Huge buzz surrounding Manila Millions High Roller event

The $100k+ buy-in Manilla millions High-Roller tournament is looking like it might be one of the best-attended High-Roller tournaments in poker history, despite not being part of a major international tournament. The tournament will take place during the Asian Poker Tour stop in the Philippines, but that isn’t stopping a slew of top poker talent from making the trek to Manila, which at last count had 30 entrants.

Even with the last-minute withdrawal of Sam Trickett from the event the tournament will feature some of the biggest names in poker, all willing to put up the $1 million HKD buy-in (which equates to about $112,000 USD).  The tournament is scheduled to take place on April 20^th, 2012, and appears to be a one-day event, giving the amateur players a better shot at taking home a win than a slower-structured event which favors the professional poker players.

According to the Asian Poker Tour website, “Elton Tsang, Anson Wong, and Devan Tang, as well as AsianLogic’s Tom Hall, Asian Poker Tour founder Chris Parker, and the Poker King Club’s Winfred Yu,” will be playing in the tournament, as will poker superstars Phil Ivey and Tom Dwan.

A number of other players have expressed interest in the tournament including Andrew Robl, Sam Trickett (who announced he would not be making the trip to Manila earlier today), Johnny Chan, Jonathan Duhamel, and John Juanda. Other potential participants include some of the better-known players who are confirmed for the APT Philippines Main Event like Aussie Millions champ Oliver Speidel, JC Tran and Nam Le.

With reports already putting the total number of entrants at 30, the tournament could very well get to 40 and possibly 50 entrants by the time it gets underway Friday. And with a mix of poker pros and wealthy businessmen the tournament could be looking like a +EV event to many of the younger talented poker pros on the circuit.

Here is a look at the press release issued a few weeks ago for the tournament:

“April 10, 2012 – The Asian Poker Tour has announced the creation of a new ‘Manila Millions’ super high roller poker tournament to be held during APT Philippines at Resorts World Manila on Friday April 20, 2012. Presented jointly by APT and Resorts World Manila, the Manila Millions will feature a HKD $1 million (USD $129,000) buy-in, which will make it the largest buy-in tournament ever witnessed in Asia.

“The prestigious event is set to take place amidst the luxurious surroundings of Resorts World Manila’s Genting Club. Early expectations are there will be around 25-30 players parting with the HKD $1 million buy-in for the Manila Millions and a number of top professionals have already confirmed their attendance. These include Phil Ivey and Tom “durrrr” Dwan, along with other big names to be announced soon.”

For more information on the Manila Millions or the APT you can head over to the Asian Poker Tour website