The live poker scene is close to returning to normal in Europe and the United States. However, live poker action is still not feasible in most parts of Asia as most Asian countries are still dealing with a rise in COVID-19 cases.
Like most live poker operators, the Asian Poker League (APL) decided to take its popular Asian Poker League Series online in early 2021 and had pretty good success. The Asian Poker League Series ran on the Natural8 platform and due to the tremendous response, the organizers decided to host a second online edition of the Asian Poker League Series in June 2021.
Asian Poker League Series – June 11 to June 27
Once again, Natural8 is playing host to the online edition of the Asian Poker League Series which started on June 11 and is expected to run till June 27. The APL is very popular with poker players in Asia and they have been closely following the APL online edition schedule and dates.
However, online poker players from outside Asia have not paid much attention to this Natural8 tournament because they are under the impression that this is only open to Asian players. Do note that the Asian Poker League Series is open to poker players from all over the world.
Asian Poker League Series – $12M Up For Grabs
If you are outside Asia and are looking for some great online poker action, you should think about playing in the Asian Poker League Series. The combined guaranteed prize pool is over $12 million which is very impressive for an online edition of the APL.
The most popular event at the APL is the Main Event which comes with a $300 buy-in and a guaranteed prize pool of $1.5 million. The organizers have put together a wide range of events to suit the bankrolls of low stakes, mid stakes and high stakes players. The most expensive buy-in at the APL is around $1,250 and comes with a guaranteed prize pool of $235,000.
Low rollers also have a lot of action in store for them as the lowest buy-in starts out at $7. The tournament has already received a strong response and organizers are expecting more players to turn out as the tournament progresses. There are also a number of special APL jade trophies waiting to be won and a special edition of APL speed racers.
Players who are finding it difficult to play the low buy-in events have the option to taking part in satellite events. To find out more information, check out the Natural8 website.
Why The APL Is Popular
The APL has been around since 2016 and has continued to grow in popularity with every passing year. When its Korean promoter Judic Kim launched the APL, he initially targeted the Chinese market and hosted the inaugural APL live poker tournament at the Beijing Poker Club (BPC).
The event received close to 500 players and the second edition in early 2017 saw over 900 players in attendance. Seeing the demand in the Chinese market, the APL hosted a second edition in late 2017 in Shanghai and soon after started taking the tour to different Asian countries.
The APL over the last few years has made stops in multiple countries including Australia, Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines and Korea. The APL live tour continues to be in high demand but due to COVID-19, the APL had to turn the live event to an online event.
Given that the APL has once again witnessed a good response to the online edition, we will have to wait and see if the APL decides to run both live poker and online poker editions of the Asian Poker League Series. There is no clear indication as of now as to when the APL will be able to start hosting its live poker tour in Asia.