Season One of the Asian Poker Tour was a big success. Big enough that season Two has been planned for this fall, beginning in September in Macau. That event will be from the 1st to the 19th. The other events will be in Korea, New Zealand, The Philippines, and Australia.

The Korean event will be held on September 26-28 in Seoul. It will be at the Paradise Walker-Hill Casino with a buy-in of $2870, with a maximum of 250 players. The New Zealand event will take place on October 9-12 at the Skycity Casino in Auckland. Buy-in will be $2400.

Manila’s Hyatt Hotel & Casino will host the Philippines APT event. Dates for the event are being determined, but the cost of the main event will be $2350. The last event in Australia will be on December 2-7. They will host it in Sydney, and it will cost $5,930.

HORSE tournaments are mixed poker variation events. After every rotation of the button, the game switches to a different variation. There are a few different mixed poker tournaments, with HORSE being the one with the most variations played. The games are Holdem, Omaha, Razz, Seven-card-stud, and Seven-card-stud eight or better.

The best general strategy is to wait for the variations where you feel the strongest, and stay out of the action in ones that you’re still learning to play, unless you have a monster hand. And don’t forget which variation it is, if you forget which one you’re playing it can be very costly.

Playing HORSE will make you a stronger player. There’s lots of action online for HORSE, but unless you’re in Vegas or Atlantic City, they tend to be rare in live casinos.

You should know how to play each variation before trying out one of these tournaments.

Season 5 of the European Poker Tour kicks off in September 2008 in Barcelona with nine events scheduled, including the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo and a welcome return to Deauville, France, in January.

“The new EPT season includes all the events which have made the past four seasons such a triumph with record fields across Europe and record prize pools,” said EPT Chief Executive John Duthie. “We have set very high standards and aim to improve on this still further in Season 5.”

“This year’s EPT kicks off in the magnificent city of Barcelona at the beginning of September. The tour will take in nine countries including the return of the ever popular Deauville event in France and we are expecting to add new venues to the tour. Last year’s EPT proved a massive success, generating a total prize pool of almost Euros 40,000,000 ($62,000,000), 5,902 players and the biggest single prize pool ever generated outside Las Vegas at the Monte Carlo Grand Final. We anticipate the EPT making an even bigger impact in Season 5, attracting more players from all around the world and even larger prize pools.”

Upcoming poker tournaments start with the WSOP Circuit Event on April 29th. The main event will be a $5000+$150 buy in, and it’s being held at Caesars in Las Vegas. The tournament started on the 20th and will run until May 1st.

The LAPT (Latin American Poker Tour) will have a $2500+$200 event on May 3rd. It will be held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The New Zealand Poker Championships will be held from May 4th – 11th and will have its $2500 main event from the 8th to the 11th.

The Deep Stack Poker Tournament at the Borgata Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City will be on May 4th.

River Rock Casino will be the spot for the Coast to Coast Poker Championships in Richmond, BC, Canada. The $2800 main event will be on May 8th, but events will run from May 5th to the 11th.