the $185,000 that came along with it.

Arce also had to beat a tough final table that included 2008 APT Macau runner-up Steve Yea, Kasey Castle and “Poker Diva” Liz Lieu.

Lieu came into the final table as one of the short stacks and wasn’t able to get much going eventually finishing in seventh for $22,000. Kastle bounced out in third for $70,000 leaving Yea and Arce to battle it out for first place.

Also playing the event were the famed APT “Poker Pack” that includes David “Chino” Rheem, Quinn Do, Nam Le, Steve Sung and Kwang Soo Lee.

In the final hand Arce opened for $100,000, Yea re-raised to $300,000 and Arce moved all-in. Yea made the call and flipped over A K. Arce was in trouble with K Q but the board came 7 6 3 Q 6 to end the tournament.

“This is great,” said Arce moments after winning. “I always felt it would come down to me and Steve. For me the key to winning the tournament was position. I was so lucky that Steve was on my right – if he was on my left it would have been a completely different final table. I played with Steve all day yesterday when he was on a charge and kept out of his way. I knew that to get anywhere at the final able I had to keep applying pressure and my game plan worked perfectly.”

Arce, who is a well known player on the Filipino poker circuit through running the Metro Card Club in Manila, had been chip leader after Day 1a and even guaranteed APT CEO Chris Parker that he would emerge victorious in the tournament.

“We would like to congratulate Neil on his fantastic win and thank all the players for making the 2009 Asian Poker Philippines such a successful event,” said Parker. “Neil’s win is fantastic for poker in the Philippines – we hope that it strengthens the appeal of the game even further.”

For more information about the Asian Poker Tour check out their website at www.asianpt.com.

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