Filed by Sean Callander

The name of Brett Parise will be etched in poker history forever as the first winner on the new PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT).

Parise, a 22-year-old political science student originally from Indiana in the USA, outlasted a field of 255 players at the Hyatt Hotel and Casino in Manila, Philippines, to pocket the first prize of $179,775: one of the biggest tournament prizes ever awarded in Asian poker.

What makes Parise’s performance more impressive is that he qualified for the tournament via a free-entry tournament on PokerStars.

Holding a 2:1 chip lead when the heads-up battle with Thailand-based US lawyer Ira Blumenthal started, Parise gradually wore down his more experienced opponent. On the final hand, Parise called the all-in bet of Blumenthal with a pair of 10s. Blumenthal’s hand of J 5 was dominated and did not improve on a board of Ks Qc 9c Kh 9h.

The minor placings were filled by another US student Nicholas Bamman (third), PokerStars’ Supernova Van Marcus (Australia) and Maor Feldinger, an Israeli student playing in his first major poker tournament.

The APPT continues next month at the Paradise Seoul Casino at the Walker Hill Hotel in Seoul, South Korea. That event is scheduled for September 26-30. The APPT grand final will then be held at Star City Casino in Sydney from December 13-16.

Final results (APPT Manila, Hyatt Hotel and Casino, Manila, Philippines)

1. Brett Parise (USA) $179,775
2. Ira Blumenthal (Thailand) $113,858
3. Nicholas Bamman (USA) $62,921
4. Van Marcus (Australia) $44,940
5. Maor Feldinger (Isreal) $35,955
6. Roger Spets (Sweden) $26,966
7. Bas van Liere (Netherlands) $20,974
8. Kazuhiro Sato (Japan) $14,981
9. Derrick Hernandez (Philippines) $11,386
10. Steve Junhee Yea (South Korea) $8390
11. Carlo Gosselin (Thailand) $8390
12. D’amor Nario (Philippines) $8390
13. Alexander Fitzgerald (USA) $5993
14. Carlos Lascano (Philippines) $5993
15. Ronald Javier (Philippines) $5993
16. Se Jin Lee (South Korea) $5993
17. Eric Sia $4794
18. Nicolas Chouity (Lebanon) $4794
19. Steven Djingga (Indonesia) $4794
20. Kelly Flynn (USA) $4794
21. Seung Soo Jeon (South Korea) $4794
22. Ronald Singson $4794
23. Jean-Marc Hauducoeur (France) $4794
24. Dan Idema (Canada) $4794