THE organisers of a regional poker tour are in town this week to firm up details for the tournament's Singapore leg, which is likely to be held at the end of the year.

my paper understands that Mr Christopher Parker, chief executive officer of the Asian Poker Tour, is here to view and confirm the event venue.

Mr Parker is a director at AsianLogic, an Asia-Pacific gaming company. It will run the Singapore leg with local company Capital Events, which founded the tour in 2006.

After a year's break due to tax issues, the 2008 edition kicked off in the Philippines from May 27 to June 1, with over 300 players. It will hit Macau from Aug 27 to 31, and finish in Singapore.

It is understood that the organisers will apply for a licence this week from local authorities to hold the event.

The event is likely to be held at the Pan Pacific Singapore sometime in November or early December, with a US$1.5-million (S$2.06-million) prize pool, and a US$5,300 buy-in, or entrance fee.

In 2006, Capital Events teamed up with United Kingdom-based online betting exchange Betfair to hold Singapore's first high-stakes poker tournament, which had 400 participants play for a US$2-million prize pool.

The event was all the more memorable because a Singaporean player, Mr Ang Pang Leng, brushed aside the competition to take second place - and a tidy US$233,200.

When contacted yesterday, the day trader said he was looking forward to the local leg.

Mr Ang, 33, who regularly takes part in poker tournaments, will be playing in the upcoming Macau leg. He believes more Singaporeans will sign up when the tour returns.

Organisers are keeping mum about event details, but Mr Parker told my paper yesterday that his plan is to make the Asian tour bigger than poker's version of the World Cup - the annual World Series of Poker - in five years.

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