The World Poker Tour is extending its poker domination all the way across the pacific. The Philippines is the first Asian country, which now hosts charity poker tourneys under the WPT franchise.

The set-up is nothing different from normal charity poker events, winner gets no cash. But his PhP500,000 (a little over $9,000) will not solely go to his favorite charity. Rather this amount will be distributed to the star’s chosen charity, the local station (ABS CBN) that holds the WPT franchise’s kids charity, and another charity chosen by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor).

Meaning if you’re a celebrity player and you win this tournament, your favorite charity will only get a measly portion of your winnings.

Legal gambling in this Philippines is monopolized by PAGCOR, all the casinos are Pagcor-franchised. So it’s not surprising that Pagcor should get a piece of the cake for its own charitable mission. Pagcor also publised some ads on newspapers warning peeps against playing in illegal poker games "No PAGCOR seal" is illegal!

In fact, the prize money for the WPT Philippines celebrity event was provided by this regulatory board:

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) put up P1-million prize money for donation to different charitable organizations, including pet charities of the Final Table Top 6. ($US1 = 52 Philippine Pesos)

The real attraction for the celebrity players, however, is the $25,000 seat in the WPT Celebrity Invitational in Los Angeles, Ca. where he’ll likely go heads-up with Hollywood pros like James Woods and Ben Affleck.

Like its international counterpart, WPT Philippines employed the services of a sexy hostess. A local sexy star named Asia Agcoili has taken up the role that made Shana Hiatt the ultimate poker babe. But that’s not the only thing the guys at Poker Filipinas are happy about:

"Folks like the Poker Club of the Philippines will find a bigger market for their events, as they already have the infrastructure and brand built around their Poker King Challenge Series…Folks in media will jump on this bandwagon with celebrity tourneys, etc. The casinos will get in on it. Parallel Pro tours will start. Our little underground will become and industrial ecosystem."

With events and developments like this, it’s only a matter of time before we see a truly international Final Table at the WPT championships. A Poker Olympics is not too far off either.

Asians have long been reigning in world poker events. Men "The Master" Nguyen and the Pham-named pros are usual suspects in many final tables. Could the new Asian poker superstar come from the Philippines? First stop the WPT, then who knows the WSOP. What are the odds of a Philippine person winning the WSOP in 2006? 

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