APPT result

Ziv Bachar from Israeil beat 185 poker hopefuls to become the first Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Seoul Champion, winning US$139,872 and a seat at the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final in Sydney.

Ziv, 25, from Tel Aviv, Israel, arrived in Seoul after qualifying online on PokerStars, where he won his flight, hotel accommodation and entry to the $2500 buy-in PokerStars.net APPT Seoul Tournament at Paradise Walker-hill Casino in Korea. He dominated older and more experienced players under the gaze of television cameras and a live audience. Now he leaves as a champion.

Ziv has been building his poker reputation internationally. He finished ninth in the 2006 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas (winning $95,000). He recently followed this with victory in the €500 No Limit Hold’em Event at last year’s PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Grand Final in Monte Carlo (winning €54,400).

”It has been amazing. I was deep stacked at the start of play and always felt I had a great chance at winning. I am very happy to be the first PokerStars.net APPT Seoul champion and look forward to competing in Sydney this December,” commented Ziv directly after his win.

The tournament started with 186 players from 33 countries, generating a total prize pool close to US$500,000. Some of poker’s brightest stars travelled to Seoul, including Team PokerStars Professionals: 2005 World Champion Joe Hachem; Isabelle “No Mercy” Mercier (who placed 16th in the tournament); and the World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner and Starcraft champion Dan Schreiber (who placed 8th in the tournament).

There was a League of Nations amongst the final nine: an Israeli; an Australian; a New Zealander; a French-Canadian; a Swede based in Malaysia; a Norwegian; and a trio of Americans who all reside in Korea.

The final table lasted for five and a half hours, and tested the players’ skills to their limit. The last two fighting it out were Australian Jozef Berec and Ziv Bachar. Play opened aggressively – two players were eliminated within the first half hour! But it took another five hours for a champion to emerge.

In the final hand of the game, Ziv’s claimed victory with two pair – Kings and Queens.

Ziv Bachar will join the PokerStars.net APPT Manila champion Brett Parise at the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final at Star City Casino in Sydney, Australia, this December, where the first Asia Pacific Poker Tour Grand Champion will be crowned.

Final results:
1. Ziv Bachar, Israel, $139,872
2. Jozef Berec, Australia, $87,420
3. Sid Shinhan Kim, South Korea, $48,081
4. Michel St. Pierre, Canada, $34,968
5. James Honeybone, New Zealand, $28,412
6. Seval Hægeland, Norway, $21,855
7. Roger Spets, Malaysia, $17,484
8. Dan Schrieber, South Korea, $13,113
9. Paul Adams, South Korea, $8,740